Sarah and the Prince of the Land of Stench

There are not many other girls like Sarah. I can imagine if you yourself ever received a late night visit from the Goblin King, you would fall in a faint! Don't give me that nonsense about how you've been waiting for him all these years, so that you would simply welcome him with open arms, then proceed to make sweet passionate love to him. He just flew into your window, for Christ's sake! You would scream, and you would hit him over the head with one of your slippers (not the fluffy kind, the ones with the strong, hard soles). Then, once you had gotten over the shock, you would call the police, and you would interrogate him intensely, asking a large number of questions as to why a man, dressed like the love child of Prince and Tina Tuner, could juggle numerous crystal balls in his hand and transport you to a giant maze in less than a second!

But not Sarah. She didn't need to ask questions, nor did she seem then slightest bit shocked when Jareth first infringed upon her daily life. She accepted whatever the world brought her and dealt with it as if it happened to everybody, everyday. It was no surprise that she managed to sail through life since the day she returned from saving her baby brother. Yes, Miss Williams graduated high school with ease. Soon after, she effortlessly landed herself as an infant school teaching assistant, a job she loved very much - which was pretty surprising since most of the teachers were very unpleasant to her. They didn't include her in their 'adult' conversations. They didn't treat her as one of them. Of course, they were jealous of her. The kids adored Sarah more than any other teacher, and they had every reason to. She was younger, prettier and actually listened to what they had to say. Mrs Taylor, teacher of the second grade, often ogled Sarah in the corner of her eye, wishing that her luxurious auburn hair belonged to her, as her own hair had greyed and thinned out. She was one of those people that victimized someone just for the fact that she was simply envious of them. Every wrong move Sarah made gave Mrs Taylor the chance to reprimand her in front of all the other teachers.

"Miss Williams! Miss Williams, are you listening?" yelled Mrs Taylor for the third time. She had been asking Sarah to gather the children for five minutes.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry Jean, I'll do it right away!" replied Sarah, who quickly stood up from the mud-spattered ground wiping the dirt off her jeans. Then, she hurried over to the flock of kids, who had already gotten filthy just from walking a few yards to the pond at the back of the school field.

"It's Mrs Taylor! Don't use my first name in front of the children!" she shouted after her.

"Sorry! I forgot!" Sarah called back, and soon enough, she had tamed the disorderly children so that they marched single file down to the pond, much to Jean Taylor's astonishment. Every time shetried to discipline the kids, they would run amok, and that was simply because the children did not respect her. She wasn't like Sarah at all. Sarah adored teaching children for the pure reason that she was allowed to share her thoughts and ideas with people who she could relate to - people who became excited over the little things, like the detail of a spider's web. Unlike most adults, Sarah had managed to hold on to her youthful imagination. Her dreams and fantasies didn't sift through her brain like the other teachers she worked with. That was why the children liked Sarah the best. She could make the dullest of stories seem exciting.

"Here we are then!" exclaimed Sarah, who immediately got all the kids kneeling beside the pond, marvelling at the wonders of nature. They 'ooohed' and 'ahhhed' as she taught them about the local wildlife. "That's a water strider. It skates across the water by using it's long legs… and look over there at that pond turtle. He looks like he's just woken up doesn't he. Look at his lazy eye!"

The kids all laughed, but the hilarity was broken by the divertive cough that Mrs Taylor produced. Sarah turned to see her supervisor standing behind her, with crossed arms and a venomous scowl across her face.

"Granted, you've done your research, Miss Williams, but that is not how we do it in this school. The children first need to be taught the outside safety rules, then we need to place them into appropriate groups. It is only then that we can begin to teach them about the nature of wildlife" said the teacher.

Sarah stood up timidly, looking more than humiliated.

"Sorry, Mrs Taylor. I'm new to this whole field trip thing. I should have known better."

"That's okay, Miss Williams. Just watch how I do it and next time you might actually get it right!"

For the next half hour, Sarah remained quiet, and watched as Mrs Taylor drained the life out of the second-graders. She spent almost twenty minutes telling them what not to do when observing pond wildlife. Sarah knew that the kids could have learnt so much about nature in that time. Eventually, they began to look at the water. Some of the kids got thoroughly excited when they saw all the different kinds of animals. Occasionally, they would look back at Miss Williams and share a secret smile with her, laughing at the fact that Mrs Taylor kept on spurting out words that children at that age could not understand, let alone remember.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Cindy, the cutest little girl of the class. "My paper, my paper! It's fell in the water. My drawing was on there!" Cindy began to cry.

"Oh, don't worry, honey. I'll get it for you." Sarah knelt beside the pond and began to stretch out her arm to try and reach for the sheet of paper.

"That won't be necessary, Miss Williams. Cindy will just have to start over again." said Mrs Taylor, who began to pull of a clean white sheet.

"It's okay. I've almost got it." Sarah's fingers were inches away from the picture now.

"Miss Williams, I told you to leave it alone!" the teacher shouted, as Cindy's cries rose in volume. It was not in Sarah's nature to deprive a young child of their own creation. She knew how important simple things like drawings were. "Miss Williams, you're going to fall in if you're not careful. I said leave it!"

"She's shouting at Miss Williams." giggled one of the other children as they all watched and whisper to each other.

"Here we are! I've got it!" smiled Sarah, who managed to touch the tip of the paper with her fingers. But it was too late. She failed to notice that Mrs Taylor had already knelt beside her and tried to pull her away from the pond. This startled her, so much so that she quickly jolted around to accidentally hit the teacher in the face! Then, from shock, Sarah lost her balance and fell backwards into the pond!

She screamed.
The children screamed.
*SPLASH*
Dirty pond water splattered all over the children, and even worse, Mrs Taylor's best suit! They were all filthy, especially Sarah who now resembled some kind of swamp-monster, as she tried to clamber out of the water. She gazed awkwardly at Mrs Taylor, who glowered at her furiously. The kids seemed to be having a whale of a time, but Sarah knew that she would not be let off lightly.

A few hours later when school had finished Sarah arrived at her home.

"Oh, it was horrible!" she cried, slamming her apartment door to make a theatrical entrance, knowing perfectly well that her roommate had gone on vacation already. She threw down her bag and coat and groaned to herself, facing the mirror as she did so. Then she began to removed her mud-spattered clothes until she was completely naked, not that it mattered. Nobody was around. She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Before she hopped into the bathtub, she turned to face the mirror once more.

"What have you done?" she asked her reflection. "If she fires you, you'll have nothing. Then what are you going to do?"

She heft a long sigh, then proceeded to take her shower. While she washed herself, she could have sworn that she had heard someone moving around in her bedroom, rummaging through her things. Eventually, she smothered herself in her thick fluffy robe and walked back into her room. She must've imagined it. Nobody was there.

Now that she was home, she could act however she pleased, and Sarah chose to act a little childish. It was her way of dealing with stress. She turned to her dreams and fantasies every time her day got her feeling down, which unfortunately was quite often. She lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling at the smartly placed posters of fairytale scenes. She became so lost in her thoughts that she almost failed to notice the creak of her bedroom door. Her eyes suddenly grew wide at the awareness of an intruder. The footsteps began to walk slowly up to her bed. Then, her alarmed expression swiftly turned to a childlike smirk.

"I'm glad you've come." she murmured, still lying down, facing the ceiling. Then, she sat up and turned to face the trespasser, grinning at the friend who never failed to come to her side whenever she felt frazzled. "Come here, Hoggle. Give me a hug!"

The little dwarf's eyes lit up, as he scrambled onto the bed and collapsed into the arms of his best friend. He hadn't changed. He still wore the same old ruffled shirt and waistcoat, with raggedy brown slacks and broken boots. His face still bore the same amount of wrinkles, and the same heavy eyebrows which framed his somewhat innocent blue eyes. And, of course, he still carried around his jewels like his life depended upon them, particularly the bracelet Sarah had given him all those years ago.

"I've missed you Sarah. It's been a long time!" said Hoggle, to which Sarah responded with a giggle.

"It's only been a couple of weeks!" she laughed.

"Seems like a year to me," he replied, and she embraced him again.

"So where are the others?" she enquired. "It's not like you to come alone."

"Here we are, my Lady" called a voice from behind her.

"Sarah!" another pronounced.

At that moment, a noble fox, along with a big friendly chestnut giant came marching through her door. Her face glowed like a child at Christmas, as she raced over to her friends and squeezed them so tightly they could hardly breathe. Sir Didymus chuckled, as he straightened out his little blue hat and eye-patch, while Ludo picked her up and swung her around until she felt dizzy.

For the rest of the night, the friends all sat together on the bed and exchanged their stories. It was during these times Sarah learnt that nothing new really ever went on in the Labyrinth, which surprised her, since last time she was there everything always seemed to change. But from their tales, it seemed that the Bog was still the Bog, the City was still the City and the castle was still the castle. When she asked about the King, Hoggle simply told her that Jareth had grown tired of his old games, and spent most of his days sitting on his throne waiting for some kind of miracle. Then he swiftly turned the subject onto Sarah, and she proceeded to inform them all of her horrific day.

"It's not fair though!" she expressed. "I worked so hard. The kids love me. They say they learn so much more from me than what that stupid Jean Taylor teaches them, and now I'm going to be fired, just for trying to bring a little fun into the classroom."

"You don't know that Sarah. You'll prob'ly just be let off with a warning. That's all" urged Hoggle, trying his best to consolidate her.

"No, you don't know that teacher. She sucks up to the Principal like you wouldn't believe. I might as well face it. I'm unemployed." She hung her head in her hands.

"Fear not, my Lady" said Didymus, who showed off his pointy white teeth as he grinned.

"Yer. Who needs a job anyways?" posed Hoggle.

"Job bad. Friends good" added the ogre, to which Sarah smiled.

"If only it was that easy. In this world, it's all about the work. If you haven't got a job, you've got nothing. Not like in the Labyrinth" she pondered.

"Don't be so sure about that, Sarah. We 'ave to work too. Jareth is always makin' me do lots of jobs; guardin' the entry, looking out fer enemies. And he's always watchin' for me to mess up so he can threaten to throw me in the Bog Of Eternal Stench" stated Hoggle.

"Well, he hasn't changed much then, has he? Why don't you all just confront him?" she quizzed, but her friends only gasped at her comment.

"Scared!" uttered Ludo, who shook his head so that his large horns almost knocked one of Sarah's pictures off the wall.

"Ludo is right" agreed Hoggle. "Don't wanna get on Jareth's bad side again!"

"Oh, come my brothers! Why are thou so cowardly?" asked Didymus. "We defeated him once. We can do it again. I, for one, can fight anyone, anywhere, anyplace, anytime!" Didymus jumped onto his feet and raised his cane in a dramatic gesture, only for Ludo to pull him back down to the bed with less than a nudge. The fox shook his head. "See what I have to put up with?" he muttered.

Then, Sarah had an idea; a light bulb moment if there ever was one.

"Well, then I'll talk to him!" she declared, grinning in excitement at the thought of returning to the Labyrinth after all these years. "You can take me back with you, and I can have a word."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Sarah. Jareth said he don't want you anywhere near the Labyrinth. He don't wanna see your face ever again" informed Hoggle.

Sarah pouted childishly, then groaned.

"Oh, I haven't seen that place in ages! He can't still be holding a grudge after five years, can he? I don't have to talk to him. He doesn't even have to know that I'm there, and I'll only be there for one day. I promise! I want to meet some of the strange creatures I saw last time. The nights get so lonely for me after you leave. Please." Sarah begged.

Hoggle thought for a second, but then he realised that he had to put his foot down.

"No. I won't let you. If Jareth finds out you're there I don't know what he'll do to you, and I'm not gonna take you there just to find out. Now, lets talk about something' else!" Hoggle scanned his tiny brain for something new to talk about, until he settled upon a topic. "Say er' have you got yerself a boyfriend yet, Sarah?"

"No," she scoffed. "The only boy who's asked me out in the last few months was one of the fourth-graders. I mean, he was sweet, but just twelve years too young" she joked.

"Well, that's good" remarked Hoggle. Then he coughed. "Well, I mean yer don't want to be rushing into anything don't yer."

Sarah shook her head half-heartedly, still disappointed that the proposition of her returning to the Labyrinth had been wiped off the table completely.

While this conversation was in occurrence, another individual was also brooding about his boredom and loneliness. Imagine how forlorn you would feel to be completely isolated from every living person in the entire universe, to be forced to dwell in a secluded castle, having so much power but sharing it with nobody and having so much love to give but sharing it with nobody. He sat on his throne, the place where he always sat when he was in one of his moods. His platinum wiry hair mirrored through the crystal ball that he twiddled about in his gloved hand. He didn't even bother to quiet the unruly crowd of goblins that paraded through his court. He just didn't care enough anymore. He wanted something more. Something, or someone.