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The first time was an accident.
Sara had been working on her thesis, which was about stories where children were kidnapped by goblins. She was on the section where the parents sent them away, and she was taking a short break from writing by thinking about what they might have said to make it happen. While she was thinking, Sara stepped into her niece’s room to check on her. Mariska was sleeping soundly in her crib, her pink room quiet and still as she slumbered.
“I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now.” The words just slipped out. As if Sara had heard them before somewhere. Mariska moved in her sleep. Sara looked closer. Her niece was smaller than the lump that was under the blanket now. And why was the blanket over her face? Sara reached in to save Mariska, when the thing in the crib moved. Sara couldn’t see what it was, but she knew it wasn’t her niece.
The hairs on the back of Sara’s neck stood up as she ripped away the blanket to reveal an empty crib. Heart racing, she heard something batting at the windows, and noises behind her, like someone was opening and closing the dresser drawers.
“Mariska?” Sara called hesitantly.
That laughter didn’t belong to her niece. Why did it sound familiar? Sara threw her gaze to the windows to see an owl was struggling to get inside. She turned around, only to see a blur of motion but nothing out of place. What was happening? The windows burst open. The owl soared inside and turned into a man. This blond hair stuck up around his head like a crown, with longer pieces trailing down over his shoulders. His cloak rustled in the wind, concealing his body.
“Hello again, Sara,” he said.
Sara stepped back. “Who are you? How do you know my name? And where is Mariska?”
“I took her, just as you asked of me. You’ve been calling out to me lately, so I could hardly ignore you, now could I?”
“Calling out to you? I don’t know who you are. And where is my niece?!”
“I’ve brought you a present.” A glass ball appeared in the man’s hand.
“That’s nice-” Sara began, but he cut her off.
“If you turn it this way, it will show you your dreams.” And he began to roll it over his hands and spin it in such a way that it had to be magic. “But this is not a gift for a girl who takes care of a screaming baby.”
“Thanks, but I’ll take my niece back, please.” Sara battled for calm. What were those breathing exercises again? “Where is she?”
The man sighed. “As if you don’t know. She’s there in my castle.” He pointed with an elegantly gloved hand, and Sara saw a castle out the window. That hadn’t been there before. Why was it daytime at the castle when it was long after dark at home? And there was something between her and the castle. A pattern. Was that a maze?
“If you want her, you’ll have to go and get her.”
The nearness of the man made Sara jump. When did he get next to her? And where were they? Last she knew, they’d been in Mariska’s room. Now they were on a hillside with scrubby grass somewhere outside the maze. “How do I do that?” Sara asked.
“Really.” The man sighed. “You have thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth before your baby niece becomes one of us forever.” A clock, whose face went up to 13, appeared hanging on a tree. And then the man disappeared.
Sara pinched herself and closed her eyes. But nothing worked. She was still here. This was real. Sara realized she’d already fallen into one of the breathing exercises she’d learned and she focused on that for a time. It didn’t make any of this go away, but the panic didn’t overwhelm her.
To focus on something else, Sara looked at the labyrinth from her vantage point on the hill. It seemed large. Too large to just follow one wall until she made her way out. If only Nathan were here. He loved mazes. But if he were here, then Sara would have to explain how she got his daughter kidnapped. Maybe it was better he was on a date with his wife.
Sara began to chart her way through the maze, trying to remember all of the turnings. Then, some of the walls shifted. Somehow, Sara wasn’t surprised, although she should have been. The walls of the labyrinth moved. That was part of the challenge.
Puzzled, Sara decided she’d better get into the labyrinth. There must be people who had to go through it or lived in it. Maybe they could help her. A small part of her, that Sara was trying to ignore, was excited to live out one of the stories she had studied for so long. Although, she would never be able to tell anyone about it.
Sara walked forward and saw something shining and floating in front of her. She looked closer and it looked like a tiny flying person. “A fairy,” she whispered. She reached out her hand, but pulled it back. Fairies weren’t nice. As if to underscore her point, the fairy charged toward her, teeth bared.
A puff of something went past Sara and hit the fairy square in the face. Its wings stopped and it immediately fell to the ground.
Sara turned and looked down to find a wizened old face. “Nasty pests,” he said. His outfit was intricately designed, but looked like he’d been wearing it for years. And a group of shiny things clicked at his waist when he moved.
“Hello. Can you help me please?” It always paid to be polite in fairy tales.
“I just did.” The man began stumping away and Sara followed him. There was no one else here besides the fairies.
“Thank you for that, but I have a bigger problem. My niece got taken to the castle and-”
“And you have to get there in thirteen hours or she’ll become a goblin,” the small man finished.
Sara paused. “Does this happen often?”
“How else do you think Jareth has all of those goblins in the city?”
“Jareth? Is that the name of the man who took my niece?”
The man sprayed another fairy and grinned as it fell to the ground. “Yeah. He’s the goblin king. And you’re Sara, right?”
“How did you know?”
The man only grunted and kept walking.
“What’s your name?”
“Hoggle,” the man replied shortly. “Prince Hoggle most of the time but no one else wanted to do fairy patrol, so here I am.”
“You’re a prince?” This was getting farther from the fairy tales Sara knew. Usually the prince was the one who saved the damsel in distress. “Well, Prince Hoggle, you seem to know everything that’s going on here. Could you please help me get to the castle and save my niece?”
The man paused. He sighed. “All right, Sara. Let’s get you into the labyrinth and see how you do.” He gestured, and two doors on the labyrinth’s brick outer wall opened up. The inside walls were also made of brick and it looked like someone had glitter bombed the place. The floors weren’t clean, either. There were branches and logs laying across them, with plants growing on the walls. Sara supposed it would be hard to weather-proof an outdoor structure like this.
Sara stepped inside and Prince Hoggle followed her. She looked left and right. They both looked the same, but Sara remembered which way the castle was from her vantage point on the hill, so she started walking right, towards it. Prince Hoggle stumped along after her, and Sara made sure to slow down her pace to match his.
“So, how does a prince come to be on fairy patrol?”
“That was my job before Jareth made me a prince.”
“Wait, if Jareth is the king and you’re the prince, are you related?”
Prince Hoggle stopped walking and bent double laughing. For a long time.
“Apparently not,” Sara said after a moment.
Prince Hoggle straightened up with an effort. “Me related to that-” he stopped himself before he started laughing again. “No. Besides, he’s the Goblin King. I’m just Prince of the Land of Stench. Not a nice place to visit.”
“I see,” Sara said politely.
“I hope we don’t see it on this go ‘round,” Hoggle told her, starting to walk again. “Too many close calls there. If you dip even a foot in there, you’ll stink forever.”
“That sounds terrible. Is there a reason it exists?”
“Reason? We’re a little far from that here.”
“Like how the walls move?” Sara asked.
Hoggle chuckled. “Exactly.”
“Are we even going in the right direction?”
Hoggle shrugged. “Mostly with the labyrinth, you keep walking until something happens. We’re headed toward the castle, but we won’t get there without a few scrapes.”
Sara considered as they walked. “So, you said all of the goblins in the city were children who weren’t brought home in time?”
“Some of them.” Prince Hoggle shrugged.
“How can anyone be that cruel?”
“How could anyone wish for the goblins to take their child away?” Hoggle asked her.
Sara flushed. “I didn’t mean it! I was thinking about my paper and the words just slipped out.”
“Your paper?”
“Yes, I’m researching stories where goblins take children. Er. You aren’t a goblin, are you?”
“Nah.” Prince Hoggle waved his hand dismissively. “So, you researched these stories and you still said the one thing that would make Jareth take your niece?”
“It sounds stupid. Even moreso when Jareth said that I had been calling out to him. I don’t think I’ve ever-” But here Sara stopped talking. They took several steps before Prince Hoggle looked up at Sara to see if she was going to say anything else. “I think I have seen him before.” It wasn’t quite a memory. More like a dream. And Sara had been having vivid dreams lately.
Prince Hoggle sniffed and shrugged. Then he gestured up ahead. “Well, looks like the labyrinth is starting to get bored.”
Ahead of them were two different paths. They looked identical.
“Which way should we go?” Sara asked.
“Search me,” Prince Hoggle said. “This is new to me too.”
Sara closed her eyes and thought. Fairy tales rules might apply here, but the logic was tricky as well. She opened her eyes with a smile. “Labyrinth,” she said, “could you please show me the safest way to the castle that will get me there before my time limit is up?”
Nothing happened.
Prince Hoggle shifted. “I know I said the labyrinth was getting bored,” he began. Then a passageway in the ground opened up in front of them and stairs appeared. Prince Hoggle jumped back.
Sara waited until everything stopped moving. “Do you think it’s safe?”
Prince Hoggle shrugged. “Nothing here is entirely safe, but you did say please. It’s probably our best bet.”
Sara and Prince Hoggle walked down the stairs and into the tunnel. Once they’d made it all the way down, the stairs groaned and moved back up until they were part of the ceiling. No going back now. There were torches hung up on the wall for light, and Sara grabbed the third one on the right. Three was usually a good number in fairy tales.
“So what sorts of stories are you researching?” Prince Hoggle asked as they walked. The ground was sand and the walls were the same brick as the labyrinth above them. It was easy going.
“I’m comparing stories from around the world to look at the commonalities between them,” Sara said, surprised that the prince was interested. “Fairy tales like Cinderella have versions all over the world, and of course there are stories about small children being taken, which is usually understood as them dying too young, but often in the goblin stories, the children are returned.”
“So you think there might have been some goblin taking children all over the world hundreds of years ago?”
Sara shrugged. “Probably not just one, and it’s also likely that the people telling the stories were warning about something else, like a neighboring village, but it’s an interesting thought.”
“Interesting. Yes, it is,” Prince Hoggle muttered.
Up ahead, the tunnel made a sharp turn, and Sara went first since she had the light. She almost ran into Jareth. Sara stepped back just in time and Prince Hoggle managed to dance around her. It seemed Jareth had found time to change his clothes. His cloak was gone and he was wearing leggings and a tight leather waistcoat with long sleeves that hung long in the back with a white ruffled shirt underneath. His boots went up to his knees. Sara tried to keep her eyes on his face, although the makeup on it was distracting as well.
“Have you come to give my niece back?” Sara asked.
Jareth scoffed. “Hardly. I wanted to see how you were doing with my labyrinth.” He looked past her. “With all the help you’re getting.”
“She’s the one making all the decisions,” Prince Hoggle pointed out. Although, Sara noticed that he edged a little bit behind her. He wasn’t quite as brave as he was pretending to be. Well, Sara always kept her head better when she had someone else to look after.
“It’s a lovely labyrinth,” Sara said, mindful that it appeared to be listening to her. “It’s unique and polite. I’m sure it holds all kinds of wonderful secrets, but I’m most interested in getting my niece back.” Sara stiffened. “She hasn’t woken up, has she?”
“Of course she has,” Jareth scoffed.
Sara looked at her watch and realized it wasn’t working. “She was just about due for more pain reliever. She’s got an ear infection. How does the time here translate to back home? She needs her antibiotics in the morning!” Sara’s hands flexed, wanting to soothe her niece the best she could without having medicine.
Jareth looked at her, saying nothing.
“If you don’t have pain reliever for infants, are you able to get some for her from back home? She’ll need 3.75 milliliters and you’ll have to shake the medicine before you put it in the syringe.”
Jareth held up a hand and Sara stopped babbling. “She’s not crying,” he said. “She’s in no pain here.”
Sara relaxed a little, the straightened up again. “She still needs her medicine in the morning. Is it morning back home yet?”
“No.” Jareth’s face was inscrutable, but Sara didn’t care what he thought.
“Good.” Sara took a breath. “Good. Then I guess I need to get her back before she would normally be awake back home, never mind thirteen hours.” She rolled her shoulders, looking down the tunnel ahead. “Unless you’d be kind enough to take me to her now? Please?”
Jareth’s face did interesting things. He settled on a scowl. “No. You have to solve the labyrinth.”
“All right then. If you’ll excuse me.” Sara slid by him and Prince Hoggle followed right behind him. When Sara turned around, he was gone.
Prince Hoggle chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone talk to him like that before.”
“If he’s going to take a baby, he has to be prepared for them to be sick,” Sara replied. “It seems like they usually are at this age, especially since Mariska goes to daycare.” She sighed. “I hope she’s all right.”
“She’ll be fine,” Prince Hoggle reassured her. “You just keep your mind on the labyrinth.”
“And what a wonderful labyrinth it is,” Sara said, glad for the change in topic. “It has a whole city inside of it, as well as your kingdom, of course.”
Prince Hoggle rolled his eyes. “And all kinds of things live in it,” he said. “If someone tells you to take your head off, make sure you stop them.”
Sara looked at him curiously.
Prince Hoggle shrugged. “It’s happened before.”
“Perhaps that will be one of the three trials,” Sara said.
“Three trials?”
“Well, not every fairy tale has them, and this labyrinth is so clever, it might just take us past all of them safely.” Sara patted the wall fondly. “But it’s common in stories like this.”
“And you think stories that people made up hundreds of years ago will help you get through this?”
Sara shrugged. “They had to come from somewhere, and most of them boil down to being kind to others, even if they seem unimportant, and having a pure heart. I can’t say my heart is pure, but I love my niece, and I will bring her home safely.”
“Well.” Prince Hoggle had nothing more to say, so they walked down the tunnel in silence.
Just as Sara we beginning to get worried, the tunnel began to slope upward and they saw daylight ahead. The two of them walked out of the tunnel and into the sunlight. It looked like they were in a town. Although if there had been a city planner, they had probably been drunk.
Prince Hoggle’s mouth opened in shock. “We’re already in the city?!”
Sara grinned. “This is a wonderful labyrinth that can be so kind.” She looked around for a place to set her torch, and noticed the squat mismatched creatures sneaking badly towards them. “Oh, you must be the goblins!” Sara said with a smile.
The goblins stopped, looking at each other.
“Could you please take me to Jareth?” Sara asked. She looked at Prince Hoggle. “Do you want to come along too?”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” he said with a grin. “No one’s solved it as fast as you have.”
Sara looked back at the goblins. “Could you please take both of us to the Goblin King? I need to talk to him about my niece.”
Still confused, some of the goblins walked ahead of them and some walked behind. Sara started complimenting the ones near her with whatever she could think of. Mostly, she called their outfits unique and just right for them. She could see them puff up their chests with pride. Did Jareth never have a good thing to say to his subjects?
In no time at all, they were in the castle. “He’s through there,” the lead goblin said.
“Thank you very much for taking me to him,” Sara said. “Would any of you like a torch?” She handed it to the first goblin who reached for it, and ignored the fight that broke out. She and Prince Hoggle went through the double doors into the room beyond.
It was a mess. There were casks of liquid dripping and, inexplicably, a few chickens. There was a small conversation pit in the floor, which didn’t fit with any castle architecture Sara knew. The stonework of the castle looked solid, but it was getting dirty and Sara wouldn’t be surprised if it was in need of repair. Despite having never been in a castle before, it looked familiar somehow. Like she would be able to tell you just what was up the flight of stairs in the corner. The drawings of Escher came to mind, and their brain-bending physics.
However, Sara stopped looking around her when she saw Mariska. Jareth had arranged himself in a round throne that was up on a dais with Mariska on his lap. There were words. Just like there were words to start this thing. There were words to end it.
Sara swallowed, trying to grab at shadows. Oh, the hell with it. “Give me the child,” she demanded, walking forward.
“You’ve hardly come through dangers untold or hardships unnumbered,” Jareth replied, his eyebrow jumping. Meanwhile, Mariska was desperately trying to get out of his arms and to Sara. He was having trouble holding onto her, but he managed to get a hand free to make a glass ball appear. “Look at what I’m offering,” he said. “Your dreams. All you have to do is let me rule you, and you can have anything you want.”
“I don’t think so,” Sara replied. “I don’t want anything in that ball if it means giving up Mariska.”
Sara looked up at Jareth. King of a ragtag group of goblins in a labyrinth that wouldn’t keep out someone who was kind to it. “You have no power over me,” she realized.
Mariska slipped out of his lap and walked unsteadily to Sara. Sara ran forward and scooped her up.
Just before everything went black around them and they reappeared in Mariska’s room, Sara saw Jareth’s face. Did he look sad? After all, she’d only gotten one child away from him.
Sara quickly put her mind back on the present. Mariska was already yawning and dozing in Sara’s arms. Sara set her niece gently back in bed and waited until she fell deeply asleep before leaving the room. Then Sara went back to her room.
If Jareth had been listening well enough to hear her make that stupid wish about the goblins, was he listening to everything she said? Or did it have to start with “I wish”?
Sara decided she’d make a gamble. “Jareth, could you tell Prince Hoggle thank you for me? I didn’t get the chance before we left.” She took a breath. “And, maybe try spending some time with the goblins you have before you go trying to get more. They could use a good word.”
Sara decided she was done working on her paper for tonight.
*
The second time was a test.
Nathan and Regina had gone out to a playdate with Mariska at a family friends’ house. If she wasn’t even in the house, Sara didn’t think Mariska would be at risk.
Sara grabbed the bag she’d packed and headed into the bathroom. If she was going to go back to the labyrinth, she wanted to be more prepared this time.
Sara looked at herself in the mirror. “Sara, I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now.”
This time, there were no goblins, but there was an owl buffeting the window. Sara opened it up and moved the bug screen out of the way. The owl’s wingspan should have been too large to fit through, but it did, and then the Goblin King was standing in her bathroom, dramatic cloak and all.
“Well, you are one to break the rules,” Jareth said, a cool smile on his face. “You can’t be the one trapped in the castle and the one doing the rescuing.”
“I wanted to talk to you, and I wasn’t sure how else to have a conversation.”
Jareth spread his hands. “Well, here I am. Although next time, perhaps you could just call my name.”
“I’ll remember that.” Sara shifted her backpack. “I wanted to talk to you about the goblins.”
“Yes, you mentioned they could do with hearing a positive word now and then.”
So he had been listening to her after all. “How can I get them to go home?”
A frown creased Jareth’s forehead. “Home? They are home.”
“No, I mean, their home in the human world. Are they all children stolen away?”
“Not all of them,” Jareth admitted. Sara opened her mouth, but Jareth continued talking. “Before you ask, I have no way of knowing which is which, and neither do they. Besides, it’s been a long time since we’ve added to the goblins that way. Even if you were able to tell which goblins used to be human and convinced them to come back, they wouldn’t have a home to go to. Would you sentence them to that?”
Sara opened and closed her mouth, pondering. “I suppose, like you said, they are home,” she agreed at last.
Jareth nodded. “Now, delightful as this conversation has been, unfortunately, I have been summoned to take someone, so I must take someone.”
“You’re taking me back to the labyrinth?”
Jareth nodded. Now Sara could almost see the moment when the world around her melted away and became the labyrinth. “You have thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth or you will become a goblin.” The same clock appeared on the tree. Sara wondered if Jareth said the same things every time.
Sara nodded. She had wondered if it might go this way. The panic she had expected to feel was smaller this time. More manageable.
“Unless I can tempt you with your dreams?” Jareth produced one of those glass balls again and manipulated it in a way that made Sara’s head spin.
“No, thank you,” Sara replied. “I may have some work to do with my life, but it’s mine. I won’t give it up for those dreams.”
“Very well then. Perhaps since you solved the labyrinth so quickly last time, you won’t mind if I shorten the time limit.”
“I would, actually,” Sara replied. Even if she couldn’t free the goblins, she wanted to see for herself how the creatures in the labyrinth lived.
“Such a pity, then,” Jareth said. He moved his finger in a lazy circle and time ticked away on the clock.
“That’s not very fair,” Sara pointed out.
Jareth grinned and Sara was suddenly reminded that he wasn’t human. “Fair is what the Goblin King decides in his realm. Good luck, Sara.” Then he disappeared.
Sara sighed and started walking. This time, she didn’t see Prince Hoggle anywhere, but she didn’t see any fairies either. Well then. “Hello, Labyrinth,” she said to the wall. “Could you please let me in? I’m back and I’d like to see how the folks inside of you live.”
For a moment, all was still. If this didn’t work, Sara wasn’t sure how else to get in. Then, a set of double doors swung outward. “Thank you,” Sara replied, walking inside. It closed behind her.
Sara turned left and began walking, looking closely at the labyrinth around her. “You’re in wonderful shape,” she complimented it. “And the glitter truly adds to the ambiance.”
“’allo” a small voice said.
“Hello,” Sara replied, finding the small, blue worm that had spoken. He had a red scarf wrapped around his neck. He was standing on a ledge next to a small hole in the wall. Sara sat down to bring him closer to eye level. “I’m here to see how you all are living in this labyrinth.”
“Sounds like you want a story. Come inside and meet the missus.”
“I’d love to,” Sara replied, unsure how that would work. But, with no warning, she was about the size of the worm and standing next to him on the ledge. She barely needed the breathing exercises this time. She followed him inside his home. It was cozy and reminded her of every home of a mouse or other small creature she’d seen in movies growing up. The magical and practical side by side.
“I’ve just put the kettle on,” another worm said, turning to them. “Oh, ‘allo!”
“Hello. I’m Sara.”
The worms both nodded.
“I’m Korinna,” said the worm who had been inside the house.
“I’m Jethro,” said the worm who had invited her inside.
“Lovely to meet you both,” Sara replied. “What’s it like living in the labyrinth?”
They sat down at a worn but solid table for their conversation. Korinna and Jethro wove a story of magic and simplicity. They lived their daily lives in a magical maze, so things that surprised Sara were normal to them. But when she offered things about her life, living with her brother and getting her Masters in Folktales, there were things about her life that surprised them.
“You need a job?” Korinna asked.
“Well, yes. Otherwise I won’t get the money I need to live.”
“Money?”
Sara smiled. “I suppose that answers that question. How do you get what you need? Food and such?”
“We trade for it,” Jethro replied. “The goblins in the trash heaps always find things. They like to hang onto what they find, but sometimes you can get them to trade.”
“Trash heaps?” Sara asked. Then she realized something. “I’m sorry to cut our conversation short, but I need to make it to the castle before my time is up or I’ll be turned into a goblin.”
“You’ll be turned into a goblin?” Korinna asked, confused.
“I made an unusual deal,” Sara admitted. She opened her backpack. “But I wanted to thank you both for talking with me.” Fortunately, everything in her backpack had shrunk when she did. Sara pulled out an intricate scarf she’d brought with her. It had been dear to her, once, but now she was ready to let it go.
“That’s beautiful,” Korinna said, looking longingly at it. “Are you sure?”
“Of course,” Sara answered. “I think it would look lovely on you.” She handed it over and Korinna put it on at once. It did look lovely on her.
Sara zipped her backpack shut and stood up. “Could you point me to the castle, please? It’s been wonderful to learn what it’s like to live here, but I need to make sure I get home.”
“I’ll take you to the trash heaps,” Jethro offered. “They’re close to the castle and I was planing to go there today.”
“Thank you,” Sara replied, wondering how a worm could travel so far. She didn’t have to wonder long. They went out the door and began moving. It seemed like she didn’t travel all that far with Jethro, but the wall around her changed and Sara realized she was at the edge of what looked like a dump. As she looked closer, Sara realized most of the piles of stuff were moving. They were on top of goblins.
“Here you are,” Jethro said. And suddenly, he seemed small again. “Thanks for coming in for a cup of tea. Always nice to meet new people.”
“Thank you for having me,” Sara replied, a little glad she was her normal size again, even if she wasn’t sure how it happened. Sara skirted around the edge of the trash heaps, with enough things in there, there would probably be something that would tempt her and she didn’t have time for that. As she left the trash heaps behind, Sara saw the castle ahead and a wall in front of her.
There was a door with a small courtyard beyond it. Sara could just see the edges of a giant door with something metal sticking out of it. “Excuse me,” Sara called. “I’m curious what it’s like being a door guard. Could you please tell me a bit about it?”
For a moment, everything was still. Then a small goblin in a bomber jacket wandered out from beyond the larger door. “Sure,” he said. “Here’s the big guard.”
Sara stepped through both sets of doorways and discovered that when the two larger doors shut, they created a robot with a control center at the top that this goblin operated. He talked her through it, and how he didn’t have to operate it often, but Sara kept the conversation short.
“Thank you so much for your time,” she said, grabbing a bracelet off of her wrist. “Would you like something in return?”
“Is that plastic?” he asked.
“Yes,” Sara replied.
“Great,” the goblin replied with a grin. Sara handed over the bracelet and strolled through town. It was a short walk to the castle, and she made it through the doors and into the throne room.
Jareth was sitting on his throne, alone. He had one booted leg thrown up over the edge of it and the other foot on the ground. Sara tried once again only to look at his face. Did he only own leggings and tight pants? “The labyrinth suits you,” he said.
“Thank you, I guess,” Sara replied.
Jareth grinned. “I wonder if your dreams have changed since the last time I offered them to you.” A glass ball appeared in his hand again.
“I didn’t look last time, and I’m not going to look this time,” Sara replied. “I’d like to go home please.” A thought occurred to her. “Actually, give me one moment.” She pulled her backpack around and unzipped it.
“What are you getting out?”Jareth asked.
In answer, Sara held up a small statue. It was an owl in flight, the white feathers picked out in stones. “I’ve had this since I was a child,” Sara said. “But I think it suits you better. Would you like it?”
Jareth stared at her for several long moments.
Sara cleared her throat, uncomfortable. “I suppose people in my position don’t usually offer you gifts, but I’ve been passing them out as I go.”
“I noticed,” Jareth replied quietly. He swung his leg down from his throne and stepped down the dais, his boots making a clicking sound as the heels came down. “Thank you, Sara.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad I came back here. It’s been fascinating getting to know some of your subjects. Maybe I can come back again when I don’t have to worry about being stuck here.”
Jareth gently took the owl from her and stroked its wings.
“Oh, right. Words are important.” Sara paused to give it more weight. “You have no power over me.”
Jareth looked up at her, as if he’d lost track of what they’d been doing. His gaze sharpened after a moment, and Sara felt like she was falling until she landed in the bathroom in her brother’s house.
“Thank you, Jareth,” she said. She couldn’t use any of this directly in her paper, but something inside her was beginning to feel more at ease after these trips to the Goblin Kingdom. Sara couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
*
The third time was full of intention.
Sara knew most adults didn’t live with their mom and then move in with their brother after their mom died unexpectedly. Most people didn’t spend so many years going to school, where there was a steady routine that never changed. Most people didn’t have such a problem when plans changed and things became unexpected. Most people didn’t carry the grief of their mom’s passing so close to the surface for weeks after the anniversary of her death.
Sara wasn’t most people.
She knew that, but it was still hurtful to overhear Regina talking about it to Nathan.
“Why was she even living with your mom in the first place? Your mom was perfectly healthy before she died.”
“Sara was going to school. And, between us, she doesn’t do well with change. I’m not sure she looked for an apartment after she graduated undergrad.”
“So, what? Was she just going to live with your mom forever?”
“I don’t know. She seemed happy, so I wasn’t going to bother her about it.”
“Well she’s living with us now, with no sign of leaving. It’s been over a year since your mom died.”
“Yes, and the anniversary was just a few weeks ago.”
“I know. I’m not trying to force her out but… When we got married and decided to have a family, I didn’t expect that your sister would be part of that.”
Silence for a moment. “Neither did I. I’ll talk to her about it, okay? Just...we’ve got to take this slow. Like I said, she hasn’t done well with change ever since she was a kid.”
Regina sighed and chuckled. “And you’re Mr. Spontaneity. It amazes me that you two are related sometimes.”
“Well, we have more in common than we don’t.”
Sara didn’t want to hear any more, so she stole away from the stairway and into her room, tears already burning in her eyes. What was worse was that she couldn’t deny any of it. She did hate change, and she hadn’t planned to move out of her mom’s house any time soon. Sara hated the idea that everything could change around her through no fault of her own. Was it any surprise that she tried to keep things the same the best that she could?
“Except, not all the time,” she realized. When she was in the labyrinth, she didn’t mind change. She expected it. Like what Prince Hoggle had said, the labyrinth was beyond reason. Was that why she was so comfortable there? Well, as comfortable as one could be meeting an arbitrary time limit to rescue someone, even if that someone was yourself. There was a way to test that.
Sara swallowed. Did she really want to do this just because she was upset? And yet, she found herself saying, “Jareth? Are you there?”
After a moment, Sara shook her head and roughly wiped her cheeks. As if the Goblin King would just listen to her all the time in case he heard his name. She didn’t want him listening all the time, actually. What was tapping at her window?
Sara turned and was shocked to see an owl tapping at the window to her basement bedroom. Although maybe she shouldn’t have been. Sara opened the window and bug screen and then Jareth was standing in her room.
He looked around him. Cataloging what he saw, perhaps. Sara felt an irrational surge of embarrassment. She hadn’t been very tidy the last few weeks. She just hadn’t seen the point. At least Jareth didn’t seem to be repelled by it the way Regina was.
Sara’s mind went blank. Why had she called to him? “Sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You were thinking that you were unwanted.”
Well that hit deep. But there was nothing Sara could argue with there. Instead, she sighed and sat on her bed. Jareth sat next to her. After a moment, he offered her a peach.
Sara looked up at him. “I know better than to eat goblin food.”
“It doesn’t have to all be downsides,” Jareth pointed out. “You’ve given me a gift, so I owe you something in return. No harm will come to you if you eat this.”
Sara looked at it for a moment longer, but didn’t move. “They say if you eat goblin food, you’re ruined for human food afterwards. That nothing tastes the way it used to. They say people who’ve eaten from the goblin market waste away afterwards.”
Jareth grinned with sharp teeth, reminding her once again that he wasn’t human. “That’s a lot of second or third-hand information. Don’t you want to try it for yourself?”
Sara took a deep, slow breath, and shook her head. “I can’t accept something from you when I don’t know what strings are attached to it. There were none attached to my gift to you.”
Jareth stood up from her bed. “Whether you meant it or not, I am in your debt because I accepted it. I will have to pay you back.”
It was on the tip of Sara’s tongue to ask to go back to the labyrinth. But if she didn’t have a reason to leave, a deadline to escape, would she want to? “Why am I like this?” she whispered.
“Like what?”
Sara hadn’t realized he’d heard her. She shifted on the bed. “Afraid of change. Kind to everyone but myself. Terrified that something outside of my control will impact my life and grabbing onto whatever I can to keep it from happening.”
“Almost as if you’d been snatched away as a babe and were scarred from it?”
Sara looked up, meeting Jareth’s mismatched gaze. When had she remembered that his eyes were different colors? “Was I taken to the labyrinth as a baby?”
He nodded. “You and your brother. He would have taken to being a goblin. You were crying the whole time. Nothing we tried would soothe you.”
Sara wondered how much experience Jareth had with babies. Babies that he almost never kept. Did he truly care for them when they were with him, or were they just a bargaining chip? “How…” Sara wet her lips. “How do you know it was me?”
“Once your Sarah took you and Nathan back, I forgot about you all. She wasn’t my Sarah because she left. But when you said those words and came back, I remembered you.”
Sara stared at him, pieces coming to her. “We had a babysitter named Sarah when I was young, maybe two or three. After one night, she never babysat again. My parents only mentioned her in passing since we had the same name and they thought it was odd that she quit so suddenly. I don’t remember her.”
“I do. I remember all of the Sarahs who come through. And leave.”
“Does no one stay with you?”
Jareth shrugged. “If they take their dreams, why would that involve me? If they fail, they go home without the baby. If they win, they go home with the baby. There is always a choice to stay with me, but none have taken it.”
“Always a Sara?”
Jareth nodded.
Sara’s mind was buzzing. How much free will did Jareth have? Did he have to answer every time a Sarah wanted to be rid of the baby she was watching, even if only for a moment? Why was it only someone named Sara? Did he have any control over what he offered them? Sara looked up at him, unsure how to ask any of the questions in her head.
Jareth was offering her the peach again. Sara swallowed.
“If you’re in my debt, eating the peach won’t make me waste away after trying it, right?”
“I told you no harm would come to you if you eat it, and I meant it.”
Sara stared for a moment longer. She could hear Nathan and Regina walking on the floor above them. Mariska thumping along in front of them. The family she was intruding on. Hesitantly, Sara reached forward, took the peach, and bit into it.
The juice filled her mouth and Sara savored it, taking a second bite without even thinking. It tasted like sunlight and freedom, like cares and worries lifted off her shoulders. Like nothing would harm her. Sara tried to take a third bite, but she missed the peach in her hand. Everything was dancing and it was hard to see what was in front of her. Her eyes drifted closed.
*
A ballroom. Full of people dressed beautifully. Yet it wasn’t a flat room. There were stairs and levels and they traversed with ease. Women and men in heels. Big gowns. Sparkling lights everywhere.
But Sara was only looking for one man. A man with mismatched eyes. She didn’t belong here, not really. No matter that her dress was as fine as anyone else’s. She stumbled a little in her heels, unused to how much space her skirt took up. The dress must have been beautiful, but Sara barely felt it. How it was tight and low in the bodice and flared out wide around her hips, reaching all the way down to the ground. The sleeves coming down in a point over her hands and stopping just shy of her rings.
All of these beautifully dressed people weren’t where she belonged. She needed to find a pair of mismatched eyes. She might not belong with him either but no harm would come to her. There. Just ahead of her. The mismatched eyes and that fey smile. Sara realized she had been hearing music this whole time and only now began to process it.
She and the man moved toward each other and began dancing. Sara had stumbled before, but she felt light as a feather with him and the floor was perfectly even under her feet. Sensations began to filter in. He was wearing a blue velvet coat over a white shirt. The velvet was soft under her hand and his hand was warm under hers. The heels on his boots must have been a bit lower than usual because they were eye to eye.
They danced. Sara felt something in her settle. She had made this happen. Through her kindness and her trust. Jareth held her close and they danced.
*
Sara came back to herself sitting on her bed, almost as if she hadn’t left. Laundry still on the floor. Bed still unmade under her. There was a peach pit on the floor near her foot. Briefly, Sara wondered what kind of tree would grow from it if she planted it. Then Sara realized what she had done.
She had eaten goblin food and danced at a fey ball.
She swallowed. She only had Jareth’s word that nothing bad would happen because of it. And yet. She was back in her room like nothing had happened. And something in her had shifted. Settled. She knew now why she was the way she was. That things could, indeed, change around her even if she didn’t cause them to. But she was no longer a baby, unable to even speak her mind.
Sara had been to the labyrinth four times now, if that fever dream of a dance was truly in the labyrinth. And she had come out unscathed each time. None the worse for wear and wiser than before. That counted for something. No, that counted for much.
Sara would always carry grief over her mother’s death. That was the nature of love after someone had died. But maybe now the changes that came with it didn’t have to be so daunting.
“Thank you, Jareth,” Sara whispered. She picked up the peach pit and held it to her, remembering their dance together. How the people she didn’t belong with had melted away until she was only with someone who would keep her from harm.
*
There wasn’t truly a fourth time. Well, not fully.
Sara opened the last box and started shelving her books, sunlight filling her apartment. She’d never had her bookcases all in one space like this before and she took the time to organize what she had. The books she’d used while she was getting her Master’s almost took up their own bookcase, and Sara knew she’d be reading them again. But there were other things on the rest of the shelves. Some books of her brothers that she’d read and gotten her own copies of. Books about cultures in different times and places.
Sara took her time shelving everything and looked around, satisfied. Her bright apartment felt like home. Hers in a way other spaces hadn’t fully been. Her hand strayed to the peach pit caught in a cage in her necklace. When she’d asked someone to make it for her, they’d pointed out the pit would rot over time, but Sara knew better. There was still magic in this world if one knew where to look.
“Take a look at where I am now, Jareth,” Sara whispered. And she turned with a smile when she heard a tapping at the window.