Chapter 1
Chapter 1
*Words are more treacherous and powerful than we think.
No family knows the truth behind those words quite like the Williams, particularly the younger of the family, Sarah and her brother, Toby.
It all started sixteen years earlier when Sarah was fourteen and was left to babysit her squalling half-brother, who, at the time, was the helpless age of eighteen months. Sarah, in a fit of anger and frustration, wished her little brother away to Jareth, the Goblin King, ruler of the Labyrinth. When he came to retrieve the babe, Sarah pleaded with him not to take Toby, but what's said is said.
Her first lesson was in the power of words.
However, the Goblin King was generous and offered Sarah her dreams in exchange for the simpering child. Tempted as she was, Sarah refused. Jareth then offered to let her run the Labyrinth in order to win him back but if she couldn't reach the castle beyond the Goblin City in thirteen hours time, her baby brother would be forfeited and become a goblin forever.
Her second lesson was in the consequences of words.
So, through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, Sarah fought her way to the center of the labyrinth to save her brother. But Jareth wasn't quite done with the heroine just yet. The Goblin King never was a graceful loser and tried to seduce her with masques and pretty words of devotion, all in an attempt distract her from her quest. Yet, despite all his temptations, Sarah managed to say the right words "you have no power over me" and defeated the Goblin King. He returned Sarah and her brother home and retreated, screeching, into the darkness amidst feathers and glitter in his owl form.
Her third lesson was in the redemption of words.
Sarah never forgot the lessons she learned that night and was a doting and protective sister to the young Toby. Through the years, she nurtured and sheltered her brother, whom she fought so hard to save from the Goblin King's clutches. Toby grew up basking in the affection and love of his older sister and as much as I would like to say that they grew into adulthood with mutual love and respect for one another and lived happily ever after, that is hardly ever the case. If that were to be the case, my story would be very short indeed. No, it doesn't end there. For some lessons, though bitterly learned by some, are for others left untaught. Some lessons, which ought never to be neglected, have tendencies to lay by the wayside on the road to maturity. And sometimes, when lessons are neglected or forgotten, they have a way of coming back around to bite you in the end.
….And what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl.
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*Jean Paul Sartre
