{labyrinth} setting dreams aside
Title: Setting Aside Dreams
Author: Aaronlisa
Fandom: Labyrinth
Characters: Sarah Williams, Toby Williams, Karen Williams, Jareth
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson & company.
Notes: Set post-movie.
Summary: Sarah has forgotten who she really is.
Word Count: 1808
She forgets her friends from the labyrinth. Not because she wants to but because she's supposed to. Children are supposed to grow up and they're supposed to set aside the childish dreams of the past. And Sarah Williams blossoms into a beautiful young woman. She doesn't lose all of her dreams. Just some of them.
Feverish dreams of racing through a stone maze where there's a clock counting down the hours until it strikes an impossible thirteen hours fade into barely remember dreams that leaving her gasping for air when she wakes in the morning to the sound of inane pop music blaring from the clock radio. Sometimes when she looks at the clock, she almost thinks that the numbers racing madly, trying to configure into an impossible time but when she blinks, the thought is gone, replaced with more pressing things.
If an owl watches her intently as she makes her way to from class to class, she doesn't see it. No one does. Every now and then, when her thoughts are lost in a daydream, she may catch a flash of snowy white wings but that's all. She might have forgotten about the labyrinth but it hasn't forgotten about her.
Sometimes something will prickle along her consciousness: a ghost of a memory trigged by a laugh or a whisper. And she will almost remember. For the briefest of moments, she'll be there again. Running through a long stone passage that doesn't ever seem so end. The unfairness of it all will cause an unpleasant metallic taste on her mouth that she can't seem to wash away. Other times, part of a song will trigger something in her subconscious and all she can see is a riot of swirling colours while her mouth is flooded with a sickly sweet taste of peaches.
When this happens, Sarah will either drink a cup of strong, black coffee while she switches off the radio. She grounds herself in reality and in adulthood without even realizing it.
The labyrinth tries to pull her back in because she wasn't supposed to leave it. She had conquered it, defeated it's ruler and she had won. She wasn't like any of the other runners. Even if she had chosen to return back to the mundane world aboveground. It stretches out phantom tentacles in an attempt to draw her back to it. Sarah belongs to it now just as it belongs to Sarah.
Yet it constantly rebuffed. And it is dying as a result. It's king sits on a throne made of dull bone. Neither king nor labyrinth can understand that Sarah is growing up. That her rejection of them both is not malicious but natural. It's a common occurrence for children aboveground when they grow from child to adult. The part of her that is tied to the labyrinth does it's best to remind the girl but the girl is gone.
In the mirror, Sarah doesn't see a child anymore. One who was afraid to grow up, afraid to accept that she wasn't a little girl anymore. Instead she sees a young woman, on the cusp of becoming a fully-fledged adult. Her eyes are crystal clear even if there is a tint of purple shadow underneath them. She doesn't see how her lips twist cruelly as she rejects the gossamer threads of childhood. Sarah doesn't understand that her rejection of her childhood is destroying her beloved friends because she doesn't understand that they are real.
When she comes home before her last semester of college during winter break, Sarah's lips are painted crimson. Her dark hair is twisted up in a hairdo that is more becoming of an adult. She clatters up the driveway in a pair of high heels with dark coloured pants and a vibrant red top underneath a heavy black coat. Her perfume is a sophisticated designer scent that her mother had sent her for her birthday.
Toby looks at her and sighs. He can sense that the girl is almost gone. He needs his sister back not this stranger who sort of looks like her. He needs the sister who used to tell him stories about knights who rode upon steeds that were only noble with a bit of coaxing. Stories of goblins and kings who could transform into owls as they presided over a labyrinth. He doesn't need this strange adult who ruffles his hair in greeting as she smiles at an offer of wine.
He knows what she doesn't. The labyrinth has called to him. It has given him a different book to try to win back it's champion. A book that instructs Toby how to wish her back to it. How to wish them both back to where they belong. Yet he's hesitant. He can't quite form the words. Not when their parents are laughing with her over some anecdote about her experiences that are pulling her further and further away from him.
The labyrinth has made him aware of how much he has lost as his sister has grown older. It has made him aware that once upon a time, she was an almost wild, fey-like creature who would tell him stories that were real even if they sounded like they were nothing more than imagination. They have made him aware that once she was a young girl with stars in her eyes who only wore the scent of vanilla and roses. She was sweet and misguided and miles aware from this stranger who is an adult and can't even understand how he feels, how the king and the labyrinth and her friends feel about her casual betrayal.
Toby doesn't quite understand adulthood or the natural rules of the aboveground. He rails against them just like how Sarah used to rail against how unfair things were when she was just a girl on the cusp of adulthood. He wants things that he doesn't understand. Some of them are because of the taste of the labyrinth that he had and some of there are just the natural reluctance of a child to grow up when faced with it.
There are rules against eating the food of the fairies for mortals. Neither Toby nor Sarah really knew those rules but the labyrinth and it's ruler did. It uses those rules now. When the pair are supposed to accompany their parents on an overnight visit to a family member's house, they become ill. Sarah complains that the milk her mother gives her taste sour and Toby hold his stomach after a full mouthfuls of his breakfast cereal. It tasted spoiled on his tongue.
Karen checks them over but neither have a fever but their stomachs ache. Her husband declares it a case of the flu, probably of a twenty-four hour variety. They insist that the pair stay home and recuperate. Toby readily agrees but Sarah is reluctant to do so. Something feels off. It's more than the sour taste of the milk or her sore stomach. She can't explain it and she feels the fury of a child when her parents ignore her feelings.
In the end, she find herself bundled up in her parents' bed with Toby beside her. The TV is playing some favourite childhood movie. Sarah is distracted and Toby takes advantage of the moment. He whispers the words that will upend everything. He hopes that they will fix things because he knows that they were never ever supposed to be in this world aboveground.
"Sarah, I wish the goblins would come and take us away! Right now!"
She can barely react as the memories come racing back. The room is cast in sudden darkness as the comforting electric glow vanishes as a storm crashes against the house, further darkening the room. It reminds her of night not that long ago when it was just her and her baby brother. Toby smiles up at her. To him, everything is going to be okay now. He doesn't think about things like what their sudden disappearance will do to their parents. He doesn't think about any of the consequences.
"Oh Toby what have you done?" Sarah cries as the French door crashes open. "What have you done?"
As an adult, she can't understand that Toby's only done what needed to be done to fix a wrong that occurred when he was just a babe. She was never supposed to leave the Labyrinth. Neither of them were. She wasn't supposed to reject the Labyrinth's King. She was supposed to rule by his side as his Queen. As an adult all she can see is the horror of what will happen aboveground while she is trapped with her brother underground. There's a part of her that knows Toby will never agree to run the Labyrinth to provide them with a chance to escape. And since he made the wish, she is trapped.
The part of her that's still a child wonders if she will have to become a goblin. She shivers as he appears in front of him. She tries to pull Toby closer her but to the boy slides out of her grasping hands. The air smells of ozone and electricity.
"You're him aren't you?" Toby bravely asks as Sarah cowers on the bed.
This isn't supposed to happen. It's unfair. The Goblin King ignores her as he smiles down at the boy who has saved them all. To Sarah, his smile looks cruel and to Toby his smile looks fond. In reality, it's somewhere between the two emotions. The Goblin King is furious that it's taken this long to find resolution. He vows that she will pay for her error. He is a creature of the underground and despite all of his association with the aboveground, he doesn't understand that what had happened was the natural order of things.
Sarah wasn't being cruel or unkind or malicious in shutting out the underground. She was growing up. She was doing what every child must do. Even as she shivers in fear of what will happen next, neither of them understand that they are powerless to certain rules.
She's powerless as the goblins prance about the room. Their cackling laughter hurts her ears. She allows Toby to drag her from the bed, to drag her until she's standing in front of him. There's a promise written on his cruel lips. One that promises that she will never see her family, other than Toby again..
"Will you turn me into a goblin?"
Toby laughs at her words. Even now she doesn't understand anything. But soon she will. He places their joined hands into the Goblin King's gloved one and the aboveground world melts away. He wonders who will tell his sister that they are finally in their true home at long last and they will still here forever and ever.
((END))
Author: Aaronlisa
Fandom: Labyrinth
Characters: Sarah Williams, Toby Williams, Karen Williams, Jareth
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson & company.
Notes: Set post-movie.
Summary: Sarah has forgotten who she really is.
Word Count: 1808
She forgets her friends from the labyrinth. Not because she wants to but because she's supposed to. Children are supposed to grow up and they're supposed to set aside the childish dreams of the past. And Sarah Williams blossoms into a beautiful young woman. She doesn't lose all of her dreams. Just some of them.
Feverish dreams of racing through a stone maze where there's a clock counting down the hours until it strikes an impossible thirteen hours fade into barely remember dreams that leaving her gasping for air when she wakes in the morning to the sound of inane pop music blaring from the clock radio. Sometimes when she looks at the clock, she almost thinks that the numbers racing madly, trying to configure into an impossible time but when she blinks, the thought is gone, replaced with more pressing things.
If an owl watches her intently as she makes her way to from class to class, she doesn't see it. No one does. Every now and then, when her thoughts are lost in a daydream, she may catch a flash of snowy white wings but that's all. She might have forgotten about the labyrinth but it hasn't forgotten about her.
Sometimes something will prickle along her consciousness: a ghost of a memory trigged by a laugh or a whisper. And she will almost remember. For the briefest of moments, she'll be there again. Running through a long stone passage that doesn't ever seem so end. The unfairness of it all will cause an unpleasant metallic taste on her mouth that she can't seem to wash away. Other times, part of a song will trigger something in her subconscious and all she can see is a riot of swirling colours while her mouth is flooded with a sickly sweet taste of peaches.
When this happens, Sarah will either drink a cup of strong, black coffee while she switches off the radio. She grounds herself in reality and in adulthood without even realizing it.
The labyrinth tries to pull her back in because she wasn't supposed to leave it. She had conquered it, defeated it's ruler and she had won. She wasn't like any of the other runners. Even if she had chosen to return back to the mundane world aboveground. It stretches out phantom tentacles in an attempt to draw her back to it. Sarah belongs to it now just as it belongs to Sarah.
Yet it constantly rebuffed. And it is dying as a result. It's king sits on a throne made of dull bone. Neither king nor labyrinth can understand that Sarah is growing up. That her rejection of them both is not malicious but natural. It's a common occurrence for children aboveground when they grow from child to adult. The part of her that is tied to the labyrinth does it's best to remind the girl but the girl is gone.
In the mirror, Sarah doesn't see a child anymore. One who was afraid to grow up, afraid to accept that she wasn't a little girl anymore. Instead she sees a young woman, on the cusp of becoming a fully-fledged adult. Her eyes are crystal clear even if there is a tint of purple shadow underneath them. She doesn't see how her lips twist cruelly as she rejects the gossamer threads of childhood. Sarah doesn't understand that her rejection of her childhood is destroying her beloved friends because she doesn't understand that they are real.
When she comes home before her last semester of college during winter break, Sarah's lips are painted crimson. Her dark hair is twisted up in a hairdo that is more becoming of an adult. She clatters up the driveway in a pair of high heels with dark coloured pants and a vibrant red top underneath a heavy black coat. Her perfume is a sophisticated designer scent that her mother had sent her for her birthday.
Toby looks at her and sighs. He can sense that the girl is almost gone. He needs his sister back not this stranger who sort of looks like her. He needs the sister who used to tell him stories about knights who rode upon steeds that were only noble with a bit of coaxing. Stories of goblins and kings who could transform into owls as they presided over a labyrinth. He doesn't need this strange adult who ruffles his hair in greeting as she smiles at an offer of wine.
He knows what she doesn't. The labyrinth has called to him. It has given him a different book to try to win back it's champion. A book that instructs Toby how to wish her back to it. How to wish them both back to where they belong. Yet he's hesitant. He can't quite form the words. Not when their parents are laughing with her over some anecdote about her experiences that are pulling her further and further away from him.
The labyrinth has made him aware of how much he has lost as his sister has grown older. It has made him aware that once upon a time, she was an almost wild, fey-like creature who would tell him stories that were real even if they sounded like they were nothing more than imagination. They have made him aware that once she was a young girl with stars in her eyes who only wore the scent of vanilla and roses. She was sweet and misguided and miles aware from this stranger who is an adult and can't even understand how he feels, how the king and the labyrinth and her friends feel about her casual betrayal.
Toby doesn't quite understand adulthood or the natural rules of the aboveground. He rails against them just like how Sarah used to rail against how unfair things were when she was just a girl on the cusp of adulthood. He wants things that he doesn't understand. Some of them are because of the taste of the labyrinth that he had and some of there are just the natural reluctance of a child to grow up when faced with it.
There are rules against eating the food of the fairies for mortals. Neither Toby nor Sarah really knew those rules but the labyrinth and it's ruler did. It uses those rules now. When the pair are supposed to accompany their parents on an overnight visit to a family member's house, they become ill. Sarah complains that the milk her mother gives her taste sour and Toby hold his stomach after a full mouthfuls of his breakfast cereal. It tasted spoiled on his tongue.
Karen checks them over but neither have a fever but their stomachs ache. Her husband declares it a case of the flu, probably of a twenty-four hour variety. They insist that the pair stay home and recuperate. Toby readily agrees but Sarah is reluctant to do so. Something feels off. It's more than the sour taste of the milk or her sore stomach. She can't explain it and she feels the fury of a child when her parents ignore her feelings.
In the end, she find herself bundled up in her parents' bed with Toby beside her. The TV is playing some favourite childhood movie. Sarah is distracted and Toby takes advantage of the moment. He whispers the words that will upend everything. He hopes that they will fix things because he knows that they were never ever supposed to be in this world aboveground.
"Sarah, I wish the goblins would come and take us away! Right now!"
She can barely react as the memories come racing back. The room is cast in sudden darkness as the comforting electric glow vanishes as a storm crashes against the house, further darkening the room. It reminds her of night not that long ago when it was just her and her baby brother. Toby smiles up at her. To him, everything is going to be okay now. He doesn't think about things like what their sudden disappearance will do to their parents. He doesn't think about any of the consequences.
"Oh Toby what have you done?" Sarah cries as the French door crashes open. "What have you done?"
As an adult, she can't understand that Toby's only done what needed to be done to fix a wrong that occurred when he was just a babe. She was never supposed to leave the Labyrinth. Neither of them were. She wasn't supposed to reject the Labyrinth's King. She was supposed to rule by his side as his Queen. As an adult all she can see is the horror of what will happen aboveground while she is trapped with her brother underground. There's a part of her that knows Toby will never agree to run the Labyrinth to provide them with a chance to escape. And since he made the wish, she is trapped.
The part of her that's still a child wonders if she will have to become a goblin. She shivers as he appears in front of him. She tries to pull Toby closer her but to the boy slides out of her grasping hands. The air smells of ozone and electricity.
"You're him aren't you?" Toby bravely asks as Sarah cowers on the bed.
This isn't supposed to happen. It's unfair. The Goblin King ignores her as he smiles down at the boy who has saved them all. To Sarah, his smile looks cruel and to Toby his smile looks fond. In reality, it's somewhere between the two emotions. The Goblin King is furious that it's taken this long to find resolution. He vows that she will pay for her error. He is a creature of the underground and despite all of his association with the aboveground, he doesn't understand that what had happened was the natural order of things.
Sarah wasn't being cruel or unkind or malicious in shutting out the underground. She was growing up. She was doing what every child must do. Even as she shivers in fear of what will happen next, neither of them understand that they are powerless to certain rules.
She's powerless as the goblins prance about the room. Their cackling laughter hurts her ears. She allows Toby to drag her from the bed, to drag her until she's standing in front of him. There's a promise written on his cruel lips. One that promises that she will never see her family, other than Toby again..
"Will you turn me into a goblin?"
Toby laughs at her words. Even now she doesn't understand anything. But soon she will. He places their joined hands into the Goblin King's gloved one and the aboveground world melts away. He wonders who will tell his sister that they are finally in their true home at long last and they will still here forever and ever.
((END))