| Prologue – Strange Dreams In the residence of the Williams, Sarah was watching Toby again with no arguments. When it was bedtime, she read one of her childhood storybooks, ‘Thumbelina’ that had lots of pictures. But Toby fell asleep half way through. When Sarah noticed that her brother was asleep she quietly left her parents bedroom and headed down stairs and sat on the sofa and within minutes she was asleep with the book still in hand. Of course she had a long day. It was Friday night and earlier that day after school she helped the community to prepare for a parade the next day since she was on the committee. It was a parade for the community’s 200th birthday. Since her ventured into the Labyrinth, her life changed. She began to respect her stepmother and didn’t argue as often. Many times her father questioned the change but Sarah would only say ‘I’ve had time to think’. Of course it would stand to reason when’s one brother was wished away by a magic spell that didn’t know that existed and had thirteen hours to get him back. Soon after returning from the Labyrinth, Sarah tried calling her new friends but they would never come. After many tries, she gave up. The only explanation she could come up with was that they were too busy to see her. When she stopped calling, she started thinking about ‘him’ and even dreaming of him. Some dreams were of him dieing and some were of her being his queen. But how could that have been, he was dead wasn’t he? He invaded her waking thoughts and dreams. Everywhere she turned, she could imagine his face. Sarah thought she was going insane. For three months, the Goblin King invaded her dreams and thoughts and soon started to have dreams of him being tortured. The dreams were always the same. It would start off with her sitting in a garden. She would see a figure wearing a dark cloak, moving away from her. Too curious, Sarah would follow. “Who are you?” Sarah always asked and continued following. Of course the figure would never answer. For what seemed like hours, Sarah would follow the figure to a darkened cave. Deep within the cave, the figure would stop not too far from a man chained to a wall. His clothes were tattered and worn. His normally spiked hair was straight and matted with tangles. Not the usual way Sarah had last seen him. In fact it didn’t really look like at all especially since he hadn’t shaved in awhile. There was no shine to him. He looked a beggar not a man of power, the Goblin King that could put fear into people’s eyes. Sarah gasped at the sight of him. That is when she would realize she was dreaming and wake up but not this time. This time was different, the figure then turned to Sarah, removing her cloak to reveal itself as a beautiful woman wearing a white poetic gown, with the sleeves to the ground. She had long blond hair to the knee. “Who are you? And why does this dream keep happening?” Sarah demanded angrily. “You need to free him,” the woman said. “How can I free someone who is dead?” Sarah’s eyes drifted to the king. “Jareth isn’t dead. He lives. But he is no longer the king. Someone overthrew him and took the throne. Jareth is a prisoner in his own castle, being tortured and then left to die. “You must wish him free from his confines.” The woman pointed to what was holding the former king up. “You never answered my questions,” Sarah said. “Who are you? And why does this dream keep happening?” “For now I can not tell you who I am. But what I can tell you is that Jareth is my brother.” “Your brother?” Sarah gasped. “Yes. I was a prisoner but I escaped into your dreams and that is the answer to your second question. I invaded your dreams of my brother so you could free him. “Jareth and I have an evil sister who is older than both of us. Please free him.” The woman faded away. Just then Jareth lifted his head to Sarah. “Help me,” his voiced whispered. It was clearing Jareth’s voice but Sarah noted that his lips did not move. Feeling bad for defeating him, she walked closer to him and knelt down. The image of Jareth followed his eyes to her movement. “How do I?” she asked. “The same way you wished your brother away,” a voice said. Sarah couldn’t make out if it was female or male. Standing back up, Sarah remembered the words she used when she wished Toby away. Trusting her instincts, she drew in a big breath and said slowly, “I wish for Jareth to be free…right now!” Jareth looked to Sarah with a faint smile, and then disappeared. Suddenly the room went dark and Sarah woke with a start in her living room, hearing something hit the floor. __________________________________________ The first installment of the new revised version of “Revisiting the Enchanted Land” is now complete. Stand tuned to the next installment, not sure when that will be though but hopefully not too long. |