Between the Stars

She was back in the ballroom, but it was empty.  Shards of mirror were scattered across the floor and crunched with each step Sarah took.  

“He’s not here,” a voice said from behind her.

The young woman whirled to find herself facing a familiar figure… it was one of the women who’d danced with Jareth.  Sarah didn’t know why she remembered that, but there was certainty in the knowledge.  “He…?” she asked, although she already knew the answer.

The woman gestured around the room.  “He did all of this for you.  Gave you your heart’s desire, and what did you do?”

“I-” Sarah began, but was cut off.

“You ruined him!  You didn’t just break his heart - you shattered it!  Pieces all over the place!  And if he doesn’t get them back, do you know what will happen?!  Do you?!”

The woman was practically in tears now as Sarah shook her head, not knowing what to say.

“He’ll turn into stardust!  This is why none of us watch the Earth anymore.  You’re all selfish, small-minded, ungrateful creatures!”  The woman strode closer, getting right into Sarah’s face, sneering.  “You don’t deserve everything he gave you!”  Then she put her hand on Sarah’s chest, over her heart.  “And you definitely don’t deserve to have that bit of him glowing inside you!” 

Then, before Sarah could react, the woman plunged her hand into her chest and began to pull at something within her.  The author screamed…

… and woke up in bed, drenched with sweat.  “Jareth…”  Quickly her hand flew to her chest… which seemed to be glowing softly.  With a gasp, Sarah rose and ran to her bathroom mirror.  There, she watched as a soft light pulsed from beneath her night shirt.  She didn’t understand what was happening, but maybe… maybe there was someone who did.  It had been ages since she’d tried to call to any of her friends in the Labyrinth.  After all, the last time she’d made the attempt, they hadn’t answered.  But surely it couldn’t hurt to try.  Staring into the mirror, Sarah took a deep breath and said, “Hoggle… I need you.  Now more than ever.  Something’s happening here, and I can’t figure it out without help.  Your help.  Please…!”  Sarah took a deep breath… and waited.

The Labyrinth was not the place it had once been… nor were its denizens.  Not since their world had literally shattered, and their king vanished.  It had been chaos at first; survival the only thing on anyone’s mind.  The portals to the human realm were in ruin, too.  Hoggle knew because he’d checked - every last one of them - wanting to warn Sarah about what had happened.  These days, the only way to leave the Labyrinth was with a shard.  They’d appeared after the shattering - scattered about like bits of a broken mirror - but they were still rare.  It was only recently he’d managed to even acquire one.  But now that he had it, Hoggle feared using it.  What if Sarah hated him for never returning?!  What if they weren’t friends anymore?!  So he’d kept it safe… and waited for a chance to be brave.

It couldn’t just be coincidence.  Sarah knew that.  This HAD to be Jareth… deep down she understood and accepted.  The real mystery was how he’d come to be here… and why he seemed to truly have no memory of her, or his life before.  Or rather… no conscious memory.  Something had pulled him to her… just as she’d been pulled to him.  Still, she couldn’t simply voice her suspicions.  He’d think she was crazy… and refuse to see her again… and then they might never figure out what was happening here.  “Well,” she said with a soft smile, “I don’t mind indulging you.  And maybe… maybe my instincts are calling to me, too.”  It was such a dramatic thing to say… but Sarah wanted to put the man at ease - to assure him they were on equal footing here.

His gaze on hers brought back memories of a shared dance… of feeling like they were the only two people in the universe.  She’d accepted her mixed feelings for the king long ago, but was surprised to discover how much she cherished that sensation - even now.  At the offer to return to the garden, Sarah nodded.  “I think I’d like that.  And it’s a good setting for the part I’ll be reading today.”

Opening the door, Sarah held it open for John, gesturing to the hallway beyond.  “Shall we?”

The afternoon spent with Sarah was an enjoyable one.  Something about the sound of her voice soothed him… made him feel hopeful.  Although for what, he wasn’t certain.  As each chapter was slowly revealed, John felt as if forgotten parts of himself were doing the same.  There were still no memories; this was more like sensations… and emotions.  Fondness - regret - longing - they crept tentatively through him, as if searching for purpose inside his head.  And over it all was a sense of connection.  This felt right… even if he didn’t understand why.  But maybe, with Sarah’s help, he soon would.

John regretted when it was time for them to say goodbye.  Watching Sarah walk away from him held a finality to it that made no sense.  But he didn’t stop her.  How could he?  What reason would he give?  Such actions would surely only serve to make the woman question him… question his sanity.  And he couldn’t have that.  He needed her. Of that John was certain.

That night, he did not sleep easy.  There was a pain in his chest; something felt broken… shattered.  In his dreams, John was scrambling to pick up the pieces, push them back into his chest before they were lost forever.  But some… some were missing.  Lost in a realm he could no longer reach.  And others were… not stolen, not precisely.  But they’d settled into the heart of another.  Wriggled their way in so deeply...

Omens Drawing Challenge day 10: Owl

I haven’t been able to keep up with the prompts, but am jumping back in for today. Owls are said to be good or bad omens, depending on the surrounding circumstances. Something tells me this may not be a positive sign. 🦉 👀

Something about her story…?  Sarah’s eyes traveled over the man’s face, seeking answers that just didn’t seem to be there.  She saw no recognition in that gaze… and yet, why did staring into them make her feel so lost?  And so found?  “Maybe,” she said softly, “it wouldn’t hurt to trust your instincts for a change?”  There might’ve been a hint of challenge in those words.  But just barely.  In truth, despite the fact that she hadn’t even begun reading yet, the woman was already hoping he’d invite her back again.

The stars.  Sarah’s memory tugged at her.  An impossible maze - a song sung for her ears alone.  ‘I move the stars for no one.’  And yet that was what he’d done, hadn’t he?  Jareth had stretched his powers to their limits and she’d thrown it back in his face.  Rightfully so, of course.  Toby was the only thing that mattered.  But now - now her writer’s mind was whirling with the possibilities of what had happened once she’d won the ‘game.’  Had Jareth pushed his powers TOO far? Was that even possible?

“I’m so sorry…” she murmured.  “It must be terrible…”  Sarah trailed off, uncertain what else to say.

“My instincts?”  John chuckled, finding that he enjoyed the hint of challenge in the woman’s gaze.  “But Ms. Williams… Sarah - that’s what I’m doing.  It’s why I invited you here.  Because while logic tells me there’s nothing but absurdity to be found by looking for my answers in a children’s novel… my instinct - my heart - tells me something else.”  He gazed down at her for a moment, unable to look away.  Her eyes… there was a determination in them that… that made him anxious.  But why?

Ms. Williams?  It sounds so… formal.  She’d opened her mouth to tell him he could call her Sarah, but John started speaking again.  Had she really impressed him so much with that first reading.  “W-well, thank you,” she replied, offering him a smile in return as she stepped into the small room.  “It’s always nice to know people enjoy my writing and the stories I have to tell.”

Moving further into the room, Sarah’s eyes scanned over the sparse furnishings before falling on the paintings.  Despite not being framed, there was an almost ethereal beauty to them, one which - for some inexplicable reason - made her feel almost homesick.  “These are lovely,” she replied in a soft tone, eyeing each painting with admiration.  Her mind went back to the way John had gazed up into the sky on their previous meeting.  “Did you paint these yourself?”

John closed the door behind her once Sarah was in the room, hoping she wouldn’t mind the additional privacy.  “Not just enjoy…” he insisted, his voice soft… thoughtful.  “I… I suppose it’s difficult to explain.  Or rather, it feels somewhat absurd…?  But there’s something about your story…”  John shook his head.  “Probably nothing but my own fancies… never mind.”  He offered what was almost a self-conscious smile as words faded away.

When the man with Jareth’s face said he wanted her to return, Sarah let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding.  Right until that precise moment she hadn’t realized just how badly she wanted him to say she could come back.  It was absurd, of course.  She knew this person couldn’t be the Goblin King.  

… Didn’t she…?

“N-next week, then” she replied, tucking the book away in her bag.  Standing, Sarah offered him a nod as he spoke.  “I’m happy to make time…”  She was about to say more, but wasn’t sure the man would hear her.  John was staring so intently at the stars… and the look of pure sadness on his face almost made her gasp.  It was the exact same face she’d seen that night when she’d murmured those fateful words… ‘You have no power over me…’  The night she’d shattered Jareth’s world.

With shaking steps, Sarah fled the small garden, walking quickly to her car.  Once behind the wheel, she sat there, breaths heavy as she battled with a myriad of emotions she couldn’t place.  “It can’t be… it just can’t!” she told herself.  But… what if…?

~~~

The next week Sarah found herself nervously standing outside the door to John’s room.  This was absurd!  Why was her heart beating so fast?  Even if the man on the other side of the door WAS somehow Jareth… he obviously had no memory - not of her or anything else.  Knocking softly, the woman bit her lip and worried at it, mind racing. 

But what if the books helped him to remember?  What then?  If he got his memory back, what would he do to her?  What might he do to Toby?  Oh… she should turn around and go home!  This had all been a bad idea!  But before she could do anything, the door was opening…  And there was John - standing so close… and smiling!  Her mind reeled, remembering the last time she’d seen that smile - in a ballroom filled with dangers and delights.  She wasn’t that child anymore… and yet she felt more drawn to him now than she had back then.  “H-Hello,” she said in greeting, feeling suddenly breathless.

The week passed differently than all the rest before it.  Perhaps because, for the first time since his arrival here, John had something - someone - to look forward to.  It was an odd feeling, but it was new, so he welcomed it.  Anything to help him escape from the monotony of living in this place - to escape from the feeling of isolation - of slowly losing himself.  

And he dreamed!  For the first time in memory!  The images made no sense, but the woman was there - shining like a diamond amidst a sea of others.  They danced for what seemed like forever, and it almost felt like... like home.  Now he anticipated her return all the more!  John didn’t know how it was possible (or why he felt so certain) but this woman and her book... they were unlocking things within him.  Memories?  He wasn’t certain.  But he couldn’t deny the changes within him since that day in the garden.

The knock on his door barely a week later had John’s heart racing.  She was here! John took a quick look around his room - everything was in order... not that he had much to get ‘out of order.’  The room held his bed and a writing desk, a small couch and a short bookshelf.  On the walls were several paintings he’d done - all of them depicting the night sky.  Taking a deep breath, John opened the door with a smile (that he hoped didn’t look too nervous) and stepped back to welcome Sarah inside.  

John?  No… definitely not right.  She was more sure of that every second she sat here beside him.  And Sarah suddenly found herself wondering what he would do when he heard the name… the right name.  Would it make a difference?  Maybe not.  After all, he hadn’t reacted to her.  Although perhaps she was putting more stock in her role than she should?  It was more than a little conceited to think she was the reason for the man who sat before her with no memories.  Wasn’t it?  Or did she simply not want to believe that her refusal all those years ago had caused… this?  “John it is, then,” she finally replied.  “Although, if you think of something else you’d rather be called, tell me, and I will.”

Sarah looked up and over at him, a little startled by the statement.  “I… yes.  Yes, it is.”  She laughed then, her tone turning sheepish.  “I wrote it… so it’s definitely found a special place in my heart.”  That wasn’t the only reason, of course, but she couldn’t simply start telling people the truth… otherwise she might wind up right here alongside… John.

Not sure what else to say, the woman offered him a smile and said, “I’ll begin now, if that’s alright…?”  She didn’t really wait for a response… although perhaps she should have.  Was it possible the idea of actually talking to the man who looked so much like Jareth frightened her… just a little?  Shaking off the feeling, she began to read, immersing herself for the second time that day in the retelling for her own story.  She stopped occasionally to take sips of water, but it wasn’t until the sun moved too low to see properly that she closed the book and looked back over at John.  

“I think it’s probably time for me to stop,” she said with a soft smile.  “But I’m planning on coming back… to read to others.  So… if you wanted me to, I… I could stop by afterwards?  Once a week?”  Sarah wasn’t sure why she made the offer so hesitantly, but told herself it was because she didn’t want to impose on the man.

He chuckled a little when the woman seemed to be as unsure of his name as he himself was.  “If I think of something else, you will be the first to know,” he replied, tone vaguely teasing.  A brow arched in further interest when she confessed to having written the book.  That certainly made more sense… and would also make her reading of it more substantial (or so he assumed.)  

With a silent nod, John leaned back to look up at the sky as Sarah began to read.  It was a rather charming tale - about a little girl and her half-brother - and a villainous goblin king.  Although… the girl had demanded the child be taken.  It almost seemed to him that she had only herself to blame for what befell her and her brother afterwards.  But he didn’t say so - he just kept listening to the woman’s voice as she read, enjoying the tale.  

The thing was… the longer her words flowed through him, the more his skin began to… to ripple.  Or tingle?  Or something.  He wasn’t quite sure.  It was the most unusual feeling - something he’d experienced before… but not since some of his earliest memories.  And the feeling had faded rapidly, never to return.  Until now, it seemed.  Even as Sarah stopped reading, the feeling remained, and John had to shake himself free of his thoughts in order to reply to her.  “I have no wish to keep you,” he replied, looking on her with a gentle smile.  “However, I think I would enjoy hearing more of your story, Ms. Williams.  If you have the time, of course.”

“Honor and Truth will never fail against the enemy.”

“I fight because I have to.”

“No matter what you do to me, it won’t change anything. I will never break.”

“Talk, talk, talk… it’s always the same old speech, if you’re going to do something, JUST DO it already, so I can stop you.”

“Even if ONE person needs me, I will fight for them with everything I’ve got.”

“I never said you’d be easy to destroy, I said no one else could do it but me.”

“I have to look at myself in the mirror every day and shake off what I see, and still get out there and be strong for everyone else.”

“Powers are NOT the most important thing; you have to have the guts to stand up to the enemy with or without them.”

“Anyone can say they have the answers, but the real decisions are never easy.”

“My heritage is only a starting point, I defend everyone else’s right to their own.”

“I had the choice too, you know. I could have been as destructive and selfish as you, but I chose to rise above it.”

“You think this is an easy life for me? I wouldn’t wish this fate on anyone.”

“You can’t make war on the whole world!”

“The ones that did this to you are not responsible for what you’ve become. YOU are.”

“It’s not about what I want, it’s about what’s needed, and I can provide it.”

“Some are born with weakness of spirit and body, and a rare few are stronger than the rest. They have to lead an example so that the weak can hope.”

“People may not understand, but they will see, and they will learn through time, we have to be paitent.”

“That sounds like something a maniac would say.”

“I only need one shot, as long as it counts.”

“My burdens don’t lessen. They multiply.”

“When you fight through the pain and put blinders on to all the noise, you can move through anything.”

“Are you taking lives and destroying people’s peace? Then it doesn’t matter what your cause is, you’re the bad guy.”

“Careful your fear doesn’t turn to anger, careful your anger doesn’t turn to rage.”

“Those that hate the opposing side so ardently are doomed to become worse than the thing they despise.”

“When I say I protect everyone, I mean everyone. Not just those that claim they deserve it more.”

“As long as I am around, you won’t win!”

“I don’t do the sidekick thing.”

“I don’t do this for the fame or adoration.”

“All I know is what I am, and I was made to stop you.”

“Look at the horror you’ve caused! Look at all the bloodshed!”

“That… I can’t pay for that, sorry.”

“Most of the time, people are just as afraid of me as they are of the bad guy.”

“Sometimes I don’t know why I still help them when they would turn against me at the slightest sign of fear.”

“I just want a normal life, but I didn’t get it.”

“If I had a normal life, I suppose I’d be like all the ones I try to save.”

“I can’t just sit here, idly by while innocent people suffer!”

“The ( mayor/counsel/prime minister/president ) has me on speed dial.”

“I’m not perfect. They only see what they want to see.”

“Ignorance and Vanity are diseases that infect even the most educated. THAT is the true plague of mankind.”

“I won’t turn my back on them!”

Sarah wasn’t sure what she expected when he finally looked up at her… but it wasn’t what she got.  There was no recognition behind those pale eyes.  No indication at all that he knew who she was.  His voice wasn’t as smooth as she remembered either.  There was a raggedness to it… a tiredness.  But maybe… maybe she’d been mistaken?  This man looked similar to Jareth, but his face was thinner, his skin almost too pale.  There was a fine stubble on his cheeks and his hair had been cut short.  Could she have been mistaken?  Perhaps it was simply that she’d been reading from her first book that made the writer see Jareth in this man?

But before she could apologize and leave, he was speaking again… suggesting that she stay.  “Oh, I… well, yes, I suppose I could do that,” she replied with a smile, moving further into the garden.  Sarah’s own voice was rough, too, from all the reading she’d already done, but she pulled a water bottle out of her purse, took a sip and joined the man on the stone bench.  “I… I’m Sarah, by the way.  Sarah Williams.  Would it be alright for me to ask your name?”  As she spoke, she opened the book, hands caressing the dedication page.  This one had been for Toby, of course.  Without whom none of her adventure ever would’ve happened.

His offer seemed to have worked, and the man found himself feeling unusually relieved as she moved moved further into the garden and took a seat on the stone bench beside him.  Her nearness felt - right.  He couldn’t explain it.  At the woman - Sarah’s - question, he frowned.  “I don’t think I have one.  Perhaps I’ve never had one...”  A sigh pushed past his lips and he looked up at the sky, as if the answers were there somewhere.  “The staff here, they call me John.  That’s never felt right, but I suppose if you need to call me something, that would be best...”

When Sarah had beaten his game and the crystal had shattered, the world Jareth had created for her shattered, too.  Not in a figurative sense.  A literal one.  Pieces of his creation flying here and there.  One of them even struck him in the chest.  It hurt so terribly he was certain he’d die... and in a way, he did.

The man once know as the Goblin King woke up in the middle of a forest with no knowledge of who or what he was.  He seemed to know some things.  For example, when he finally found a road, he knew what it was and that if he walked along it he’d eventually reach a town.  But everything about his own life was - just gone.

For awhile he drifted from place to place, trying to find answers.  he met people along the way that were nice enough, but they never clicked in a way that made him want to stay.  He learned by pure chance what he could do - the powers he possessed.  He’d been set upon by three men, determined to take what little money he had.  But when they came for him, something within reacted.  A brilliant white light poured from his hands... blinding his attackers and giving him time to escape.  From then on, he practiced with his ‘inner light’ and what it could do - honing it.  And for awhile, everything was good... even if he still couldn’t remember anything.

But gradually the light began to dim - and then flicker - and then sometimes it refused to come when he summoned it.  At the same time he began to have more trouble remembering things. There were days where he’d spend the entire night doing nothing but staring up into the night sky.  And sometimes, if he stared long enough, he swore he could hear the stars - trying to talk to him.  It was on one of those nights - in the middle if a snowstorm - that the police took him to the hospital, which was where he’d been ever since.

The staff called him John, and they wouldn't let him leave.  So he stayed, and they sometimes let him stare at the stars.  He couldn’t get the light to come at all anymore.  Not that he tried very often.  What was the point?  And it was hard to remember things from day to day.  All of his memories just seemed jumbled, like they were all part of one never-ending dream - one that wasn’t worth sorting out.

The voice in the garden made him flinch a little involuntarily, but he didn’t look up - not right away. Then, as if realizing for the first time that a question had been asked, he looked over to where the voice stood and blinked slowly. It was a young woman - one who stared at him strangely.  There was something odd about her eyes... they made his chest ache.  Forcing himself to look away, he stared at the book in the woman’s hands, instead.  Oh.  Was that what she was here for?  “I’m not going back to my room.  If I want to read something, I’ll do it on my own.”

“When I say forever, I mean forever, I do As long as the world keeps turning and turning As long as gravity keeps my feet on this Earth You’ll be my one You’ll be my all You’ll be my one, my all, my universe,…”