Memoirs of the Underground

AN:  Minimum wage in 1991 was $4.25.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Memoirs of the Underground

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Prologue

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It had been five long years since Sarah had defeated the Goblin King's Labyrinth and reclaimed her brother.  Five long, boring years of responsibility and day to day life. For a woman who had first-hand knowledge of the existence of other worlds, working her way through school on minimum wage and attending college was rather mundane.  She had danced with the Firey's.  She had freed a Yeti.  She had bribed a dwarf into betraying his King.  These days, the closest she got to adventure was defying her step-mother by picking the art college that she wanted, rather than the one Karen felt was logical and responsible.

So, Sarah carried on with her day to day existence. She was majoring in Performing Arts at the local college and when she wasn't at work or school she still took care of the baby brother who had been the catalyst to her fantastic adventure five years ago.  Toby was now a bright-eyed, imaginative six year old boy.  After her adventure which had shown her how much she actually cared about him, Sarah had begun to enjoy spending time with him.  She enjoyed reading to him and telling him stories-watching his eyes widen at the dangerous parts, and listening to his giggles at the funnier parts.

Now and then, she told him the story of the Labyrinth.  Sometimes, she told him of her own adventures there.

Still, Sarah was horribly bored, with the exception of those few precious hours a week, when her friends from Underground came through her mirror and told her of their own exploits.  She, who craved adventure, who lived, breathed, needed the fantastic in her life, nearly wept from lack of extraordinary happenings within it.

However, Sarah had not allowed day to day life kill her imagination.  She still maintained her ability to dream vividly, brilliantly.  Her fantastical imagination still spurred her to imagine adventure in her dreary live.  She still maintained a strong link to her childhood and refused to let go of her dreams, just as she'd refused to let the Goblin King hand them to her on a silver platter.

After all, what good were dreams if you didn't work to attain them?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

For the mysterious Goblin King it has also been a long five years.  While he often thought upon the young girl who had beat him at his own game he remained a busy man with many responsibilities.  Governing a kingdom of imbeciles required a very special temperament.  Between the day to day correspondence with other kingdoms and dealing with petty squabbles among those in the shadow of his kingdom, it was a wonder he didn't tear his own hair out.

However, the Goblin King was rather vain, and extremely fond of his hair, which is likely the only reason he wasn't already bald.

What few denizens of the Underground knew, due to careful guarding of the secret, was that he also was the guardian of the portals which stretched between his world and the Above.  Portals which were created by the imaginations and dreams of the innocent children of the Above as their minds searched to connect to the fantastic.  It was an enormously vital task for if an unscrupulous person or creature were to access these portals, they could wreak havoc upon the Above.  

The goblins of the Labyrinthian kingdom were some of the few creatures which could access these gateways to the Above.  Usually they were used for official matters – retrieving a wished-away child, performing an errand for their king or just routinely patrolling the locations to map where new portals emerged.  However, on occasion the goblins had been known to use the portals for mischief.  

Young Gip was one such mischievous goblin.  He was a goblin with a mission, quite literally.  He finally had been told what rite of passage he must perform to be accepted into the group of goblins who were permitted access to the Goblin King's castle and of course, the greatly desired casks of ale therein.  Of course it wasn't a rite of passage which His Majesty was aware or nor condoned, however it did exist and young Gip was currently working up his courage greatly to be able to perform the mission he had been handed.  His goal was to obtain the brassiere of one Lady Sarah.

Gip had been carefully briefed on the rules by the older goblins.  Go quickly, when it's dark.  Don't let yourself be seen.  And, most importantly never, ever let a human catch you or follow you through the portal.  However, Gip wasn't really worried about being seen or caught.  He knew what humans were like from watching the runners of the Labyrinth.  The fantastic frightened them and unless slammed over the head with the magical, adults never saw the portals hidden within the dark places throughout their homes, the dark voids under beds, in closets or in dank basements.  Nor did these adults whose minds had had their dreams and imaginations sucked from their souls by the grind of everyday life have the ability or willingness to see the magical creatures which used them.

Unfortunately Gip's vast knowledge of the normal adult human would not help him this night for Lady Sarah was none other than Sarah Williams and she was not exactly known to conform to mundane expectations.  So, in the closet he waited, completely unknowing of the rather frightening events that lay in store for the young Goblin that night.  And then, when the room had gone dark, quiet, and still, Gip crept out, and headed towards the tall six drawer dresser which rested against the wall opposite from the bed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0