Return to the Labyrinth

The Labyrinth and it's attending characters are the property of Jim Henson. I wish I owned them, but life goes on. Any other characters are my own invention, meager though it is. The title for this chapter is taken from a famous poem by Robert Frost called "The Road Not Taken". Author's notes are below.

"Two Roads diverged in a wood, and I--/ I took the one less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference."
Two Roads Diverged

Sarah was frozen, unsure how to take this odd woman’s offhand statement. She huddled back against the car door, her bag clutched in her hands, and stared at the stranger with a long, unblinking gaze. She studied her, wracking her mind trying to recall any memory of the woman.

Her hair was a shocking, brilliant red streaked with orange and gold. Sarah couldn’t begin to fathom where those glittering gold strands came from. Her skin was tanned, smooth and flawless, and looking at her now Sarah couldn’t determine her age. When she had first seen the woman at the hospital, she had seemed her father’s age, if well preserved. Now she seemed almost youthful, perhaps closer to Sarah’s own 26 years, or even younger. The more Sarah looked, the more she seemed almost timeless.

The woman glanced her way, one eyebrow raised quizzically. Sarah didn’t think she had ever seen a redhead with eyes so black, but looking closer they seemed to glitter, like a night sky strewn with stars. The troubled girl could feel anxiety setting in, her palms sweating, her breathing speeding up. She squeezed her eyes tight shut, trying to control the panic.

"You do want your dreams back, don’t you my dear?" The woman’s manufactured Hepburn accent was slowly fading away. In its place was a light, lilting sound. Her voice made Sarah think of crisp, mountain streams bubbling through a forest beneath lush green trees. She could almost taste the freshness of the water.

The vision made her gasp. It had been ten years since she had imagined anything. Ten years of feeling hopeless, empty and fractured. Sarah tried to hold on to the vivid image, but it was like trying to grasp smoke. The picture in her mind faded to nothing. It had been so beautiful, that momentary daydream, but it was gone again.

Her eyes snapped open, welling with tears. It was just like those first weeks ten years ago when her mind’s eye went blind, the dreams and fantasies shrinking and fading away more and more each day. Her confusion was absolute as the person she had been became a distant memory, unable to enjoy the pursuits she once had. Her waking world became dull and colorless, and sleep a terror where she was confronted with the nothingness in her own head.

A sob hitched in her throat as the tears flowed faster. That was twice now…first the sunbeam laughter, and now a voice like a mountain stream. It had been so long, so long. And now the absence was worse than before. "Why?" she managed to croak out before the sobs overwhelmed her. Why would you show me that and take it away again, she wondered desperately. That small taste made her realize that she truly had nothing left in her. She could not continue on like this any longer.

"Well of course you do. You see? I knew you did," her abductor continued on her own, as if Sarah were not having an utter meltdown in her passenger seat. The mountain stream effect was gone again, as if the woman realized the effect it had had on her. "You’re not whole, my dear, no, not at all. But I suspect you know that. That’s why I’m here to help you."

Sarah was not listening. Her sobs continued as she sank into her own misery. All she could think of was finding a way to end the pain, rid herself of that empty feeling any way she could. Sarah didn’t know how long she cried, but all things must end eventually. She cried until her tears dried up, and her sobs turned to sniffles. "Why are you doing this to me?" she rasped in the quiet of the car. "Who are you?"

"You may call me Amaranth, and I resent your accusation. I am not doing a thing to you. You did it all to yourself, as I am sure you would realize if you were rational." She said pointedly.

"I don’t understand," Sarah said with another sniff, trying not to care, but feeling very much as if she should. Shouldn’t she be too drained to dredge up the energy? If she was gong to end it all anyhow, why was she curious?

"Yes, well," Amaranth huffed, rolling her eyes, "That much is obvious. Frankly I’m impressed you lasted as long as you did in your condition." Sarah waited quietly for her to continue, but she didn’t elaborate. Her thoughts drifted, trying to make sense of Amaranth and her cryptic words, but nothing made sense any more.

They drove on in silence for several more minutes before the little yellow bug finally pulled off the road and came to a stop. "We’re here," Amaranth announced softly. Only then did Sarah really become aware of her surroundings.

Outside dusk was setting in, creating heavy shadows among the trees out the back window. Directly in front of the car was empty air where the land dropped hundreds of feet to the sea. Amaranth got out of the car without another word and walked to the cliff edge. She stood with her back to Sarah, watching the sun sink toward the horizon. The wind off the sea whipped her colorful peasant skirt around her legs, and the light seemed to flash off the gold in her hair.

Sarah opened her own door slowly, stepping out warily, as close as they were to the edge. She looked down at the surf pounding the rocks far below. How easy would it be just to step off into the ultimate dreamless sleep? "What is this?" she asked, raising her voice above the wind.

Amaranth turned her head to look at her. "It’s a cliff Sarah," she said, her voice never raising above an even, level tone. Instead it seemed as if the wind carried it from her lips straight to Sarah’s ears. It was lilting, almost seductive. It reminded her of another persuasive voice from long ago, a memory of a very vivid dream she had tried to forget for ten years.

"I…I mean…why are we here?" she asked loudly, trying to shake off the sudden familiarity. Her lackluster weariness was beginning to disappear beneath a rising nervousness. A faint suspicion was forming in her mind. Amaranth stared at her for long moments before speaking.

"Think about this place as the fork in the road…or the point of no return…" she said. She glided closer, her eyes meeting Sarah’s. It seemed as if they were almost too normal, too plain. It seemed to Sarah that there should be something in the woman’s eyes that wasn’t, something missing. Amaranth continued. "I wanted to give you options Sarah. I mean, it’s all about choices, isn’t it?" She smiled sadly and looked down at the sharp rocks far below. It took a moment for Sarah to realize what she was talking about.

"You brought me here so I could kill myself?" she asked, shocked in spite of herself. She took a reflexive step back from the emptiness. "Why would you do that?" Granted, only moments before she had been thinking how easy it would be, but to have it put so plainly out in front of her made it seem almost vulgar.

"You’ll do it eventually…if you stay," Amaranth said absently, still looking down, as if fascinated by the rocks and their deadly potential.

"If I stay…?" Sarah asked softly. Too soft to be heard above the wind, but Amaranth responded none the less.

"You can have your dreams back Sarah. You just have to make the choice." Amaranth looked up and met Sarah’s eyes once more. "Two paths lay before you Sarah. One leads to the castle…" Sarah’s eyes widened, her breath hitching in her throat.

"…at the center of the Labyrinth," Sarah continued the sentence for her, her eyes filling with tears once more as the memories rushed back, "and the other…the other leads…" She looked down at the drop below, unable to finish. She had tried so hard to forget what dreams were like. Did she have the strength left to take such a risk, or did she give it all up and take the safe road to no more pain?

"Precisely," Amaranth said.

AN: Amaranth is a type of plant or herb often referred to in literature to alude to immortality. Check out the entry at Wikipedia for more info.