Author : Jade

Title : The Hazards of Transfers

Rating : PG

Summary : Written from a minor character’s point of view.

Disclaimer : All characters and places associated with Labyrinth belong solely to Jim Henson Productions. Only the warped choice of character belongs to me. I make no profit from this.

The Hazards of Transfers

The sun slowly rose above the Labyrinth, the fiery red igniting across the landscape. As the young woman ran toward the majestic enigma, no idea just what she was in for nor what lie beyond the mighty doors.

Deep in the darkest part of the Labyrinth, the spot no light can touch, a solitary inhabitant waits for his transfer to become a reality. So much time spent in darkness, he wanted to see the light, to bask in the glory of the sun. But for what? To lose his place in a matter of moments at the sheer will of the King?

‘Oh, it would be worth it,’ he thought silently, no mouth to voice his opinion in earnest, wondering why he even bothered asking for mobility. Jareth rarely ever paid attention to anything other than the young women that seem to take his attention to a lusty level.

Feeling the twinge of excitement, the time had come to relocate. Happy as ever he would be, the stone waited patiently, hoping that Jareth had heard his silent pleas to see the sunlight overhead. In a matter of moments, his surroundings had changed; there were now bricks to make friends with in such a short while.

The warmth of sunlight washed over his hardened body. “Oh! Finally to see the sun and feel the wonder and magic that surrounds such a faceted creation.” No sooner had he thought everything was perfect, he noticed something strange staring back at him. ‘What?’ He could hear the whispers and wished for the sun to go down so they couldn’t stare at him any longer.

Talking with his neighbor, he thought he could handle the horrid little fellows staring, but as soon as he caught their gaze, he wished he was back in his dark place once again. ‘Damn transfers!’

Their nervous voices made him look once again to see the newest visitor to the Labyrinth. ‘Too bad I don’t have hands, I could yank that dark hair of her’s and none would be the wiser.’ he thought, amused with himself. Soon as she passed, the lichen turned their attention back to him. ‘Why me?’

Hours later, he felt the twinge again. ‘It’s about time!’ Hardly able to wait to be transferred this time, the little brick waited in anticipation and only hoped that there would be no lichen in his next location. In a matter of seconds, he made his transition. Not thinking that anywhere could be worse than under the close scrutiny of batch of lichen, he finally saw the error of his ways. In the time it took his King to woo a mistress, the little brick found himself back to stone-block form and looking down over the most putrid source of everything vile in the Labyrinth.

‘Not the Bog of Stench!’ Even though the thought of catching the smell from the bog was upsetting, he didn’t let it get him down. He was high enough it would never splash him. While caught in his thoughts, a rumbling caught his attention, making him wonder what was going on. Sooner than brownies could flip another stone, a body shot out of an opening followed by another. All he could see was the dwarf that hung precariously above the bog.

When the little dwarf was no longer in eyesight, the stone waited and waited to see what would happen next. All of a sudden, a weight descended upon him unlike any other he’d felt. Budging a bit, the stone felt himself moving a little, almost frightened of falling. Without warning, he was freefalling through the air, heading downward toward the disgusting aroma beneath him. ‘NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!’ his silent scream went unheard, as a splash sounded around him. ‘Now I’ll never get the stench off!

The Labyrinth continued on, changing and manipulating it’s appearance to fool those stupid enough to journey through it. The stone cringed once again as it rose through the murky depths only to be stepped on day in and day out as a constant reminder of his falling in the ranks.