Hey y'all! How are things going?? I was watching Labyrinth one day and I started to just jot down this idea that I had gotten.
I hope that you all like this idea!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and places from Labyrinth, Jim Henson and George Lucas do. I also do not own David Bowie (cries a little) or any of the songs in Labyrinth, he owns all of the songs' rights along with Trevor Jones.
Sarah didn't like arguing with her daughter, especially when it was about Roxie and her life. But it seemed as though every weekend, Roxie would just have to pick an argument with Sarah about how she would rather eat dirt than sit at home and watch her 3 little sisters.
"Well, Roxie," Sarah yelled after her daughter as she stomped upstairs to her room, "I wouldn't have to have this argument with you every weekend if you would just let me know if you were planning on going out with your friends during the weekend!"
"You wouldn't take that under consideration anyway!" Roxie yelled back at her mother, "You would still make me stay home with my sisters anyway no matter what my plans were or weren't!"
Roxie then slammed the door and turned on her music. Sarah just turned to her husband, Jim and sighed.
"What am I going to do with her?" Sarah asked, looking at the place on the stairs where Roxie once stood. "It is like this every weekend and every time that we argue, it seems like it tears us further and further apart."
Jim walked over and put his arm around Sarah's shoulder.
He kissed her on the cheek and said, "You have to remember that you were like that, too. I clearly remember a certain young lady would be forced to stay home with her baby brother every weekend because she never had any plans."
"I know," Sarah said, sighing, "But it seems that the wounds of these arguments with Roxanne seem to run deeper than the other ones that I had with my stepmother."
"Well," Jim said, turning to Sarah and placing his hands on her shoulders, "I will go and talk with her and see what I can do to make her smile even for a little bit."
Jim kissed his wife on her cheek again and headed upstairs to his daughter's room.
Roxie had been living in Sarah's childhood room since Roxie was about 5 years old. Nothing much had changed around the room, except for a couple of new posters that aligned the walls. Posters of the bands Queen and Led Zepplin and Oingo Boingo filled the spaces where Sarah's theatrical posters had once been. By the bed, there used to be a small shelving unit that used to house Sarah's collection of Teddy Bears; but now, the shelving unit had been modified to fit a small stereo that would often be blaring rock music whenever Roxie was either mad or doing homework. The small, twin size canopy bed with white sheets and blankets was still there and hadn't changed a bit. Roxie had also decided to keep her mother's old vanity with a mirror. There, Roxie would either practice her presence while singing and performing or she would be trying new things with her long, black dyed hair. Besides the difference in décor and shelving units, Roxie hadn't changed a thing about her mother's old room.
Roxie was lying on her bed when her father knocked on her door, asking if he could come in.
"Sure, whatever." Roxie said, turning off her music that could already be heard from the downstairs living room.
Jim came into the room and just looked at his daughter.
She had been wearing her favorite outfit today, a pair of ripped jeans that had large holes at the knee from skateboarding and a black t-shirt that had the crest of her favorite band Queen on it with the first names of all of the people that were in the band on the back of the shirt. Roxie had worn her red, high rise, Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars today, but she had taken them off, exposing her black and red striped socks. Roxie's long, black hair was in a loose ponytail that was lying behind her head on her bed.
"Your mother is worried about your connection with her." Jim said, sitting down at the foot of Roxie's bed, "She worries about how it is affecting your life at school and with your friends."
"It doesn't bother me." Roxie said, looking up at the ceiling and wishing that her father would just leave her alone to her babysitting misery, "She is the boss, so, obviously there isn't any point in arguing with her since it will all end up her way anyway."
Jim was getting annoyed with his daughter's attitude and how long it was taking for her to snap out of it. He told her that she needed to get over this attitude for tonight so that Roxie's younger sisters wouldn't start to copy her.
"Fine, Fine, Fine!" Roxie said, sitting up and giving her father an icy glare, "I will snap out of it! Geez, I think it is YOU that have the attitude, Dad."
Jim just looked at his watch and realized that he didn't have the time and the patience to try and reason with his 15 year old daughter. He just kissed her on the forehead and told her that her sisters were already fed and that all Roxie had to do was put them in their PJs and put them to bed.
"Roxanne," Jim said, trying to get his daughter's attention, "I hope that you know the rules of when we are out. Do you?"
"Yeah, sure, Dad; I know the rules." Roxie said, lying down on the bed again.
"Would you mind running them by me again, just so I know."
"Don't ever...um..."
"'Don't ever...um...'?" Jim said, leaning on the frame of the door with his arms crossed, "I don't think that that is a rule of this household. What is it, Roxanne?"
Roxie turned her head towards her dad in the door way. "I don't remember the rule…so…why don't you be the good father that you say that you are and tell me what it is?!"
Jim was not in the mood and along with Sarah yelling from downstairs to hurry up because Toby and Jane were in the driveway.
"Fine, the rule is don't, under any circumstances, open the window for any reason. That rule is from your mother and she expects that you obey it. We have to go, so goodbye and I love you."
"Love you too, Dad."
With that, Jim shut the door to the sight of Roxie lying on her bed looking up at the theatrical poster of the one show that Roxie could only bear sing along to in front of her parents without getting embarrassed…Jekyll and Hyde. The poster had been from the performances where Sarah had starred as one of the lead roles for more than a year of performances…Lucy, the East End dancer that falls in love with Edward Hyde, another main character. Roxie had gone to most of the performances when she was a girl and all of the cast members that had worked with her had become, almost, Roxie's second family.
Roxie's eyes began to get heavy and droop in front of her eyes. Soon, Roxie was fast asleep; dreaming dreams that brought back memories and nightmares of the stage that her mother used to act on.
Roxie was standing on a blank stage dressed in a dress that was Victorian style and looked like the dress that her mom, Sarah, had worn when she was playing Lucy when Sarah was in the musical Jekyll and Hyde. The dress was black and deep blood red and the skirt fell an inch away from where Roxie's ankle boots stopped. She was corseted into the dress and the black lace trimmings on the hem of the skirt and sleeves were falling off. Roxie's stockings were black and red striped and her ankle boots were black and laced all of the way up 2 inches above her ankle. There were some rips and tears here and there on her stockings, and around Roxie's shoulders there lay draped across her shoulders a dirty, old shawl.
There was a single light that shone down onto the spot on the stage where Roxie was standing. Roxie could hear the sounds of people in the audience coughing and moving in their seats.
Roxie could feel her heart beat in her ears. This was her worst nightmare…left on the bare stage after saying her line with the conductor forgetting to start the beginning of the song.
Roxie could hear the people of the audience begin to chat amongst themselves about what was the matter with her and why she wasn't singing. She looked down to find that the conductor wasn't even at his little podium in the pit. Roxie knew that the show must go on and could no one else on the stage besides her. Roxie then lifted her head up high and started to sing the song "Dangerous Game" by herself…a capella.
"I feel your fingers
Cold on my shoulder
Your chilling touch
As it runs down my spine
Watching your eyes
As they invade my soul's forbidden pleasures
Unafraid to make mine
At the touch of your hand
At the sound of your voice
At the moment your eyes meet mine
I am loosing my mind
I am loosing control
Fighting feelings I can't define"
Halfway through the beginning of the song, the orchestra started to play along with the singing and the conductor had returned to his podium at the center of the pit.
Roxie felt relieved that she was now accompanied by music and continued on with the song. Suddenly, Roxie felt as though she was being watched by someone or something that was on the stage. She could feel the gaze on her back as she moved around the stage trying to get rid of the feeling.
The feeling got stronger as the end of the song got nearer and nearer. Just then as Roxie was turning around to interact with the actor in her dream that was playing Edward Hyde, Roxie turned to find a pair of eyes looking straight at her. One of the eyes was a light, icy blue, while the other eye was a deep hazel that seemed to have flakes of gold in them.
The eyes followed her as she walked backwards off the edge of the stage in into the pit where it seemed to get deeper and deeper as Roxie fell.
Off in the darkness while Roxie was falling…she could hear the faint sound of someone banging or poking at something as though they were trying to get through.
OoOoOoOoOohhhhhhhh! What is going to happen when Roxie wakes up? And what was that weird sound that seemed to echo off into the darkness?
All will be reveled if you will send me reviews! The more reviews…the more of a chance that I will be able to get the next chapter up!
Thank you all for reading this!
A Rose By Another Name