Labyrinth Page #8

SARAH (to herself): What in the world ...

She stops short in front of the first painting and cannot believe her

eyes. It is a painting of the watch with 13 hours on it. The hour

hand is on the 9. SARAH fumbles into her pocket and finds the watch

that Jareth gave her. It also has the hour hand on the 9.

SARAH:
Only 9 hours left!

The next picture is of a BABY surrounded by gruesome GOBLINS. On

closer inspection, the BABY is obviously FREDDIE. She chokes back a

sob and runs over to the next one, it is a picture of a rotunda with

staircases going off in all different directions on different planes

of gravity. It is an Escher room, and a closer look shows a GOBLIN

happily standing on the ceiling. She shakes her head and goes by the

next painting and gasps involuntarily. It is a compelling portrait of

JARETH, and she moves even closer. Then she shakes herself out of it.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

THE PORTRAIT'S POV - SARAH wills herself away and moves on, and we

hear the sound of JARETH's breathing.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

SARAH is nervous and eagerly looks for a way out. She rushes by

another painting, giving it merely a glance. But something makes her

go back for a better look. It is of a lovely, manicured hedge maze.

In the distance WE CAN SEE the turrets of JARETH's castle. And in the

sky nearby flies a beautiful WHITE BIRD. And then SARAH is amazed by

what she sees. A closer look at the painting reveals that the WHITE

BIRD is flying! It moves over the hedges and WE SEE a FIGURE waving.

SARAH:
Hoggle!

SARAH, disturbed, backs away from the painting. And then, because it

really is as wonderful as it is scary, she goes back for another look

and over her shoulder WE CAN SEE HOGGLE waving and we hear his tiny

voice.

HOGGLE:
Missy! Over here! This is the way to the castle!

And SARAH strains to hear, and leans toward the painting, stretching

her hand out and touching the painting, which makes it turn into a

shimmering wall that her hand goes right through. And then she

disappears right through the painting.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

THE GALLERY. And JARETH's portrait is now blank.

38EXT:
HEDGE MAZE - DAY

SARAH rushes up to HOGGLE and throws her arms around him.

SARAH:
What happened to you? I was afraid I'd never see you again!

HOGGLE:
Ya know that trick with the wall? Damn, if it don't work with

the floor, as well!

SARAH laughs and hugs him again.

39INT :
HEDGE MAZE - DAY

SARAH and HOGGLE have been walking through the maze a long time. They

are tired and bedraggled. SARAH pulls the watch out of her pocket and

sighs.

SARAH:
An hour's gone by and I don't think we're more than four feet

from where we started.

HOGGLE:
That's 'cause ya won't do what I tells ya. It's clear as day

we should be goin' this way ...

He turns a corner and walks smack into a hedge dead end. He howls in

pain and SARAH sighs and follows him.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

HOGGLE disentangling himself from the hedge.

SARAH:
Got any more suggestions?

Before HOGGLE can answer they are interrupted by a terrible

gut-wrenching scream. It is positively unearthly. SARAH whirls around.

SARAH:
It sounds like it came from over there!

HOGGLE points in the opposite direction.

HOGGLE:
Then let's go this way.

SARAH frowns at him as the scream begins again.

SARAH:
Hoggle! It sounds like someone's being hurt!

HOGGLE:
Exactly why we should be headin' in the othermost direction!

SARAH shakes her head in disgust and runs off as the screams become

more unbearable.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

SARAH, running through the hedge maze. Driven by the sound of the

screams, she has an unconscious ability to find her way through.

HOGGLE, trying to keep up with her, keeps running into dead ends.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

SARAH emerging from the maze. She is stopped in her tracks by what

she sees and quickly covers her mouth to prevent herself from

screaming. HOGGLE emerges a moment later, barely pauses before he

heads right back into the maze.

40EXT:
CLEARING - DAY

SARAH'S POV - FOUR GOBLINS are torturing a huge creature (LUDO) that

they have hung by his ankle from a tree limb. They have also taken

pains to bind the CREATURE, who it is obvious could take an most of

them and win in a fairer fight. He is about nine feet tall,

powerfully built, and his screams of frustrated agony are truly

unbearable. The GOBLINS have devised a unique method of harassing

him. They ALL carry long sticks which have small, fierce, biting

CREATURES on the end of them. The GOBLINS bat their sticks at LUDO,

who bellows and tries to swat back. Since he is tied, the NIPPERS are

free to bite him whenever they get near.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

SARAH, distraught, peeking out from behind a hedge.

SARAH:
The poor thing!

HOGGLE peeks out from behind SARAH, then quickly ducks back. SARAH

looks for a way to stop the torture. She picks up a rock and

carefully aims it at the nearest GOBLIN. It hits his head and knocks

his helmet visor over his eyes. Blinded, the GOBLIN lurches around,

swinging his nipper stick at the OTHER THREE.

BLINDED GOBLIN:
Hey! Who turned out the lights?

The OTHER GOBLINS see a new target and poke their nipper sticks

towards him. He takes off and runs blindly into the hedge maze. The

OTHER THREE chase him, carrying the nipper sticks upright no that WE

CAN SEE their progress in the BG.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

SARAH desperately tries to untie the huge knot that holds LUDO

suspended upside down. She can't undo it and yells for HOGGLE

SARAH:
Get out here, you coward!

HOGGLE appears from behind his hedge. He hesitates, then pulls a

dagger from his belt and joins SARAH. He cuts through the rope in one

hack, and LUDO falls to the ground with a thud.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

The nipper sticks start yammering away as they see SARAH and HOGGLE

freeing LUDO over the top of the hedge. The GOBLIN chase stops and

they head back to the clearing. HOGGLE dives for the bushes but a

determined SARAH stays and pulls off the ropes. When LUDO is free, he

picks up a huge log. As the FOUR GOBLINS come roaring back into the

clearing, LUDO waves the log over his head. The GOBLIN charge

immediately shifts into a GOBLIN retreat, the nipper sticks yipping

in fear.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

LUDO puts down the log and sits, his big shaggy head hanging down. He

taken one hand and wipes away a tear.

LUDO:
Ludo ... hurt.

SARAH's heart breaks. This thing is the ultimate stuffed animal.

SARAH:
Is that your name? Ludo?

He nods and wipes away another tear.

LUDO:
Goblins ... mean to Ludo.

SARAH:
Oh, I know! They were terribly mean to you. (she moves closer

and pats his arm) But it's all right now.

LUDO sniffs and then breaks into the most endearing big dumb smile

you have ever seen.

LUDO:
Friend!

SARAH:
That's right, Ludo! I'm your friend. I'm Sarah.

LUDO:
Sarah ... friend!

HOGGLE has come out from hiding during this exchange. He finds the

whole scene a bit nauseating. And an unnecessary nuisance. If there's

one thing he doesn't want, it's competition for SARAH.

HOGGLE:
I think I'm about ta be sick.

They ignore him and LUDO grins for all he's worth as SARAH beams up

at him. HOGGLE pulls her over to one side.

Rate this script:2.6 / 8 votes