The Templetons were browsing a yard sale on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Tim went immediately to the toys, his big blue eyes darting all over as he looked at the used toys. His active imagination playing what he could do with them for an adventure.

"Remember, Tim," said his dad, Ted. "One toy."

"How about books?" he asked.

"You can pick one toy and one book," said Janice, his mom who was holding his new baby brother, Theodore, in a papoose on her front.

Tim nodded and continued to browse. He picked a fire truck that was pretty cool. He browsed over by the books. A lot of them were pretty interesting. Until one caught his eye. It was small and plain looking. It had a red cover that was engraved with gold writing that read: The Labyrinth. At first, it did't seem quite interesting since there wasn't anything on it, but for some reason, Tim was drawn to it.

Overhead, a barn owl had roosted in a nearby tree, watching the customers at a local yard sale. It observed the small boy that was looking at the book. Studying him intently. Nobody seemed to notice the owl out in the middle of the day.

"You pick a book out yet, champ?" asked Ted.

"Y-yea," Tim said. "This one."

He showed his dad the red-covered book that he had selected. Ted Templeton frowned a bit. He looked over the book, front and back-then flipped through the pages.

"You sure you want this?" he asked. "This doesn't have any pictures."

"It looks interesting," Tim said with a shrug. "Besides, didn't you say that I should try reading books without pictures?"

"True. I guess we'll try it out if you want."

Tim paid for his toy and book with his allowance. He sat in the car, looking through the book. There were lots of big words he didn't quite know yet, but there were a few he did.

Nobody noticed the barn owl was following them home.

Tim eagerly waited for his bedtime story. He frowned as he watched his parents deal with the screaming baby. Sighing, he looked at the book, The Labyrinth-he read the beginning...

Once upon a time, in a far away land called Goblin City, there lived a King, who ruled over the goblins...

He closed the book and waited for his mom and dad to come in to read him a story. Hugging his stuffed toy, Lam Lam, he saw his quite worn out father walk in.

"Hey, champ," said Ted. "Ready for a story?"

"Where's Mom?" Tim asked.

"Oh...well, she's busy with the baby now," Ted replied. "Let's read a story. What do you want, the usual?"

"Nah. I want you to read this one..."

He pushed the red-covered book. Ted adjusted his glasses, reading the book title. He shrugged and began to read. As he got into the story, Tim began to realize how frightening this tale was...it was about a wicked Goblin King, a fairy who resided in the Goblin City and ruled over the goblins. He stole children away if the words were ever spoken "I wish...". Then there was the part about the brave girl who went to face the Goblin King to get the child back.

Ted Templeton stopped reading, seeing the scared expression on his son's face.

"I dunno if we should read this anymore," said Ted. "It seems like a scary story. Looks like this would give you nightmares."

"It's OK, Dad," said Tim, pretending to be brave. "It doesn't bother me."

"How 'bout we continue the next chapter tomorrow?"

"Sure! Can't wait!"

After the story, Ted concluded the bedtime routine with five hugs and his special song: Blackbird by the Beatles. It was OK. It wasn't really the same without Mom singing it. Mom had a better singing voice than Dad. Tim rested his head on his pillow, hugging Lam Lam to his chest.

As he drifted off into his dreams, he saw the images from the story they had read-Tim was trapped in the labyrinth. Goblins chased him and taunted him, poking him with sharp objects. Tim ran away as fast as he could, but everywhere he turned, it became a dead end. Eventually a soft chuckle came in his ear...one that came from the Goblin King.

"You're mine now, Tim," he said, reaching a black gloved hand towards him.

"NOO!" Tim screamed, holding his hands up.

His nightmare was disturbed by the sound of a howling baby from somewhere, snapping him awake. He looked out to see his parents rushing down the hall, dealing with a screaming Theodore. Tim covered his head with his pillow, trying to block out the noise.

Since Theodore had come into the family, there were times he wished he could have his parents attention back. It wasn't fair. While he was happy to have a brother, the incessant crying kept him awake late at night. His parents sometimes forgot about him.

The next night, Theodore was howling even more and worse than yesterday. He watched as his parents whizzed by his room like speeding bullets. Frowning, he looked.

"Dad, I can't sleep!" he complained.

"Yea. I'm sorry, champ..." Mr. Templeton apologized. "The baby...well, he needs a lot of attention."

He disappeared into Theo's room, his arms full of boxes of diapers.

"What about me?" Tim said, only to be answered by a closed door.

Tim sighed in disappointment, feeling lonely. He looked at Wizzie, the wizard that stood on his nightstand. He said some crazy quote, which he blocked out. Tim felt beginnings of tears; hurt and alone since baby Theo came into their lives. Angry that his parents barely gave him any attention.

He looked around in his bed for his beloved stuffed lamb, Lam Lam. He felt a surge of panic when he realized his precious toy was missing.

"Where's Lam Lam?" he asked. "Someone's been in my room again!"

He angrily leapt off the bed towards the baby's room, finding Lam Lam strewn on the floor-it was covered in spit from being sucked on. Tim glared angrily at the new baby.

"You stole her!" he accused. "I hate you!"

Tim scooped up his precious toy, hugging it tightly. The baby's cries rang in his ears. Mom and Dad were passed out on the sofa from exhaustion, completely oblivious.

"Somebody save me," he whined. "Somebody take me away from this awful place!"

Baby Theo continued to scream and cry. Tim glared.

"What do you want? A story?" he said.

Flopping on a chair, he began to tell a made up story like the one he had heard.

"Once upon a time, there was a little boy," he began. "Who's parents never paid attention to him. They had a baby-and he was a spoiled child. And the young boy was practically a slave."

The thunder rumbled, presenting a rather dramatic beat in Tim's story. He stood up and grinned. Theodore stopped a moment, listening to the story. He arched an eyebrow. He had to keep up this act, pretending to be a baby and not to give away his cover.

This story is so terrible that it makes me wish I could stop drinking the formula and just be a baby... The Boss Baby thought.

"But what no one knew..." he said. "Was that the King of the Goblins was friends with the boy. He'd given him certain powers...so one night, when the baby had been really cruel to him, he called on the goblins for help..."

Meanwhile on the opposite side of the mirror, the goblins in the Goblin City were snoring, fast asleep. One of them woke up, hearing the story. He got excited and roused the rest of them.

"Listen..." said the awakened one.

"'Say your right words,' the goblins said," Tim continued with a sneer. "'And we'll take the baby to the Goblin City...and you will be free.'"

The goblins clamored with excitement as they listened to the little boy, telling the baby the story. It had been a really long time since anyone had said the magic words. They leaned forward in anticipation.

"But the boy knew," said Tim. "That the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle for ever and ever...and turn it into a goblin."

Tim turned dramatically towards Theo's crib; his big blue eyes gleamed with wickedness. The baby just frowned.

God, this story IS stupid...and weird. Not to mention desperate and pathetic. Theodore thought, resisting from shaking his head.

"And so the boy suffered in silence," he continued. "And one night, when he was tired from a day of housework, and he was hurt by the harsh words of his parents and he could no longer stand it..."

The Boss Baby just couldn't listen to this anymore; he decided to continue to cry to drown out this terrible story, rubbing his eyes in irritation; it rang in Tim's ears, making him frown at the noise that pierced the room. Tim stood up and approached Theodore's crib, sticking his face between the bars.

"Stop it! Stop it!" he complained. "Don't make me say the words!" He was tempted to say the words. "No, I mustn't."

###

The goblins leaned forward, waiting in anticipation. They gasped getting more and more excited. The tension was killing them.

###

"I wish..." Tim said; his heart pounding in his ears. "I wish..."

###

"He's going to say them!" the goblins whispered excitedly.

"Say what?" asked a really big dumb goblin.

"Shut UP!" they hissed angrily.

"You shut up!" another said.

"Listen..." said the first one. "He's going to say the words."

###

"I can bear it no longer!" Tim cried frustrated. "Goblin King, Goblin King, wherever you may be! Take this child FAR away from me!"

###

The goblins all groaned in disappointment. All that excitement for NOTHING.

"Oh that's not it!" said the bearded one.

"Where did he get such rubbish?" said long nosed goblin. "It doesn't even start with 'I wish'."

###

"Oh Theo, STOP IT!" Tim said exasperated from hearing the baby's cries. "I wish I DID know what to say to make the goblins take you away."

###

"'I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!'" said the long nosed goblin exasperated, rolling his eyes. "That's not hard, IS IT?!"

###

"I wish..." Tim said, looking at the baby's soaked face; his eyes were red from crying and drool had soaked his pajamas. "I wish..."

###

"Did he say it?" the dumb goblin asked.

"SHUT UP!" they goblins all hissed.

The big dumb one covered his mouth.

###

Tim sighed, exasperated from listening to the baby crying. He tossed a blanket over the baby and headed for the door. He knew it was just a story. It would never happen.

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away..." he said, shutting the light off. "Right now."

Not even taking a step down the hall, there was complete silence. At first, he thought the baby went to sleep, but this was an odd silence. It was like his cries were cut off. Frowning, Tim decided just to be sure that he had fallen asleep...

"Theodore?" he said.

There was no answer. The lightning flashed. Tim reached for the light switch, only to find it wasn't working.

"Theodore?" he called. "Are you asleep?"

He approached the crib slowly with caution. The lump under the blankets wriggled, followed by rambunctious cackling. Tim jumped back in fear; his heart was pounding. The closer he got, he saw the blankets weren't moving. He pulled one of them back to find Theodore was gone!

The thunderclap and the flash of lightning added to the effect. Tim's eyes widened and his heart pounded as the fear overcame him. The wish actually worked! But...how was he going to explain this to his parents? What was he going to do? He was about to call out to his Mom and Dad when the sounds of scratching caught his attention to find a barn owl scratching at the window. It made him jump back, trembling.

There were sounds of mischievous cackling and shadows and shapes darted in the dark corners of the nursery, scaring Tim even more. He hugged Lam Lam tightly. He prayed this was one of his nightmares. He was going to call out his parents' name when the window burst open by a powerful gust of wind...

The barn owl flew in and went straight at Tim; the seven-year-old brunette held up his skinny arms to protect himself from the crazed bird, hearing the flapping of wings and the sharp talons scratch at him.

"Stop it! STOP IT!" he yelled, dropping Lam Lam.

Eventually the owl stopped, flying towards the window...

...a tall shadow emerged. Tim blinked his eyes, clearing the cobwebs. There stood a very tall man; his appearance reminded Tim of a fairy. He had two different colored eyes, wild blond hair, and his clothes were like that of something that stepped out of a fairytale-a dark and scary one; his whole appearance was ethereal and mystical. Tim stood still, scared as he stared at them man...

It was him! He was real!