Storm clouds loomed over head as Lainy Greene finished her lesson for the day.

"Rains might start on your way home, Miss. Ross," Lainy said closing the trailer for her paying rider, "drive slow and keep that horse safe."

"Thank you, Lainy. I'll keep that trailer straight. I'll see you next week."

"Next week, then."

The girl sighed as her only rider drove away. Without Miss. Ross the farm was quiet and ring unused. Once upon a time the barn was full of horses and happiness but that's all it was. Once upon a time. She still lived with her parents, even at twenty-two. There was no way out of that little Kansas town called Galesburg. She walked into the house through the back door as quietly as she could manage, her mom wasn't home but her dad sure was. She almost made it up the stairs.

"Lainy," her dad yelled from the living room.

"Yes, Dad." she didn't hide the annoyance in her voice, she hadn't since she was eighteen.

"Where's my Jack?"

"Mom dumped it this morning," she replied listlessly, "And honestly, it's not even three o'clock, you don't need it."

"Yes," he stumbled towards her, "it hurts. I need it. I NEED IT!"

"Mom will be home in an hour, you can take it up with her."

She had gotten as far as her bedroom door when she heard her dad's old Chevy start up and lumber down the long driveway. He was going to get more Jack, that fact was a no brainer. Lainy sighed as she grabbed a towel. She always had to shower after a lesson with Miss. Ross to get the horse grime off her skin. By the time she was finished and pretty much dressed, the front door was slamming open.

"And here is daddy dearest," she mumbled pulling on her shirt.

When she finally emerged downstairs she found the front door still open and her father in the living room halfway drunk and halfway through a bottle of Jack. She paused while closing the door to watch the rain sprinkle down and the branches strain from the winds of the starting storm. She didn't have the time to daydream. Eleanor, her mother, was on her way home and there was a dinner that needed to be started. The storm made her burger plan fly out the window. The only other thing was mac-n-cheese. She was almost done with the noodles when her mother walked through the front door.

"Thank God he's asleep," Eleanor breathed putting down her purse with a glance at her sleeping husband in his beat up recliner. There was an empty bottle on the floor and half a bottle in his hand.

"Hey, Mom," Lainy said, "noodles are done, get changed and we'll eat."

Eleanor worked as a waitress at the local diner and Lainy always made sure her mother always got out of that hideous pink frock they liked to call a uniform. Dinner was never anything special. Eleanor told her daughter about her day at the diner. Lainy told her mother about the antics her father would pull and her lessons or the attempted upkeep of the farm. That was it. That's all there needed to be. Dinner clean-up was always a quiet affair, but not that night. Dad woke up from his alcohol induced slumber.

"WOMAN!" He didn't just yell, he bellowed, "How dare you throw out my Jack."

His words were slurred and the Jack still left in the bottle sloshed as hr brandished it as his wife. Eleanor waved her daughter toward the back door. Lainy ran out the door and down the path to the rear of the property. Her bare feet sunk into the mud that was left over form the rains that had thankfully stopped. The winds still howled and whipped her hair about her face. When her dad went into a rage against the fairer of her parentage. Eleanor preferred Lainy to get out of the house and Lainy preferred to run to the back of the property because she let the field grow long there. Tonight, though, was not a great night to run the path leading to her favorite spot. The ground was wet, mud streamed in the rain runoff going downhill and the wind whipped the grasses around her lower half as she ran by. The night was black, save for a few stars shining through the terrible clouds. Flashes of lightning could be seen in the distance on either side, but not where it mattered. When lightning finally struck ground in front of her she saw the funnel that formed and she was heading straight for it and it for her. Cursing under her breath she bolted the direction she came from. But it was no use.

The twister was faster.


Simply put, Lainy was a mess and she knew it. Her arms and ankles were laden with little cuts from where the grass whipped at her skin ans she ached all over. The suns did nothing to help her throbbing head. She lingered on that thought alone.

"Two suns?" she questioned to no one as she stared at the two sunned sky above her, "Where the hell am I?"

Looking around she noticed the forest and, through it, a lake. Birds chirped here and there and the wind was only a gentle breeze. She stood and made her way through to the outer edge of the trees and gazed out at the vast body of water. The suns were above and behind her making the direction she faced north. There was a large building across the lake from where she stood.

She sighed, "Well, c'mon feet."

The going was extremely slow, more than once she stepped on something that did not agree with her are feet. She caught glimpses of creatures in the brush but nothing long enough to determine what it could be. She had the uncanny feeling of being watched. The suns were setting by the time she was three-fourths of the way there. Even this far away from the building she was heading to things were more manicured, there started to be less tree and more grass. It wasn't long before a path began to form. People travelled here, not often but often enought to leave an impression. With this she'd easily find her way, even in the dark, so she decided she'd rest a while before pressing her throbbing feet the remainder of her journey. She closed her eyes and listened to the nature around her. Crickets were beginning to chirp their song, nocturnal birds were taking flight into the twilight air, and the horses were galloping on the path.

"Wait a second," Her eyes shot open and looked down the way she was headed.

Galloping down the path were three uniformed men on horseback. Guns were drawn and they were only a few seconds away from where she sat. Lainy stood and put up her hands, better to surrender than to run.

"Who are you?" asked one as they approached and formed ranks around her.

"Elaina Greene."

"What are you doing here?"

"Where is here?" Lainy retorted becoming defensice. She ached to much to care about their pointless questions.

"Here is Finaqua," he said.

"Fin-what?"

The soldier who had been questioning her glaces at his compatriots, "We'll bring her."

They put away their weapons as the leader offered Lainy his hand.

"Hop on."

Lainy jumped on the horse behind the soldier and they were off, galloping in the same direction the three horsemen had come. Their speed got them to the building in fifteen minutes.

"What is this?" Lainy whispered to herself as they slowed in a courtyard.

Lainy refused assistance dismounting and the one who she assumed was the superior officer approached a guard by the door and whispered somethng to him the girl could not hear. The guard promptly ran inside. The solider walked over to Liany, who held the horse and snapped his fingers toward his inferior.

"You and David take the horses, I'll wait with her for the queen."

The soldier saluted and snatched the reins from Lainy, who floundered at the word 'queen'.

"Wait, what?" She blurted.

He didn't get to answer. A woman walked out the doors and her presence demanded the attention of everyone there. The man who walked beside her commanded just as much.

"Your highness, Ahamo," the soldier bowed respectively.

"Captain Ares," the queen bobbed her head in response, "This is her?"

The captain nodded.

"Thank you, Ares," the queen said in dismissal of her captain, who headed in the direction the others had gone, "Miss. Greene?"

Lainy floundered again, wondering what to do or what to say. She settled on 'Your Highness' and a very clumsy curtsy.

"Follow me," Her Highness smiled.

The girl hurried after the queen and Ahamo as quickly as her sore feet could carry her. The room they came to was grand and open to the world. Across from the door were a series of unoccupied chairs set upon a two stepped rise. All around were windows. The ceiling was a clear skylight and the walls were large glass panes that let in so much of the waning sun-light it was hard to believe it was almost night. Lainy was in awe, she'd never seen something so amazing.

"Miss. Greene," The Queen said positioning herself in her throne, "I am Lavender, Queen of the O.Z. and this is my husband, Ahamo. Do you know where you are?"

"No, Highness," she said curtly, "But I'm sure you already knew this, I don't think you would have seen me otherwise.

Ahamo chuckled, "Where are you from?"

"Kansas, Galesburg, actually," Lainy confessed, "Where am I? What happened?"

"I take it a storm picked you up?" Lavender asked, Lainy nodded, "We call them travelling storms. They bring people where you are from, to us the Other Side, to where we are now, the Outer Zone. It's not always like that, sometimes they are just storms but every once in a while someone comes through on accident. You are the first Slipper in a while and we'll do everything to get you home once you've rested."

A thought flashed through Lainy's brain.

"NO!" she said much too quickly, She apologized, "What I mean is, couldn't I stay here? In this... O.Z.?"

"It's a possibility," Lavender said while motioning someone from the open door, "In the mean time, you are weary. This is Astrid, she will show you to a guest room and help you get cleaned up. We shall speak on this matter more in the morning."

Lainy curstied just as clumcily as before, "Thank you."

The queen nodded and the young slipper took that as her queue to follow Astrid.

Lainy's room ended up being on the third floor. If her feet were protesting before they were now in a full out riot. Astrid noticed her limping.

"I'll start a bath," she said and disappeared into the adjoining room, "You wait here and I'll find you something to wear and something for your feet."

And she was gone. Lainy kept an eye on the bath, relieved at the sight of indoor plumbing, until Astrid returned with towels, a night dress, and some bandages. The maid instructed the girl to bathe and dress while she went downstairs to get her some food. The bath was warm and had a calming scent to it. She sat in the water soaking away her aches long after Astrid had returned with a plate of fruit for her. When she finally emerged from the tub Astrid saw to her feet and told her how to call if anything was needed, for that there was a rope next to the bed.

"Like Cinderella's wicked step-sisters," she mused to herself after Astrid had left for the evening. She sighed, "What am I going to do? Am I really going to stay here?"

Those were the kinds of thoughts she fell asleep to.