I wrote a story a few months ago called "Annie In OZ." It took place after Oz The Great And Powerful and it explored what would happen if Annie had somehow ended up in OZ and found out what happened to Oscar with his new life and how she would feel about his newfound relationship with Glinda as well as Oscars feelings towards Annie now that he had been with Glinda and resettled in OZ for several months.
That story left me thinking about the connection this would have to Dorothy since Annie is Dorothy's mother. Surely Annie would have told Dorothy something about OZ before. Annie would be trying to push OZ out of her mind as she was never able to go back and never able to be wih Oscar and she had to live her life with John Gale in Kansas so she wouldn't have explicitly stated to Dorothy that she had been there and the connection that she really had to OZ.
But out how does Dorothy find out about OZ, how could she have forgotten after all of these years, and will she remember?
This is is a really short story, it wasn't meant to be long at all, just a follow up to "Annie In OZ." However, in the future I, thinking about following up this story with a story about Dorothy returning to OZ (after all in L. Frank Baum's book series, Dorothy went to OZ several times).
enjoy this short little story and be sure to rleave a review and let me know if you would like to read a follow up to this story.
Bedtime Story
Annie Gale carried her 3 year old daughter Dorothy to bed one night. The little girl was so beautiful with Annie's blue eyes and her husband John's red hair. She loved her with all her heart.
"Can you tell me a bedtime story?" Dorothy asked as Annie tucked her into bed.
"What kind of story would you like to hear?" Annie asked as she ran her fingers through Dorothy's soft hair.
"Magic," Dorothy replied excitedly. "And wizards and castles."
Annie smiled. She knew the perfect story to tell her daughter. "Well, I know a story that you'll love to hear about all of those things." She sat down on the side of Dorothy's bed. "It's a story about OZ."
"What's OZ?" Dorothy said excitedly.
"It's a magical world and a wizard rules over it all," Annie said wistfully.
It had been 3 years since Annie had been to OZ. It still seemed like a dream. And even he seemed like a dream.
OZ wasn't just a story. It was as real as anything else. And so was the wizard. She had known Oscar Diggs for years, and to this day she still loved him. She thought about him every day, about their time together, the love they shared, that fateful day where he was swept off to an unknown land. A world that she wouldn't find out about until months later when she herself ended up there only to find out he was in love with another woman. Yes she had blown her chances to marry him, a decision that she often regretted to this day.
"What happens?" Dorothy said eagerly.
"The land of OZ is a magical place with castles and strange creatures. But the people of OZ were afraid because an evil witch had taken over. Only a wizard could come in and save them. Well here in Kansas lived. A man named Oz. He was a magician in a carnival. He was a wonderful man, smart, kind, a little reckless, but one of the most incredible people anyone could ever meet. One day, he got on a parachute after a show but the parachute was taken away by a tornado."
"Oh no!" Dorothy said.
"But Oz was okay. The tornado landed in a mysterious world that he had never seen before. It was a world apart from ours. He soon learned that he was in the land of OZ and there was a prophecy saying that he must save the people from the evil witches. But Oz had no magical powers. He didn't think he was the kind of wizard that the people needed. But he soon saw how much money he would get if he saved the people and became king and decided to do it.
"Not all of the witches in OZ were bad. He soon met the good witch, Glinda. She was trying to do what she could to save theropod of OZ but she couldn't do it alone. She needed the wizard to help her. She knew he had no real magical powers, but she helped him see that there was a way that he could help people.
"Oz and Glinda teamed up with many ordinary people in OZ to defeat the witches. Oz was a smart and cunning man and he was able to create lots of inventions to defeat the evil witches and make them think he had magical powers. That's when they kidnapped Glinda and threatened to destroy him."
"Did he defeat them?" Dorothy asked feeling full of suspense.
"Yes he did. He scared them away and rescued Glinda. He banished the witches to the outskirts of OZ, never to return. After that, all of the people in OZ were forever grateful to him. They made him their king and believed he was a real wizard after all. From that day on, Oz lived in a huge castle in the Emerald City with all the riches he could desire. But he didn't need the money. He was no longer greedy or deceiving. He had done what he never thought he could do and had earned the respect of millions of people. He was a changed man and what was most important to him from that day forward was helping people. And that's what he did for the rest of his days in OZ."
"Did he and Glinda get married?" Dorothy asked.
Annie got choked up for a moment. When she had gone to OZ 3 years ago, he and Glinda weren't married. However, the love he had for her was clearly so strong. Just from looking at the two of them together she could see that Oscar loved Glinda with all his heart and soul, more than he had ever loved Annie. The moment she saw that she knew she would never stand a chance with him. There was no doubt in her mind that the two of them were married by now.
"Yes...yes they did get married," Annie said sadly. "And...they lived happily ever after."
Dorothy started to yawn.
"Did you enjoy the story?" Annie asked as she laid her down.
Dorothy nodded. "I wanna go to OZ," she said sleepily.
Annie smiled. "You can go to OZ in your dreams my darling." She kissed her forehead. "Good night Dorothy." She turned the lights off and left the room.
All of that had been so long ago now that all of it seemed like a dream. She had to keep reminding herself that it really happened and all of it did exist. The only thing she had left to remember it by was an old photo of Oz from before he'd been swept away by the tornado that she kept in her dresser drawer. No one else knew about any of this, not even John. She always knew she would never forget Oscar, and deep down inside she still loved him.
*WW*
12 years later Dorothy was lying in her bed with a cold compress on her forehead. Her room was a mess and the window was broken. She was surrounded by her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry and friends.
"Wh-what happened?" She asked disoriented.
"You hit your head during the tornado," Uncle Henry said gently.
"I...I was in OZ!" She exclaimed. "All of you were there! It was so amazing...!"
"It was all a dream Dorothy," Aunt Em said concerned. She hadn't heard anyone talk this crazy since her sister Annie, years ago.
"No, really, it wasn't...!"
"Just relax and get some rest dear," Em said kissing her forehead. She figured some sleep was all she needed. The only person who had ever mentioned OZ was Annie. She wondered how Dorothy could possibly know about it.
Everyone left except her dog Toto.
Dorothy held the dog close to her as she tried to comprehend what just happened. "It couldn't have all been a dream, it just couldn't have...right?"
Was OZ really a dream? It had seemed so real! The beauty of it, the Emerald City, the wicked witch, Glinda, the wizard...
That's when she remembered something vaguely in the back of her mind that had been tucked away for so long. It had been such a long time ago but she remembered it so clearly now. How could she have forgotten? She remembered the bedtime story her mom had told her years ago about the land of OZ. There was a wizard who wasn't really a wizard, the good witch Glinda, the wicked witches.
It was all becoming clear to her that this OZ was the same as the story that her mom had told her. But she didn't understand, if it was a dream how did her mom know about it? How could her mom have told her the story so clearly and detailed if OZ wasn't real...
Unless it wasn't a dream. She wasn't crazy. It was real. And her mom had known about it. Maybe even been there.
She clutched Toto tighter as she was bursting with questions. Was this place OZ truly real? Had her mother been there? Did she know the wizard? Her mom died when she was 5, could the wizard tell her more about her? Was there a way to get back?
She looked Toto in the eyes.
"Toto, I have to go back."