Fun Extended Metaphor.

Run.

It's a basic instinct, something infused in us from birth. Fight or flight.

Elphaba had always ran. She fled from the hatred and prejudice against her skin and oddity, retreating into books and denouncing all forms of human interaction. There was no need for things as silly and trivial as friendship, family and love. Nobody had ever extended these courtesies to her anyway, why should she embrace them?

Sometimes, though, Elphaba ran too fast. The things she had passed fell further and further behind until there was almost no hope of them ever running alongside her again. Elphaba ran from life and never gave it a chance to catch up.

Up until she went to Shiz anyway.

It was a whole different world, going to college. There, she was forced to spend time with people instead of being neatly shoved in a corner as she was in the Thropp Manor. Ideas and concepts that she had been evading her whole life were now obstacles in her road, solid and impassible. They tripped her, sent her careening back towards earth, where she was forced to look up and realize the path her life had taken her.

Friendship was standing there, right where she had fallen. It was at first disguised as hatred, then pity. However, it soon tore off its mask and reached out a hand to help her stand up again. Elphaba did not have to run when she had Galinda's friendship at her side. Instead, she slowed down and took another look at the things that she had so carelessly passed earlier. Running became walking and then occasionally dancing through life. For the first time in her life, Elphaba was happy.

It all came to a crashing halt when she went to the Emerald City, though. It one moment, her world had changed for forever. In her dash towards the finish line with its prize of meeting the Wizard, Elphaba had missed some very important signs and clues. Now, she was confronted with the Wizard's true identity, as a liar and cheat, and the race could not be restarted.

However, there is another natural instinct that is shared by all creatures. To fight. That power and will to overcome all odds, jump over the obstacles and into the air, defying gravity to do what was right. Elphaba fought an unbeatable enemy with all her heart and strength, righting the wrongs of one who had also ran the race of life too fast. She was The Wicked Witch of the West, the most feared person in all of Oz. A fighter, no longer a runner.

There is an end to all things, though. Whether it be a race or boxing match, some sort of bell will be rung or horn blow that will signify the end. Elphaba's end came in a cyclone, carrying a small girl wearing ruby red slippers. By then, she was growing weak. Several blows had been dealt to her that had made her stagger, losing her vision as she dodged punches. A bucket of water ended the match, thrown by little Dorothy, just a pawn of her real opponent.

What the Wizard and Morrible didn't see as they celebrated their victory was the other player. Glinda the Good had walked alongside Elphaba for part of her race but decided to not partake in the match, fearing that she wold lose. Instead, she stood to the side, watching her best friend take blow after blow but never back down. She yearned to have that courage, the strength to stand up to the man who had been the champion for far too long. Even as the crowd booed Elphaba, she silently cheered.

Now came her opportunity to take the stage. The good witch was powerful, strengthened by her friend's hope. The opponent was gone in minutes, knocked out by the same blows he had dealt the Witch of the West. Glinda stood victorious, the good and righteous leader of Oz, but she never forgot her best friend's fight and the terrible price of freedom.

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