It was a mildly warm day in Kansas, though nothing the residents weren't used to. To them, a mildly warm day was like a cool breeze, which was why Uncle Henry had no problem going outside to fix up the house, against Aunt Em's better judgment.
Grabbing a ladder, Uncle Henry climbed up to begin his first agenda, the roof.
However, at mid-climb, Aunt Em halted him. "You're going to wear yourself out if you keep this up!" she said.
"I am not! Don't have a cow! Besides, the roof needs to be fixed before it gives out," said Uncle Henry.
"Your back is the only thing that's going to give out," said Aunt Em.
Ignoring her, Henry continued onto the roof.
Though it had been some time since the tornado had passed, the house still had its fair share of problems, not to mention some that Henry had neglected to take care of for the past few weeks and needed to be fixed up just in case. And with Hunk, Hickory, and Zeke off with their own jobs, they couldn't very much help around the farm as much as they used to.
Before Henry got started; Dorothy, Toto, Tom, and Jerry came from out of the house.
"Let us help, Uncle Henry!" Dorothy said.
"Thank you, Dorothy, but fixing the roof is a man's job," said Uncle Henry.
"Well at least let her do the windows," suggested Aunt Em. "The boys can help with the roof."
"Oh all right," Uncle Henry said in agreement.
And so, Tom and Jerry helped Uncle Henry with the roof, while Dorothy replaced and wiped the windows.
Tom hammered away on the boards while Jerry struggled just to lift up a hammer. As he did so, he accidentally hit Tom on the foot which Tom did not take kindly to and responded by hitting Jerry on the head with the hammer.
In response, Jerry laid out a bed of tacks underneath Tom.
Getting tired from the work, Tom sat down directly on the tacks and screamed in pain, flying into the air and landing on the ground. As he came down, he landed face first into a pail of milk that Jerry laid underneath after milking it from a cow. Furious, Tom chased after Jerry towards one of the house windows. Jerry opened up the window and ran inside and as Tom made his way through, Jerry shut the window, trapping Tom's head.
After pulling his head out, Tom's head was flattened.
"Hey, come on, you two. This is no time for fighting. Uncle Henry needs us," said Dorothy.
"It's alright, Dorothy. I'm finished anyway," said Uncle Henry before he climbed down the ladder.
Uncle Henry stretched out his body, only to be met with a cracking pain in his back.
Dorothy held onto Uncle Henry as he hunched over in pain. "Uncle Henry! Are you all right?" she asked with concern.
Aunt Em stormed over to Dorothy and Henry. "I keep telling this old coot that he needs to slow down!" she scolded.
"Oh please! I'm just as fit as I was during my college years," said Uncle Henry.
"Yeah, 65 years ago," said Aunt Em.
Tom and Jerry giggled.
Sufficed to say, Uncle Henry's age was catching up with him.
Dorothy walked over to Uncle Henry. "She's right, Uncle Henry. Maybe you should take a break. Me, Tom and Jerry can take care of things, right boys?" she said.
Tom and Jerry gave Dorothy a thumbs up followed by a salute. Tom then kicked the pail of milk, pouring it on Jerry. In response, Jerry tripped him, causing to land face first in the pail again and then took a 2x4 and banged the pail repeatedly. Tom emerged from the pail, vibrating.
"If they can keep each other in one piece that is," Dorothy said with a giggle.
"I can't ask you all to do that. That's a lot of work," Uncle Henry asked.
"Don't worry," Aunt Em said. "She and the boys can do a bit of work here and there, then I'll have Hunk, Hickory and Zeke take care of things when they're at home. It's covered! You just focus on getting some rest! You need it!"
Though he wanted to continue resisting, Uncle Henry knew he was on the receiving end of a losing battle. Aunt Em, Dorothy, Tom, and Jerry all glared at him, arms crossed and firmly. It was obvious 'no' was not an option in this case.
"Well, if you're sure," Uncle Henry said, holding his back.
After attempting to crack his back, back in place, Uncle Henry went inside the house.
Aunt Em shook her head in annoyance. "He can be a stubborn old goat sometimes. One of the reasons I married him," she said, cracking a smile.
The next day, Dorothy and the boys went to work, painting the house.
Jerry grew exhausted and sat down to take a break, but ended up getting painted by Tom, much to Dorothy and Toto's amusement.
Later on, the group went to work on the field with Dorothy plowing with a rake and planting some seeds. This was really the first time she had done this much work. She was just used to doing a few chores in and around the house, but with Uncle Henry relaxing, she was able to do more stuff than before. And it didn't hurt that Hickory, Hunk, and Zeke were there to offer a helping hand from time to time.
Jerry planted a few seeds of his own and got buried in the dirt. Tom noticed this, took a water pail and poured water over the mound of dirt where Jerry was buried. Jerry emerged from the dirt, growing like a plant with flower pedals and all.
With that work done, Dorothy decided it was time to relax for a bit. Hunk, Hickory and Zeke concurred.
"Got job, boys. I couldn't have done this without you," she said to Tom and Jerry as she petted them both on the head.
"Hey! What about us?!" said Zeke.
"Oh! And of course, you boys as well," Dorothy said, giving Hunk, Hickory, and Zeke each a hug. "Thank you all so much for your help."
"Not at all, Dorothy," said Hunk. "After all your uncle does around here, it's the least we can do."
"We're more than happy to help where we can," said Hickory.
Afterwards, Dorothy asked Tom and Jerry to check on the mail. Usually around this time, the mailman stopped by. Although they didn't usually get a lot of mail, it still was important for them to check.
And on this day, the Gale residence had gotten some mail, specifically a single envelope.
Tom and Jerry read the front of the envelope and gasped with amazement. Tom attempted to bring the envelope to Dorothy, but Jerry snatched it out of his hand and rushed inside the house towards Dorothy and tapped her on the shoulder. As he got her attention and tried to show her the envelope, Tom grabbed him and threw him against the wall before showing it to her himself.
"Hmm, what's this?" Dorothy asked before taking the envelope.
As Dorothy read the front of the envelope, Tom chased after Jerry with a frying pan in the background. After she finished reading, she let out a happy gasp and called out to Tom and Jerry, stopping them in their tracks. She, along with Tom, Jerry, and Toto, rushed up to Uncle Henry's room.
Henry hadn't done much but sit around reading the newspaper. Aunt Em kept a close eye on him to make sure he did nothing but relax. Of course, he had tried to talk her into letting him go back to work to no avail. She knew he was stubborn, but she was just as stubborn as him, if not more.
"Well, I'm certainly glad I gave up farm work for this," Uncle Henry said sarcastically with a smirk.
"Well in the future, I'll be sure to let you work yourself to death," Aunt Em retorted with a smile.
The couple's banter was interrupted by the sound of Dorothy, Tom, Jerry, and Toto entering the bedroom.
"Aunt Em! Uncle Henry! You have something in the mail! And you'll never believe who it's from!" Dorothy exclaimed.
Uncle Henry took the envelope from Dorothy and was surprised by what he had read on the front. "Well I'll be!" he exclaimed.
"Don't beat around the bush, who is it from?" asked Aunt Em.
"It's ole' cousin Iggy!" said Uncle Henry.
"Oh, that ole' fool. What does he want?" said Aunt Em.
"I love cousin Iggy! Remember when he visited here a couple years ago?" asked Dorothy.
"How could I forget?" Aunt answered with aggravation. "His pet kangaroo made a mess of the place!"
Dorothy giggled. "Though she did take a liking to Tom," she said.
Tom thought back to when Iggy's kangaroo, Tilda, would constantly bounce him and lick him on the face, covering him in slobber, and give him bone crushing bear hugs. Suffice to say, it wasn't a particularly pleasant experience for him.
As for Jerry, he thought back to when Iggy made his famous dingo stew and he went to take a sniff and accidentally fell into it. Zeke ended up almost eating him along with the soup.
And Dorothy loved receiving letters from Iggy. She enjoyed hearing about his adventures in the outback; from wrestling alligators, to climbing to the top of Ayers Rock, and wrangling rabid dingoes. And he was very nice to Toto last time he visited.
"So, are just gonna stare or are you gonna open it?" Aunt Em said to Uncle Henry with impatience.
Acquiescing to her request, Uncle Henry opened up the envelope.
"What does it say, Uncle Henry," asked Dorothy.
Uncle Henry read the letter out loud.
"Dear Cousin Henry. G'day, mate. How are things in Kansas? Still growing corn for a living? And ole Em's still her cheerful self, eh? Well mate, I'll just get right to the point. I've performed daring stunts in the outbacks of Australia and captured many vicious animals, but now, what I've captured is something even more valuable, a mate. That's right, cousin, I've found the love of my life and you and your family are invited to my wedding next week. And to get ya there, I've spared no expense and provided you with a first class cruise. Look forward to seein' ya."
Your mate,
Cousin Ig.
P.S. Tell Tom, Tilda says hi.
Tom shuddered as Uncle Henry found six cruise tickets in the envelope. He was amazed while Aunt Em just scoffed.
"Well I'll be. My ole cousin Ig's done found himself a lady!" said Uncle Henry.
"Well it took him long enough. Eventually, it does get lonely out in the outback," said Aunt Em.
"It's wonderful!" Dorothy exclaimed. "I'm so happy for him and for you, Uncle Henry. Not only do you get to go to his wedding, but you get a cruise too! Isn't that great?!"
"I guess, but boats aren't really my thing," said Uncle Henry.
"But this would be perfect for you. A vacation is just the thing you need," said Dorothy.
"I'm already having a vacation right now," Uncle Henry said, waving his newspaper. "Besides, I feel much better and it's about I got back work."
Aunt Em snatched the newspaper out of his hands and swatted him in the head with it. "You're taking the cruise!" she said.
"But..." Uncle Henry said before Aunt Em cut him off.
"No buts! You need time away from the farm for a while. A change of scenery would be good for you. And it's your cousin's wedding for land's sake!" Aunt Em said.
Uncle Henry wanted to see his cousin. but though he didn't admit it out loud, the truth was nervous about leaving the farm. He'd never been outside of Kansas before and was used to farm life. But as hard as he tried to plead his case, Aunt Em; along with Dorothy, Tom, Jerry, and Toto, were adamant about him going.
"Alright, but I don't want to go alone and there are six tickets here. You all wanna come?" Uncle Henry asked.
"We all can't leave. The farm will be in shambles. Especially if those three fools are left alone with it for too long," Aunt Em said.
Elated at the prospect of a luxury cruise, Tom and Jerry quickly changed themselves into sea attire.
"Me and the boys would be glad to stay behind," Dorothy said, much to Tom and Jerry's dismay, though Toto was more than happy to oblige.
"That's nice of you, Dorothy, but you should go," said Aunt Em. "It will be a good way for you and your uncle to spend some time together. Besides, Australia isn't really for me. Much too hot and I can't stand kangaroos for obvious reasons."
Dorothy giggled.
"So what do you say, Dorothy? You feel like a wedding cruise?" Uncle Henry asked.
"Hmm, I don't know. What do you think, boys?" Dorothy asked Tom, Jerry and Toto.
Tom and Jerry nodded their heads in agreement, even attempting to give her the puppy dog eyes while Toto was indifferent.
Dorothy had already made up her mind, but seeing how much Tom and Jerry wanted to go, she decided to tease them for a bit, holding off her answer.
"Well...alright," Dorothy finally said.
Tom and Jerry jumped with joy with Tom grabbing Toto and spinning him around.
Aunt Em agreed to get things packed for them to leave and Uncle Henry would call Iggy to let them know that they were coming.
Dorothy bent over to her three pets. "Well boys. Looks like we're off to Australia," she said.
Tom, Jerry, and Toto all jumped into Dorothy's arms. Toto gave her a loving lick on the cheek while Tom and Jerry hugged her.
Admittedly, Dorothy was pretty excited herself. She'd never really been outside of Kansas, nor had she been on a cruise, so this would be a great experience for her. And although Oz was a unique place, it was gonna be nice for her to go to a new place without having to worry about monsters or wicked witches or anything out of the ordinary.