Once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a young farm girl named Liz. Liz was a happy, kind soul whose only dream in life was to see the world and escape her rinky-dink hometown. As she strolled along she sang a tune and her dog scurried next to her on this fine, spring day.
The day was perfect and the sun was shining and the birds sung and all was right in the land of Kansas. As the girl sang her checkered pattern dress flowed in the wind and her pigtails hung prettily at either side of her head. How wonderful.
"Isn't today just lovely, Toto?" She asked her dog. He barked in response as to say "Oh yes Liz! Just fine!"
Now as Liz was walking back to the home in which she lived with her Aunt and Uncle, a storm began to form overhead. Liz peered up into the dark, gray clouds and muttered "Oh dear. A storm!" Her little black shoes clicked under her feet as she ran back to her home.
"Auntie Em! Auntie Em!" She called aimlessly. No answer! 'They must still be outside.' She thought as a looked of horror struck her face. What would happen to them if they weren't inside? She ran for the door and as she swung it open a huge gust of wind made her fly back into the house, making her crash into the wall and knocking her out cold. She awoke a few minutes later, only to hear Toto barking madly.
"What's wrong Toto?" She asked the small black dog, and as she looked up, she saw what was wrong. Her house had been caught up in a twister! She covered her head and ducked under a nearby table and hoped for the best.
As the wind settled down and the storm finished it's reign of terror, Liz looked up. The sun was shining so brightly, she was blinded for a minute. That was odd. Usually after the storm there was at least some rain…but this time it stopped abruptly! Like magic!
"Toto?" She called. Toto came barking out from under a chair and leapt into her arms.
"Well, let's go see the damage." She said as she looked down at her puffy little dog. On her way out, she grabbed a basket to put the dog in. What she saw next was a huge shock to both her and Toto. It was a beautiful land with trees with emerald green leaves and springtime green grass, and a bright blue sky to top it all off. Clouds floated in the distance in odd shapes and looked as if the were made out of cotton, or some other squishy white material. She turned on her heel to look around at her settings and that was when her gaze fell upon a glittering, red object in the distance. Not being able to make out what is was properly Liz approached the sparkle.
Turns out, it was a pair of shoes. A pair of brilliant, ruby red shoes that were quite awe striking. And the shoes were on the feet of a person. Liz screamed.
Her house had landed on a person!
She began to freak out.
"OH MY GOSH I KILLED A PERSON I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT OH GOSHG OOOH GOSH! I'M IN SO MUCH TROUBE! AUNTIE EM WON' BE HAPPYWITH ME! WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO?!" She yelled. In that instant the feet that the shoes were on then curled under the house in a gnarled and twisted way, and Liz let out another shriek. "AHHH!"
Now as Liz was freaking out, she did not notice the itty-bitty pink bubble floating closer to her every second. This was no ordinary bubble, though. It grew and grew and grew, revealing a person inside of it. The bubble, reaching a maxed out size, popped. Out of the bubble, came a magical creature that made an 'oomph' sound when he fell out of the bubble. Liz then turned around at a shocked speed and her face went from a look of terror to a look of confusion.
"Mr. Mansfield?" She asked. He stood up and began to brush himself and his puffy pinks pants with matching pink shirt off. He had a sparkling pink wand in his hand and when he moved glitter (most likely fake, glued on cheap glitter) fell to the ground.
"Oh no I'm Glinda the Good - oh great, of all the people to squish a witch with her magical flying house, it has to be YOU." He said as he looked up. Liz turned her head to the side a wee bit.
"Shouldn't you be teaching something? Or planning our next lesson?" She asked. Mr. Mansfield sighed.
"Yeah well in this recession a teacher's salary just won't do and…but that's beside the point," He said with a shake of his head. "Alright munchkins it's okay to come out now!" Suddenly from behind every bush and tree, little people became to file out into the open. They were incredibly short, and had weird outfits on that made them look like leprechauns. Liz smiled.
"Are you guys leprechauns?" She asked staring at the little people. They all frowned.
"No! We're munchkins! Man, why does everybody call us that?" One asked.
"Sorry." Liz said.
"Munchkins! This is the girl who has eliminated the Wicked Witch of the East! The witch is dead!" There was a silence.
"Does this mean I don't have to go to French?"
"No, you still have to go to French class." The pink clad fairy said rolling his eyes. The group groaned. As if on queue, a puff of green smoked emerged as if from nowhere and a voice called "Did somebody groan?" A bout of evil laughter filled the air as all the munchkins and Dorothy looked around. The children head the smart idea to run back to their hiding spots while Liz just stood there. The figure emerged.
It was none other than everybody's favorite Social Studies teacher, Mr. Ritacco. Only aside from his normal teaching uniform, he was wearing a witch's cape with matching black pants and shirt, head adorned with a witch's hat. Much more masculine than what Mr. Mansfield was wearing.
"What's up Mr. Mansfield?" He asked with an evil grin and fake friendliness. Mr. Mansfield frowned.
"What do you want?"
"I dunno fairy boy, what do you think I want?" He teased.
"Don't call me that."
"I'll call you whatever I want, pinky. Enough chit chat," He said narrowing his eyes "…where's my sister?"
"Under the house." Mr. Mansfield said nodding in the direction of the fallen home. Mr. Ritacco whipped around and stared at the home.
"WHO DID THIS?" He yelled. "Was if one of your munchkins, fairy boy? Because you know that if it was, you'll pay."
"Nope. It was her." Mr. Mansfield said without fear as he pointed down to the frightened girl at his feet. Mr. Ritacco's gaze flicked from the fairy to Liz.
"You. YOU DID THIS?" He said. Liz backed up.
"Look, I didn't mean to! It was a total accident because I was in a tornado and…and…I'M SORRY!" She said scurrying behind the pink witch.
"Hmm…fear. I like fear." The Wicked witch of the West said with a wide, evil grin. "I guess I'll just take the shoes and be on my way then…" He said as he 'snuck' towards the shoes.
"Not so fast, witchie poo. You know by magical law, the shoes belong to the girl." He said as he stepped out of the way, showing Liz cowering behind him in fear. Mr. Mansfield then tapped the top of her head with his wand and with a brilliant red glow, the shoes appeared on her feet.
"Fine. I'll just have to get them another way. I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!" Mr. Ritacco said to Liz with a sneer and a wave of his fingers. A snap of his fingers brought his broom to him as he the jumped on, kicked off and zoomed away into the sky. For a moment, there was another silence.
"Look, this is all fine and dandy but I need to get back to Kansas." Liz said to the pink fairy. "Can you help me? Don't you have magical powers…or whatever you call that glitter on your wand?" Mr. Mansfield frowned as he thought for a moment.
"Hmm…my
powers aren't strong enough to send you home. But, there is a man
whose powers can."
"Who?"
"Why, the Wizard of Oz!"
"Okay. Now where do I find this magical Wizard of Oz, oh powerful Glinda?" Liz said with a small chuckle of sarcasm. Mr. Mansfield ignored the comment.
"See this brick road you're? Follow it to Emerald City where he resides. And be careful: The Wicked Witch of the West will stop at nothing to get the shoes. Now go Liz, off to see the Wizard!" Mr. Mansfield explained.
"One
question before I go." Liz said looking from him to her shoes.
"What is so great about these shoes?"
"They contain a
great resource of untapped magic that is all powerful. Plus, they
match his eyes."
"Right. I'll be going now." Liz said giving him a weird look and she then began skipping down the yellow brick road, off to see the wonderful wizard.
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Oz was a strange and magical place where all bits of reality seemed to vanish. Everywhere she walked Liz could find people and animals working. And these weren't ordinary animals, there were goats and llamas and alpacas and they were doing all sorts of work like fixing houses or picking fruit or gossiping. Once or twice she thought she saw a few people stop and stare at her, and other times she could swear they were whispering about her. She did seem well out of place; she was the only one with pigtails in her hair and a little black dog in a basket. Oh well, nothing really bothered her and she just focused on her journey to Emerald City.
Eventually, like all normal humans do, Liz became quite weary after a while and decided she would take a break under a scarecrow in a nearby cornfield. She let Toto out and watched him as he roamed around and explored, nipping at the butterflies and smelling the flowers. All was peaceful until she began to hear voices.
Well, it was one voice and it seemed to be coming from above her.
"Psst…hey kid!"
Liz looked around.
"Yeah, you! Get off my pole!" the voice called. Liz jumped up right on her feet.
"Who said that?"
"Me, you idiot! Turn around!" Liz did as directed and turned but saw no one but the scarecrow on top of his perch.
"Ummm…I don't see you. Are you a bug or something?" Liz said looking around
"No,
you're looking right at me!" Said the scarecrow. Liz
screamed.
"Ahh! A talking scarecrow!" She said stepping back
in alarm. "Scarecrows don't talk. I must have fallen asleep and
all I need to do is wake up. WAKE UP!" She yelled to the sky, and a
few crows flew out of the trees. A silence followed.
"Well, you managed to kill about five seconds, now do me a favor and get me down!"
"Why
should I? How do I know you don't work for that horrid witch that
wants my shoes?"
"Number one he's the one who put me up
here and number two, why would anybody want such gaudy red shoes? I
mean, you must get glitter like, everywhere!"
"Why should I
help you down? You're a scarecrow. Isn't it your job to be
scaring away crows?"
"Well, I'm really bad at my job. I
can't scare them away! I've tried screaming and yelling and
calling them fat but they won't go away. And if I had use of my
arms I'd throw something at them, but as you can see…" His
voice trailed as he stared at his arms. "Ready? Watch." He
screamed at the crows that had just landed on his shoulder.
"HEY YOU. FAT BIRD. YEAH YOU. GET OFF MY SHOULDER AND GO AWAY! YOU'RE FAT AND HAVE NO NEED TO EXIST. PRINCESS FLUFFLYDRESS AND LEAF-PINK BUTTERFLY NEED TO LEAVE RIGHT NOW." He yelled. No luck, the birds stayed put and began to peck at his shoulder blade.
"Ow, dangit! Get me down before this bird eats my face off!" Liz scrambled to help the poor thing off the stick. She finally got him off and as he landed with a 'thud' on the ground, Liz offered a hand to help him out.
"Sorry sir!" Liz said with her arm extended.
"Sir? SIR? Do I sound like a man to you? I'm a GIRL. G-I-R-L. My name's Jamie. And you?" She (not he) asked Liz as she stood and brushed herself off.
"My name's Liz."
"Nice to meet you. So what brings you to this neck of Oz? Looking for a job?"
"No, I'm on my way to see the Wizard of Oz about getting home." Jamie stared at her for a moment.
"You're going to see the Wizard? Can I come with you?" Jamie asked with a pleading look in her eyes. Liz furrowed her brow.
"Why should I after you insulted me?"
"Because I was on my way there until I was put on that stick. Look, I need to see a guy about a brain."
"…A brain?"
"Yeah. You see I don't have a brain. I'm a scarecrow and I'm made of sticks and straw. But I have no brain and I REALLY need one to come up with some more insults for these dang birds. So will you please let me come with you? Oz can get pretty dangerous and, uh, I know Oz like the back of my hand!" Jamie said confidently. Liz pondered this for a moment. If Jamie knew as much as she said she knew about Oz, then it could be a big bonus. If not, then she'd just be carrying dead weight…but she'd have to take her chances.
"Well, alright. Come on, we have tons to cover in just a little amount of time. Buddies?" She asked holding out her arm in a gesture that meant for Jamie to link arms with her. Jamie looked at her cautiously.
"Partners." Jamie said linking arms with her. Toto then jumped back into his basket, and the do began to skip off on the brick road.
"You know, Jamie could be a guy's name."
"Shut up Liz."
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Now as the two walked along the road that would eventually lead them to Oz, they became quite famished and needed food. They were in luck, as a cluster of apple trees was together just across the clearing. They crossed and as they reached the trees began to pick at the fruits. But these were no normal trees; they were talking trees.
"Hey! Hey! HEY!" One yelled. "How would you like it if someone came up to you and began randomly picking your fruits?"
"That's what she said." Jamie said with a snicker.
"Hey! I don't take insults from the likes of a scarecrow. And what's up with you farmgirl? Loose your cow?" It said with a laugh. The other trees joined in.
"Why I never-! How rude! That's a lot of talk coming from a tree that can't do anything but insult random passersbys. No wonder people never ask for your fruit, you're so cruel they don't want to talk to you." Liz said putting her hands on her hips and reprimanding the tree.
"Oy! Hey look guys we got a gutsy one! SHAKE EM!" The tree yelled. In unison all the trees began to shake madly, sending apples flying out in every direction. The girls tried to shelter themselves in their hands, but eventually gave up and just ducked under a bush.
"Oh great, hiding under a bush from trees. And I thought this day was going bad already, now I have to hide from talking trees?" Liz said. Jamie shrugged.
"Eh, not my worst day. I've had my butt lit on fire and no one around to put it out."
Now eventually the trees gave up and the duo stood up and brushed themselves off. As Liz fixed her dress and adjusted Toto in the basket, she saw a flash of silver.
"Hey Jamie. Look," Liz said following the flash. "It's a robot statue!" She said pushing back the bushes and walking towards it to get a better look. It was frozen in a position with its feet spread apart and arms out like it was doing a dance. It looked angry; with an extremely mad look on it's face.
"So cool!" Liz said rapping on the thing with her knuckles. Jamie frowned.
"Look Liz, let's get out of here before the trees come back for another attack." Liz stared at the statue a moment before turning back to Jamie and saying "Okay."
But obviously the tin man had other plans. It made a muffled sound that scared the girls half to death. The both jumped and screamed.
"Ahh! Did it just talk?" Liz said with bewilderment to Jamie. She nodded and they both turned towards the tin person. It said something muffled yet again and it's eyes moved.
"It's ALIIIIIIIIIIVE!" Jamie said dashing out of the bush. Liz was about to follow before she noticed it was looking at something. She followed it's eyes and…voila! A metal can filled with a strong smelling black substance: Oil!
"Jamie! Come back! It needs to be oiled!" Liz said picking up the can and carefully walking over to the statue. She smiled sweetly. "Is this what you need? To be oiled?" She asked kindly. It let out a cry of a mumbled a sounding 'yes'. Liz hurried to oil the person in every spot she could see. Finally, it sprung to life just as Jamie came back through the bushes. It then fell on the ground, sat up and yelled "WHAT THE HECK YOU TWO? YOU SEE ME ASKING IF I NEEDED TO BE OILED COULDN'T YOU HAVE ACTED SOONER?" It said as it stood and rubbed the back of its neck. "Ahhh…great I'm gonna be sore for the next week and a half. Thanks a lot! Three days as a statue and I have to be rescued by you two? Dangit! Of all people! And what are you staring at? Never seen a tin man talk?" It asked the wide-eyed, dropped jawed Liz. "HELLO. YOU. PIGTAILS!" It snapped its fingers together and shook it's head. "AND YOU!" It said, pointing to Jamie dramatically. "WHAT WAS UP WITH THE WHOLE RUNNING AWAY THING? SCARED THE BIG OLD HUNK OF METAL IS GOING TO GET YOU? WELL BLEH!" It said.
Liz stared at it. "You talk!" She said with a smile. It furrowed its brow and gave her a look of 'what?'
"Yes, congratulations. Now tell me: What sound does a cow make?" It said with sarcasm. Liz frowned at the metal person's comments.
"You don't need to be rude." She said.
"Yes I do. Now if you don't mind, MOVE." It said walking away.
"Wait!" Liz yelled, going after the tin man.
"What now? Need your pigtails done?"
"No!" Liz yelled catching up to the person and shaking off the comment. "Where are you going?"
"I'm off to see a guy about a heart. I'd be there by now if it weren't for that dang witch and his flying monkeys. Stupid monkeys. Pure idiots, all of them." It said continuing on and not bothering to stop.
"What guy?" Liz asked.
"The Wizard of Oz, duh. I already tried Glinda but she slash he is totally creepy. Then I asked the Wicked Witch and he was all 'get out of here you hunk o junk!', which he then proceeded to splash me with water. I was rusted out for a few days until you came along." It stopped abruptly. "I should thank you for that. So, thanks."
"Stop! You can come with us! Jamie and I are going too! She needs a heart I want to get home. Why not come with us?" She asked sweetly. The tin person stared her down for a moment.
"Sorry. I fly solo."
"Awww, come on! I bet inside you're a total softyyyy." Liz said in a singsong voice. It glared.
"If I agree to come along, will you never do that again?" It asked crossing its arms. Liz nodded and it then rolled its eyes and said, "Fine. But I'm NOT making friends with you." Liz jumped for joy and then began to tug the metal person along.
"JAMIE JAMIE JAMIE JAMIE! Look! It's going to come with us to Emerald City." It glared yet again.
"It has a name. Its name is Becca. Now lets get going, I don't have all day." Liz and Becca started off, but Jamie stayed behind.
"Why should we let you come along with us? You were totally rude when Liz unfroze you and then you walked away when she asked if you could come along." Becca shrugged.
"Alright. If she doesn't want me coming with you two I guess I'm off," She said turning away to leave.
"No! Come back!" Liz yelled. She shrugged and continued on.
"Jamie! Why would you do that? She needs us!" Liz hissed. Jamie rolled her eyes.
"Oh please. Don't give me that crapola."
"But she's a Mr. Grumpy gills and we need to fix that! All she needs is a heart and she's good as new!" Jamie pondered this for a moment.
"…fine. As long as she's not a total WITCH." She called over her shoulder.
"I heard that." Becca said with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.
"Glad you did." Jamie said taking off.
"Jaaaaiiiimmmeee!" Liz called going after the girl. Becca just rolled her eyes and went after the group, secretly eager to be going with people to see the Wizard.
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The trio walked along the road, following it for miles and miles, never stopping once. Well, they were too into their conversations to stop. Becca told stories of where she was created and how she came to be while Liz listened, eating up all the details. Jamie would add a snide remark here and there, but all that would do was make Becca reply back and start a new topic of discussion. Hey laughed and giggled as teen girls would and lost all track of time. It wasn't until they had reached the forest that they did stop and take a look at their surroundings. The path continued through the woods, as far as they could see. Liz gulped.
"We shouldn't be going through here. Let's find another way guys." Liz said looking around worriedly. Becca made a 'pfft' nose and muttered, "Chicken."
"It doesn't look safe."
"Safe is for people with flesh. Don't you want to get home? I thought so. Now come on!" Becca said leading he trio into the forest. It was getting dark, who knew what could be hiding amongst the trees? Timed passed utterly fast for the group, and eventually it did get quite dark. The small group suddenly stopped when the reached the halfway point of the forest.
"Liz, where are we?" Becca asked.
"Um…in the forest?" She asked giving a small smile of 'I have no idea where we are'
"Oh yeah, real informative!" Jamie said rolling her eyes.
"Says the one with no brain." Becca muttered under her breath.
"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you." Jamie said taking a defensive step in the tin man's direction.
"I said you have no brain. Can you hear me now?" Becca said taking a step closer.
"Yeah. Yeah, I can. Why not just come here and say it to my FACE."
"I WILL. NO BRAINER."
"HEATLESS."
"STRAW HEAD."
"TIN CAN.
"FIRESTARTER."
"SCRAP METAL."
"Guys! Stop fighting! I think I hear something." Liz said. Toto barked.
"Shut up, you dang dog. Man, I hate dogs. They smell horrid and leave dirt everywhere and just muck up everything! Ugh, disgusting!" Becca said turning her nose at the beast.
"No, you shut up you old hunk of junk. It's not like you smell like a spring meadow." Jamie said rolling her eyes as she adjusted her straw cap.
"Take that back you walking pile of straw." Liz shushed the fighters and there was a silence. Suddenly, Liz sneezed.
"AHHH! BOOOOOOOGERRRRRRRRRRSSSS!" Said a creature that had jumped out from the bush. It flailed about before curling up on the ground in the fetal position. "Groooossss." The three standing up looked at each other. It was a…lion? It was more like a person in a lion costume. Its face was painted to look like a lion's, whiskers and all. But it couldn't have fooled anyone, not the least bit.
"Ummm…what were you trying to do?" Jamie asked. The creature sat up from its position and pouted out its lower lip.
"I was trying to scare you guys." She said. She sniffled.
"Well…obviously you didn't try hard enough." Becca said.
"I did so." She said defensively. "It's just I'm not good at it." At this point the poor thing looked like she was going to cry.
"Aww! Don't be sad. You made me jump!" Liz said encouraging the thing. It looked dup at her with a gleam of hope in its eyes.
"R-really?" She stuttered. Liz nodded. Becca snorted.
"Yeah, Scared me so bad, I think I may be traumatized." She muttered rolling her eyes. The creature looked down again, all hope gone.
"Becca! You don't have to be so mean." Liz said looking at her with anger.
"I'm not mean, you're just a sissy." She said crossing her eyes and turning away. Liz opened her mouth to say something, but the creature cut her off.
"No. She's right. I'm scared of everything!" she said.
"You can't be afraid of everything." Liz said reassuringly.
"Yeah. I am. Want me to make a list for you?" She said. Not waiting for an answer, she began her 'list'.
"Well, first, there are bugs. I hate bugs, they are creepy and crawly and gross and they make these weird click-y sounds whenever they walk. They carry all sorts of germs and dirt that make you sick. Germs scare me to no end too; all they do is full you up with the constant threat of being sick and making boogers. Ewww…BOOOGERS! They worst part of being sick, when your nose runs all the time and you have this really bad feeling in your stomach that makes you want to puke out anything you eat. Bad feelings are scary. I usually get a bad feeling when I try to leap out and scare someone with my mighty roar, but it doesn't work. Why just the other day I was hiding behind that tree right over there when this guys come walkin' down the path. I jumped out and tried to scare him, but it didn't work! And do you know what the sad thing is? He was wearing all pink. ALL PINK! You'd think guy with puffy pink pants would be scared at everything like me, but no. Do you know how bad that made me feel? Then he walked away laughing at me. Laughing! A guy in pink walked away from me, a lion, laughing! That would make anyone feel bad, right? Then I tried to talk to my friends. All ten of them, but they laughed at me too. That made me feel even worse so I hid behind that tree for a few days wallowing in my shame and fear. And now here I am giving you people a big speech about all that I'm scared of. Oh, why can't I be brave? AH! WHAT WAS THAT?" The creature said flailing her arms once again and diving into a bush.
"Wow. I never though I would meet someone like you in my life, a total spaz." Becca said as Liz hurried over to help her up.
"Oh, you poor thing! All you need is a little cheering up." Liz said to the bush.
"And how do you plan to do that?" it answered.
"By taking you with us to see the Wizard of Oz!" Liz said cheerily. She turned to look at her comrades, but all they did was shake their heads and silently mouth NO.
"Really?" The lion asked poking her head out from the bush. Liz extended a hand and it began to cry.
"I-I've never m-m-met someone like you before. YOU'Re SO KIND!" She wailed and she took the hand and wiped the tears away.
"It would help if we knew your name." Jamie said.
"It's B-Bomina. And you guys?" Bomina said as she finished her bout of crying.
"This is Jamie," Liz said gesturing towards the Scarecrow.
"Hi." Jamie said with a small wave.
"And this is Becca." She said pointing to the tin man.
"Sup?"
"Hihi! Nice to meet you." Bomina said smiling widely.
"Yeah, yeah enough chit chat! Let's go see the wizard, I need a heart before this entire situation makes me gag." Becca said extending her arm out for linking. Jamie followed and Liz linked arms with the, while still holding to an arm for Bomina.
"Coming Bo?" She asked. Bomina teared up again.
"You're sure I won't fall?" Bomina asked, pulling back a bit.
"I'm totally sure." She hesitated for a second and then happily linked arms with her new group.
"Do you mind if I call you Bobo?" Becca asked the newcomer as they took off.
"I've never had a nickname before so, sure!"
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Meanwhile,
far from where the girls traveled, far from where anyone ever
traveled, the watchful eyes of the Wicked Witch of the West cast
their glance into a pot of water that could see all.
"That
rotten girl. Those shoes are MINE. That power should be mine and not
on the feet of some murderous young teenager."
"You're totally right, buddy." One flying monkey that floated up above said. "You should smite them with your awesome powers." He said. Mr. Ritacco frowned.
"Max, stop sucking up."
"Yeah Max. We all know he loves ME the most." Said another.
"No I don't. I hate you. Why do I even keep you around Jordan?" The witch asked the monkey.
"Because you like me."
Mr. Ritacco let out a cry of frustration and sat back in his chair. Why he ever chose monkeys, he didn't know at this point. All they did was annoy him to absolutely no end and made him want to tear out what little hair he had left and throw those pieces into a fire and do a tribal dance around them. He rubbed his temples.
"Bug! Status report!" He yelled. Another monkey burst in, out of breath.
"They're…they're…almost to Emerald city…sir!"
Mr. Ritacco went silent for another moment, thinking of a plan.
"…Do you want me to get the fire wand?" Bug asked.
"No, not yet."
"But I like the fire waaaand…" He whined.
Mr. Ritacco shot a glare over to him. That shut him up immediately. At least they were trained flying monkeys.
"No, I have a better idea. Timmy, get my broom and hat. Max, Jordan, and the rest of you, go…clean something." he said with a flick of his wrist and instantly, for a moment, they were gone. He was left to silence and he smirked.
Oh, this plan would work. He would need to watch the girls for just a wee bit longer and find out whom to use as bait…
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"Are we there yet?" Jamie whined. "My feet are killing me! Straw isn't as comfortable as you think."
"I'm glad I have no feelings." Becca said as she walked at quite a fast pace in front of the group. She had taken the lead in the group. Liz trailed behind, chatting it up with the lion, who described to her all about the homelands.
"It's really pretty! You should come see it sometime." Bomina said to Liz. Liz nodded, but then frowned.
"But…I'm going home soon."
"So? You can still come visit. Where do you live? Quadling Country? Munchkinland?"
"Kansas." The group momentarily stopped to look at her.
"Where's Kansas?" They asked her.
"Um…it's hard to explain. But, I'm not from this land so it would be hard to explain." Liz said looking away momentarily.
"You miss your home, huh?" Jamie said quietly. Liz nodded. Although her home was small she love it, all her brothers and sisters running around, having to take care of them all the time, working with Auntie Em…it was going to be real good to see them again.
"There, there. There, there, there, there. It will be quite all right." Bomina said putting a hand on her shoulder. Liz smiled.
"Quit your yapping and look!" Becca said smiling for the first time.
The quad had reached their destination: Emerald City was only a short walk away. All eyes turned to the city. The name didn't lie; it was made entirely of Emeralds that shone in the sun. It was a wonder the girl's didn't go blind!
"Let's go!" Liz said running ahead. Jamie and Becca shrugged and took off after them. Bobo ran behind them, arms in the air as she yelled for them to stop.
Upon reaching the city, the girls slowed, and then halted to a stop at the large gates. There was a silence.
"Well? Knock on the door someone." Jamie said, getting antsy. Liz stepped forward, and slowly knocked.
It echoed though the halls. No answer.
"Well it looks like no one's home. Okay gotta go bye!" Bomina said as she took off in the other direction in a speed walk. Just then the doors slowly squeaked open and became juuust big enough for the girls to step though.
"Ladies first." Becca said bending over and letting Jamie, Liz and Bomina walk thorough before she followed.
Upon stepping inside, the girls saw nothing more than a large, white tiled floor and white walls and a white ceiling. On the right side of the room was a set of huge white doors. On the other end of the large room was a white desk, and behind which sat a figure.
"Names?" The person asked. The girls looked at each other. Bomina quivered and Jamie's eyes darted about, observing her surroundings. Becca nudged Liz.
"Uhh…Liz, Jamie, Becca and Bomina. We're here to see the wiza-"
"You can wait just one moment, thank you." It said.
A silence filled the large, white room.
"You're not on the list. Please leave at once." The figure said.
"But…but…" Liz began.
"I said LEAVE."
Liz, Jamie and Bomina turned away to walk out the door, sad looks on all their faces. Becca frowned.
"We're not going anywhere."
"Excuse me?" The person, now obviously a woman, said with shock.
"I said we're not going anywhere. We've come too dang far to be shot down by some hotshot secretary to a wizard whom we're all trying to contact. Now instead of kicking us out, could you be kind enough to tell us why we can't see him?"
"He's busy."
Another silence.
"So you're telling me, we came all this way to get nothing?"
"That's right." The secretary said. She went back to typing. Becca frowned, walked over to the doors and promptly stood in front of them, looking back at the secretary.
"Wait! Mrs. Tamboe?" Liz asked. She looked up from her typing for a moment.
"What?" She asked.
"Can we go in?" Liz asked. Her eyes narrowed.
"No! I already said that you can-"
SMASH.
The handle on the clean white doors was off and now sitting about, oh say, three feet away? She pushed the doors open and marched in. Thinking quickly, Liz and the other two rushed after her into the room as the woman began to yell "Hey! HEY! YOU CAN'T GO IN THERE."
As the girls caught up with her, they found her open mouthed in front of a room that was very much the opposite of the one they had just come from. The tile had faded into a dark blue like color that looked like it had bits of emerald in it as like the brick that made up the building. There were curtains of all colors hanging around the room, reds and blues and greens in all shades and hues, ranging from midnight black to off-white. It was a room with a very high ceiling, so high in fact you couldn't see the ceiling as it looked as it just went to black. They saw why she was staring. A he pair of eyes stared down on them.
"WHO DARES DISTURB THE ALL POWERFUL WIZARD OF OZ?" Came a booming voice and eyes that appeared out of nowhere and were projected onto the curtain before them. The girls were too petrified to speak; especially Bobo who had just fell to her knees with a yelp.
Liz was the one to get though courage to speak.
"It is I, Liz and her friends Becca, Jamie and Bomina, here to seek your help!" Liz said as loud as she could. Compared to his voice, she was just a little pipsqueak.
"And why should I help you mere plebeians who dared to set foot in my room of wonder without permission? You have the audacity to upset me?"
"Look, kind Wizard. We need your help. The Cowardly Lion here needs courage to face her fears, the tin man to get a heart and the scarecrow for a brain. And I need to return to my home of Kansas." She said courageously.
"Kansas? Oh! Why didn't you say so? I can help you with your problems!"
"Oh thank you kind-"
"But, you must first do me a huge favor."
"Anything!"
"Bring me the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West!"
For the first time since she had mouthed off to the Secretary, Becca spoke.
"Um…no can do old wizard man. Uh… how about we bring you a rock or something from his castle? Maybe a flying monkey? I hear they can be really entertaining if you train them right!" Becca said with her voice shaking.
"NO! I WLL ONLY ACCEPT THE BROOM OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST. NOW GO BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND, PEASENTS." He yelled, and with a crack of green powder the girls screeched and scrambled out of the room, one after another.
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Now out of the castle and gasping for breath, the group of girls collapsed. Not one of them had any idea how they were going to face the Witch. After they had all caught their breath, there was a pause in the air.
"Well, that's it. I give up. I'm going back to the forest and I'm going to wait for a slow and painful rusting out, until I finally disintegrate into nothing." Becca said standing up. She began to walk away.
"Wait! Come back!" Liz yelled hurriedly getting up. She ran alongside the tin man. "You can't go! We need you!" Liz said. Becca stopped.
"Why would you need me? I'm just a pile of scrap metal. I should just go turn myself into the witch…" She whined. She plopped down in defeat.
"No you're not! We got into this together and we're going to get out of this together!" Liz yelled as she crouched down next to her.
"Liz is right Becca. We have to stay together! We're all friends here, right?" Bomina said hopefully looking at her friends. Liz had sat next to Becca, looking like she was going to cry. Jamie laid face up towards the sky, and Becca sat in her own little pile of misery. It was going to take more than a cowardly lion's pep talk to cheer these people up.
"You know if this was a musical, this would be the time someone would break out into singing 'Let it Be' by The Beatles. " Bomina said thoughtfully.
"Really?" Liz said. She thought for a moment. "What's a 'Beatle?'" she asked lifting an eyebrow. Bomina frowned.
"I…don't know." She said frowning in confusion.
"I'VE GOT IT!" Jamie said sitting up suddenly.
"You know what Beatle is?"
"No no no! I know how we can get the broom!" Jamie said.
"Explain." Liz said crossing her arms. Jamie did as told, catching the attention of her fellow group mates.
"You know, that just may be crazy enough to work." Becca said furrowing her brow.
"I know." Jamie said with a grin.
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
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Liz stood in the middle of the open field, arms outstretched and sighing loudly. "Oh, I feel as if I've lost the will to go on. I can not handle the great power of these ruby red shoes, so I shall just lay here and give up al hope of ever returning home!" She said with a dramatic sigh, in which she then turned on her heel and landed on her back, laying down.
As if on queue, the Wicked Witch appeared in the sky, flying high and then taking a massive swoop down to the ground where Liz lay.
"So…you give up?" He asked, almost cackling. This was going to be too easy!
Liz nodded.
"And you give up the power of the shoes?" He said, a tinge of excitement in his voice. All she had to do was say she gave up the shoes and Oz was a good as his!
"Well, not quite." Liz said. "NOW!" Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Out of the tall grass that surrounded Liz, the other three tackled the witch and brought him down. Bomina dove for the broom as if fell out of his hands while Becca and Jamie pinned him down with all their might as the witch fought back, kicking and yelling for his monkeys. When her fingers finally grabbed the wooden handle of the broom, Bomina let out a cry of success.
"LIZ! CATCH THE BROOM!" She yelled, tossing it to the girl who rolled away. As Bomina tossed it, the witch sent a beam of fire that hit the scarecrow causing a chain reaction. Jamie screamed and let go of his arm as her butt combusted into flame, and Becca let go of his other one to help try to snuff out the fire. Liz caught the broom, but in that instant was caught by the witch who laughed in success, and snapped his fingers. He was gone with Liz, and the broom. Once Bomina saw her friend on fire, she began to flail her arms about.
"FIRE BAD! FIRE BAD! FIRE BAAAAD!' She yelled as she ran in a circle, and then dove into the bush. Becca tried her hardest to stop the flame from engulfing her friend in ash by licking her fingers and then grabbing the flame with the wet fingers. Se flame stopped and Jamie stopped jumping about. Bomina was still hiding in the bushes.
Out of nowhere, a monkey came zooming out of the sky landing the bush next to Bobo. She screamed and jumped up in terror. She tried to hide behind Jamie, but failed. The monkey sat up.
"Am I late?" He asked. Without an answer, Becca tackled him, pinning him to the ground.
"No, you're just in time." She grabbed the monkey and held him up as he kicked and yelled for help.
"You want to live to see tomorrow? Then you're going to do us a favor." Becca said through clenched teeth as she grabbed him by the shoulders. Jamie and Bomina watched her harass the monkey.
"You're going to lead us to the Witch's castle. You fly away I will find you and we'll go for a little 'walk'. GOT IT?" She asked. The poor monkey nodded.
"Good. Now fly! Fly!" Becca yelled. She began to follow the monkey, but Jamie and Bomina stayed behind.
"Are you going to come with me to save Liz or not?" She asked obviously irritated. Jamie and Bomina exchanged looks and quickly followed her.
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"Well here we are!" The monkey said as he led the three to the top of a peak, which overlooked the castle. It was extremely high up, with a single path that curved down to the entrance.
"I can go now, right?" It asked.
"No. You can stay here." Becca said as she pulled a vine from what appeared to be nowhere and tied the monkey up tight.
"One wrong move, and I kick you over this ledge." Jamie and Bomina peered down. Becca then joined them. As the trio peered over the ledge and down onto the castle's settings, fear sent shivers up and down their spines. It was a huge, old Victorian style castle that must have been well over 50 stories high. The flying monkeys patrolled the skies and the front gates.
Finally after the short moment of silence Becca said, "That's it. She's a goner." She slumped against the wall; head clanking as she did so.
Jamie sighed. "Yep."
Bomina looked thoughtfully at the two. "Hey, hey, guys! We can't give up this soon! We still have some time!" She said.
"Yeah, just enough time to watch her be turned into dust by the Witch." Becca said pessimistically. She banged her fist against the ground in defeat.
"We may as well turn ourselves in right now to him. I'm nothing more than a brainless pile of straw. What good am I?"
"And I'm just a big hunk of metal that's too cold hearted to care." Bomina frowned.
"Look here you two, I may be a scardy cat, I may be afraid of everything from my shadow to a harmless little bug to even the slightest germ, but I know not to go back on a friend. If it weren't for her, do you think we'd of ever found each other? Do you think I'd be up here even within 200 feet of this old hag's castle if it weren't for Liz? Hey Scarecrow, if it weren't for her, you'd still have a pole up your butt trying to scare away crows. And you, tin man, you'd be rusted out to no end if it weren't for her. How can you give up so easily? We've come this far from home to watch Liz perish and Oz taken over by some crazy old man? No! You know what? What we've found in each other is greater than all off our wants together; it takes what we've found to get a heart or a brain or even courage. Do you know what we've found? Friendship! That's the greatest thing of all, don't you see? Now I don't know about you, but I'm going to suck all the might I have in me and march right down there and demand that he let her go because I'm not, and I repeat not, going to let the girl who brought us together and took us farther than we'd ever though we'd go, see the end by being smited by a delusional power hungry witch. At least not without me." Bomina said.
Becca and Jamie looked at each other.
"You know what? You're dang right. We need to stand together to save her." Jamie said rising. Becca joined the two.
"We must all hang together, or we shall all hang separately." She said. "So Jamie, got another brilliant plan?" She asked. Jamie ignored the comment as she peered over to the castle.
"if only there was a…side entrance!" Jamie said in realization. There was a balcony that was only a few foot jump from the ledge to it. It would be a great way to get in unnoticed!
"Well what are we waiting for?" Becca said looking at the ledge. "Let's go!"
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Eventually, they reached the ledge. Jamie jumped over the drop, which was pretty high up, and landed with a ninja like pose. Becca went next, lading with ease, even though she made a clunking noise when she landed. When it was Bo's turn, she kind of…stood there.
"Uh…you guys go ahead. I'm gonna stay right here!" She said.
"No way, Bobo. You're coming with us weather you like it or not." Becca outstretched her hand. Bomina squeezed her eyes shut and said, "If I die, you get my courage." Before she grabbed her hand and leapt. She made3 it with ease, it was only a three foot gap.
Now the trio snuck into the castle, Becca leading with Jamie close behind and Bomina shaking like a leaf a few feet behind. The dashed up the spiral staircase until they saw a study. In the study, Liz sat with her hands cuffed together while the Witch told her his plan. Becca and the other two listened as best as they could, Bomina still shaking and whimpering.
"Do you have any idea how much power is conditioned in those shoes? Mr. Ritacco asked her. "A lot. Enough for me to take over Oz! I could be all powerful…and I could get rid of those rotten flying monkeys too." He said with a sneer as he bent down and tried to grab the shoes, but the sparked, making his hands retaliate. He hissed.
"Hmm…they're too powerful on you. I would need to get them off you somehow." He paused to think. Mr. Ritacco grinned a crocodile like grin. "I know… I'll just have to get rid of you somehow."
"You could let me go. That would get rid of me forever!" Liz said.
"Aww…NO. I'll be back in a bit when I have a way to get rid of you. You have until the hourglass runs out." He said pointing to the hourglass on the table that slowly began to drain. "Be back in awhile…" He said walking out of the room with an evil cackle.
"GAURDS! MAKE SURE NOTHING GOES IN OR OUT OF THAT ROOM. GOT IT?" He yelled to the two monkeys that blocked the door. They looked like giant Mr. Cleans, with their arsm crossed. Only with more hair. They nodded firmly and began their positions as guards.
The trio pressed against the wall so they would stay incognito from the witch. The three crouched down and began to talk in low whispers.
"Alright, we've got a time limit to save Liz. All we need is a plan. Any ideas Bo?" Becca asked. She shook her head.
"Jamie?" She asked. Jamie thought for a moment.
"How well can you act?" She asked Becca and Bo. Becca shrugged.
Bomina said "Let me do it!' She said.
After a few minutes of planning, they had it nailed. Bomina stood up, sucked in a chest full of air and walked out of hiding and into the eyes of guards.
She began to yell random things with a great emphasis on each word, making the monkeys give each other weird looks as the apprehended her, giving Becca and Jamie just enough time to sneak by and into the room.
Liz had her head down and looked like she had given up.
"Do you really think we'd give up on you that easily?" Becca asked with a half smile and Liz looked up and smiled.
"I knew you wouldn't forget me!" She said. Jamie began to fumble with the handcuffs.
"I…I…can't
get them off. They're magically bound." She said. Bomina was
fighting the guards outside, they didn't have much time.
"Liz,
can you walk?" Becca asked after a moment. Liz nodded.
"Good. RUN!' She yelled grabbing Liz by her arm, Jamie clinging to her other one as they dashed out of the room madly. Bomina caught on and grabbed Jamie's arm as the three darted down the stairs, monkey coming at them from all angles.
"Dang,
word travels fast here." Jamie hissed as they took a sharp right
straight into the Witch.
"Hey! How'd you get out?" Mr.
Ritacco asked. Bomina, acting on her feet with the first thing that
came to mind, roared the greatest roar she ever did roar. That
stopped him for a moment by putting a look a cross between shock and
'what?' on his face as the group ran in the opposite direction,
witch chasing them after he recoved from the random outburst. They
came to a dead end. With perfect timing, Liz sneezed again. Bomina
then began flailing madly, shouting as loud as she could.
'BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGERRRRRRRSSSSSSSSS!" As she flailed like a mad woman she smacked into the witch, causing him to knock over his guards, like bowling or dominos. Jamie then spotted a guard with a bucket of water off in the corner, and proceeded to grab it and throw it on the witch.
As if expecting something, the girls stopped and looked at the now soaking wet Mr. Ritacco. Nothing happened, accept for the fact he got the bucket stuck on his head.
"I can't…can't see!" Mr. Ritacco said walking into a wall and banging his head, knocking him out cold.
"Well that went better than expected." Jamie said as the girls looked at each other. Liz's handcuffs disappeared.
"We'll just be taking his broom and going now…" Liz said as she grabbed the broom and 'accidentally' grabbed his hat as well and booked it out of the castle as fast as they could.
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With the broom in one hand and hat o her head, Liz and her friends marched happily back into the emerald city with great pride. Becca had no need to kick the door open, as the secretary was no longer there and the door was open.
"Wizard! Oh Wizard! We have it!' Liz said proudly.
"And the Witch is out cold!" Jamie added.
No answer.
"WIZARD!" Becca yelled.
No answer yet again.
"He must be out to eat." Liz said looking around. Just then, the door slammed shut. Bomina screamed yet again and fell to the floor.
"Oh, get up Bo. There's nothing to be afraid of!" Jamie said holding out her hand.
"SILENCE!" Came the wizard's voice. All eyes snapped to his eyes, which were again projected on the curtain.
"Do you have the broom?"
"Yes we do!" Liz said proudly putting the broom on a raised platform.
"Good. Now you can leave." Said the wizard. Liz turned to look back at her friends.
"Uh…no. You said we'd get what we wanted if we brought you the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West."
"Well
I'm very busy. Come back in a month or two." he said,
vanishing.
"BUT WAIT!" Liz said reaching out to stop him, but
he was gone. Liz frowned and sat down. "He's gone. I'm…never
getting home." Liz said. Becca and Jamie ran up next to her to
console her.
Bomina was on her hands and knees looking at something.
"Bobo! Come on! Get off the floor like that." Becca said.
Bomina ignored her as she crawled towards a curtain on the other side of the room. She stood, observing the curtain with her eyes. She then began to pull on the curtain.
"BOMINA!" Becca yelled as the curtain came down with a riiip and a shatter of an illusion. There, behind the curtain sat Mr. Gouvin, the Wizard of Oz, behind a whole bunch of controls and buzzers.
"Uh…pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." Mr. Gouvin said worriedly as he pushed on a button to get the wizard's voice.
"Mr. Gouvin! You're the wizard?" Liz asked.
"Well…yes." He said. There was a silence.
"So you can't give us what we need?" Becca said.
"Why, I don't need to give you what you need. You had it all along." He said with a laugh as he stood and brushed himself off, worried. As he laughed, a pink bubble appeared out on nowhere, growing in size until Mr. Mansfield popped out like he did when Liz first came to Oz. Only this time, he had Mr. Ritacco on his arm.
"Hi Mr. Gouvin!" he said happily. Mr. Ritacco mumbled something along the lines of 'yeah. Hi.'
"What are you doing, Mr. Mansfield?" Mr. Gouvin, the 'wizard' asked.
"Oh nothing. Heard the witch here was defeated and thought I'd drop by."
"Sweet."
"Not really. He's drenched." Mr. Mansfield said looking at the half passed out witch.
"Yeah well, you're not the one being dragged around like a puppy by some guy in pink." He mumbled.
"Hold on! Hold on just one second." Jamie said as the three men stopped their conversation and looked at her.
"You're saying I had a brain all this time?" Jamie asked with a confused look on her face.
"And I had a heart?" Becca asked, standing up and bringing Liz with her.
"And
I had courage?" Bomina asked. The girls stood in a straight line.
Becca tapped her foot angrily. Jamie looked like she was going to
pounce on them, and Bomina and Liz were still confused.
"So…we
didn't need to get the broom?" Jamie asked.
"Liz was kidnapped for nothing? And Bomina acted like a spaz for fun?" Becca asked. "You got us all worried that Liz was going to be turned into ash, that Oz was going to be taken over by that…thing, for nothing? What kind of sadists are you? Sick freaks." She said angrily.
"It wasn't for nothing." Mr. Gouvin said stepping forward. "I did it to show you that all along, you had what you really truly wanted. You, cowardly lion, you were brave enough to stand up for Liz in front of your two friends here. And for that, you are one of the most courageous people in Oz." He said, pinning a pin that had a sun on it to her.
"And you, Scarecrow," He said as he moved past Bo and onto Jamie, "Were smart enough to come up with a plan to get he broom, and saw a way to get into the castle. Even if the plan failed. And because of that, it shows you had a brain all this time." He pinned a brain pin to her as he gave his speech.
"Now you tin man…" He paused for a moment. "Well…you had enough heart in you to try anything to help out your friends. Even if it did involve kicking the handle off my door." He said with a frown. He stuck the heart pin to her chest, not bothering to pin it down. It stuck to her chest, because it had a magnet on the back.
"Liz!" He said with a smile, which then faded into a look of sadness. "I'm sorry to say, I cannot get you home." He said with a frown. "Not even my magic can do that." He said.
"Oh! I forgot!" Mr. Mansfield said as he hurried towards Liz. "You had the power to go home all along." He smiled widely.
"Are you serious?" Liz asked.
"Yeah."
"Well I can see why no one likes English this year." Mr. Ritacco said bitterly.
"Hush you. I've got plans for you." Mr. Mansfield said. He turned back to Liz.
"Ready to go home?" He asked.
"Can I say goodbye?" Liz asked. He nodded, and Liz looked at her friends.
"Well…I guess this is goodbye." Liz said quietly. She hugged Jamie and Bomina, leaving space for Becca. Becca hesitated to join, but gave in and hugged her. When they pulled away, the group each had tears in their eyes. Even Becca.
"Aww!
Are you crying?" Liz said though tears to her manufactured friend.
"N-no. M-m-my allergies are a-acting up." She said wiping
tears away from her face with the sound of metal on metal as she
turned away. Liz giggled. Becca smiled.
"Stay safe you guys!" Liz said, waving to her friends. Jamie joined Becca at one side, Bomina at the other side, with tears still finding their way out of their eyes.
"I'm ready to go home now." Liz said looking back at Mr. Mansfield.
"Alright. Click your heels three times and say 'There's no place like home.'" He tapped his wand to her head, and Liz did as told.
"There's
no place like home!" She repeated three times. When she opened her
eyes, Becca and Bomina stared her down.
"Liz. LIZ! WE'RE
GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCIENCE!" Becca said shaking her friend.
"W-what
happened?" Liz asked stretching.
"You fell asleep in French.
Did you work last night?" Becca asked, putting her hands on her
hips, with her things balancing on her arms.
"I had he weirdest dream! You two and Jamie and Mr. Ritacco and Mr. Gouvin and Mr. Mansfield were in it…" She said sitting up.
"You sure it wasn't a nightmare? I mean, with Mr. Mansfield in it and all." She said with a smile. Bomina giggled.
"You're so kind." Bomina said as they walked out of the room.
"Wait for me!" Liz said grabbing her stuff and following her friends out of the room. It was a shame she didn't notice the pair of red shoes someone had randomly drawn on the whiteboard.
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All ideas for this story came from Elizabeth Lynch. Original story © L. Frank Baum, 1900. Cover art done by Bomina Belden.
