~Chapter 2: The Question~

"Now Toto," Dorothy stated, picking up her best friend and placing him on her bed, "you be good while I'm at school. Don't chew on anything that isn't yours, and don't chase the chickens more than necessary."

"Ruff!" Toto replied, his little black tail wagging emphatically.

"I'll take that as a yes" Dorothy smiled.

She left her window cracked enough for Toto to jump out. Picking up her school bag, Dorothy waved at Toto one final time before making her way to the kitchen. She had turned sixteen last weekend, and it had been a good party. She did not have many friends from school. Being a sixteen-year-old freshman was often cause for sympathy, but did not typically inspire friendships. Recently, she had started to make friends with a girl in her class named Ruth. Ruth had come to her party, as had her brother Roman. Roman was around Dorothy's age, though unlike Dorothy he was in the appropriate grade level. Being held behind didn't bother Dorothy as much as people assumed it did. She made good grades, liked her teachers, and was not teased nearly as much as her Aunt supposed she would be. What did bother Dorothy was something that she had not been allowed to talk about in three years now: Oz. She used to occasionally confide in Hunk about the taboo subject, but Hunk was no longer at the farm as regularly as he used to be. Unlike Dorothy, Hunk had fulfilled his dream. He had been accepted into a school in the city, and was studying business. At first, Dorothy was extremely distressed by this news, worried that she'd loose yet another friend. Hunk did not forget the Dorothy though, nor her Aunt and Uncle who had given him work when no one else would. He visited over the holidays, as he had no close relatives. He intended to use his business smarts to help the farm bring in more profit, and swore that he'd return to their part of Kansas after he'd finished establishing a reputation in the city. Dorothy was happy for him, though she missed him dearly. Hickory and Zeke were still around though, so it wasn't all that bad.

Aunt Em was in the kitchen with Dorothy's lunch packed and ready to go. At first, Dorothy had been very upset with her Aunt and Uncle for forbidding her to talk about Oz, and for insinuating that she was lying about the whole thing. It had taken her weeks to say more than five words to them, though eventually she did come around. She knew that they cared for her. It wasn't their fault that Oz was too fantastical for them to believe. If Dorothy had not gone there herself, she may not have believed it either.

"Good luck on your test Dorothy" Aunt Em smiled.

She was referring to a vocabulary test that Dorothy had first thing that morning. Dorothy smiled, hugged her Aunt, grabbed her bicycle, and started pedaling. She wasn't worried about the test. Dorothy, in lieu of being able to talk about Oz, took to reading books. It was hard at first, as she had been behind in her reading development. However, with enough time and persistence, Dorothy found that she actually really enjoyed reading. And she learned so many words from reading that vocabulary tests never bothered her. On her way to school, Dorothy met up with Ruth, who also took her bike. Ruth's mother was actually a cousin of the horrid Miss Gulch who Dorothy despised so much in her youth. After the tornado, Miss Gulch's attitude changed however. She had blamed herself for making Dorothy run away in the first place, and had since tried her best to be as amiable as possible. This seemed to be a great chore, for according to Ruth's mother, her cousin had never been a pleasant sort of person. Dorothy respected that Miss Gulch was trying however, and did her best to make peace by not allowing Toto to chase her nasty old cat. The cat, Dorothy eventually discovered, actually wasn't that nasty at all—especially when it wasn't being chased. Miss Gulch even let Dorothy borrow some of her books, which is more than she let Ruth—her own relation—ever do.

"So, are you ready for the test?" Ruth asked, keeping pace along-side Dorothy.

"I'm not worried about it."

"Oh that's right, I forgot who I'm talking to. Madame Dictionaire." Ruth giggled, finishing with a terrible attempt at a French accent.

"Well, you're better at math than I am." Dorothy countered

"Not by much. But you're right, I am." Ruth smiled, and Dorothy smiled too.

"So where's Roman?" Dorothy asked as they approached the highschool building.

"Oh, he went to school early today. I think it has something to do with the preparations of the Fall Formal."

The two parked their bikes in the rungs and chained them down. There wasn't really anyone around who would steal their bike, but Dorothy and Ruth both felt like a little bit of caution couldn't possibly hurt. Dorothy might not have been teased as much as her Aunt was expecting, but like every high school student she still had her share of bullies. Ruth had been bullied too, more so in fact than Dorothy, as she had attracted the rage of their class's most ruthless bully: Melanie Franklyn. And as Dorothy was now hanging out with Ruth, she had become a target of that rage too. Ruth thought that Melanie picked on her because she had nothing better to do. Dorothy thought that Melanie picked on Ruth because Ruth, even though she denied it, was actually rather pretty. And her brother, Roman, was also considered to be rather handsome and funny. It seemed that at one point in the beginning of the school year, Melanie attempted to win herself into Roman's favor by befriending his sister. Ruth wanted not part of this, as she thought Melanie to be a complete twat. So, a feud had started.

Melanie rattled off some generic insults as Ruth and Dorothy entered the classrooms. Neither of them paid it any attention. Before Melanie could say anything more, their homeroom teacher entered the classroom, tests in hand. Several students groaned, others attempted to memorize everything they could before being told to put their books away. Dorothy, confident, removed a pencil and an eraser from her bag and waited.

The test had gone well, as had the rest of their morning classes. Ruth had worried about it for nothing, as she was just as adept as Dorothy at English. Except in creative writing. Ruth was a logical, essay sort of writer. She didn't understand stories, though she did like to read them. Dorothy, on the other hand, was decent at writing essays but very skilled in writing stories or poetry. She had even had a poem published in the town paper once, though it was hard to find.

The girls sat at their usual lunch spot—an old table underneath a tree. Ruth had identified the tree as a sassafras albidum, or a Sassafras tree. Dorothy didn't care much for the names of trees—unless they could talk and introduce themselves—so she took her word for it. Halfway during their lunch, Roman made his way over to their table.

"Hey Manny" Ruth said in between bites. Roman ruffled her hair and said,

"Don't call me 'Manny', it's not…manly." Dorothy and Ruth giggled at the pun.

"And 'Roman' is?" Ruth asked

"Of course! The Romans were a very powerful group of people—known for their warfare, their arts, and their sciences."

"Apparently they never met this 'Roman'. I think they would have changed their name." Ruth teased, and Roman pouted. He moved around the table to sit next to Dorothy.

"You see how mean she is to me Dorothy? I bet if you had a brother you'd treat him ten times as nice."

"Maybe, but I don't know how I'd treat him if his name was 'Roman'." Dorothy smiled, and Roman threw his arms up in defeat.

"I surrender! I just can't win!"

"Ridentem dicere verum quid vetat?" Dorothy asked. Roman and Ruth blinked at her in response.

"What prevents me from speaking the truth with a smile?" Dorothy translated. Ruth rolled her eyes.

"You would know Latin." She teased. Dorothy shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"Hey, Dorothy, speaking of the truth, and smiling…" Roman started.

"Yes?" Dorothy asked. Roman seemed to be struggling for words, so he sputtered,

"Well, it's true that the Fall Formal is next week, and I'd smile if you'd go with me."

"Pfft—smooth Manny." Ruth giggled. Dorothy blinked, stupefied.

"Oh…erm, I don't know Roman. I wasn't actually planning on going. I can't really dance either, not properly anyway."

"Well that's okay! Ruth can teach how to dance, can't you Ruth?"

"If you were desperate enough to want to go with this Roman warrior over here, I'd be more than happy to teach you Dorothy. Note I said desperate." Roman playfully swatted at his sister's head.

"Well…."

"Hey, you don't have to decide anything now. Lunch is almost over anyway. Just promise me you'll think about it." Roman said, getting up to leave.

"Okay, I promise that I'll think about it." Dorothy conceded, and Roman left the table with a smile. Later on that day, as they were unchaining their bikes, Ruth said,

"Hey, all jokes aside Dorothy—Roman is a nice guy. He can be a bit stupid every now and then, but what guy can't? You really should go."

"I thought that you hated dances?" Dorothy asked, and Ruth looked over her shoulder. A sophomore named Bobby Drake was talking with a few of his classmates. When he caught her eye, he smiled.

"I've kind of…changed my mind."

"I'll bet you have" Dorothy said, noticing the object of her friend's stare. Ruth giggled, and the two started their trek home. Later that night, when Dorothy told her Aunt Em about Roman's proposal, she was elated. Like Ruth, she insisted that Dorothy should go. She even offered to help Dorothy sew her dress. Defeated, Dorothy finally gave in. It might be fun, Dorothy thought later that night. Toto jumped onto the end of the bed and Dorothy rubbed his belly with her foot. As sleepiness took control, Dorothy drifted to sleep, thinking about dancing with Roman.

Dorothy Gale was happy. She was in Oz again, and her friends surrounded her. The Cowardly Lion, the Tin Woodsman, the Scarecrow, Glinda—they were all there. She was in the Emerald City, and everyone was dressed for a dance. When she caught her reflection in the mirror, Dorothy was shocked. She was a little girl again, and she was wearing a poppy red dress. On her feet, the ruby slippers glistened. Her friends led her to the ball floor and she danced with them one at a time, spinning faster and faster. Eventually, she noticed that everyone had stopped to stare. Puzzled, Dorothy tried to stop and discern what it was they were looking at. To her distress, Dorothy realized that her feet would not stop dancing. She looked for Glinda, hoping for help, only to find that the woman she thought was Glinda had no face. Startled, she looked towards the rest of her friends only to find the same thing to be true of all of them. Dorothy screamed. Her cries were cut off by a strong hand, which gripped her throat and lifted her off of the ground. Even in the air, her feet still kept dancing. She gazed into the face of her captor as the oxygen drained from her body. A green face with a wicked purple smile gazed back at her. Her eyes glowed with hate, and Dorothy could see green fire in her pupil's reflection.

She awoke just as she heard the poignant snap of her throat. Dorothy covered her mouth in order to muffle her screams. She had learned to do this a long time ago, as Aunt Em and Uncle Henry were blissfully unaware of the fact that her nightmares continued even after she stopped talking of Oz. Her heart hurt terribly. It felt as though it was trying to flee the cage made by her ribs and take off into the night. Toto whined and crawled over to lay by Dorothy head. Dorothy took him into her arms and held him as tightly as she could without hurting him. Toto licked her forehead in sympathy. Rolling onto her side, Dorothy spotted a book on her dresser: "The Twelve Dancing Princesses and other stories"

Sighing, Dorothy said aloud, "that's the last time I read anything by the Brothers Grimm before I go to bed."

But was the nightmare really caused by reading the wrong sort of story before bed, or is it meant to be a warning?