3
After what seemed like a mile or two of open countryside, Harper came across cornfields and hurried ahead to find someone. Toto was doing his business here and there, but at the crossroads, she knew she was going to run into the first of her companions. There was no scarecrow in the field to notice, just acres and acres of cornfield without a house in sight. She turned round looking around.
"Justin?!" She called out. "Alex?! Max!!!"
"Harper?" Justin's voice heard her and he came running on his spindly legs, straw and gay flitting from his body and clothes. Her face was formed from a burlap sack as his head, and his hands were gloves stuck over the ends of his sleeves. There was barely anything holding his chest and abdomen to his lower body. In fact, his feet were nothing more than old boots with the bottoms of his pants tightly wound over them. Without bones, his arms waved and bounced around him. He was just basically animated straw surrounded by clothes, and as he came running, he ran into the fence and stumbled over it, a waft of hay bouncing out of his chest. Harper started laughing at the sight of him. He was just so funny as the Scarecrow, but he just didn't see the humor. He just replaced the hay to his chest and struggled to stand up on his limp feet.
"It's not funny!" Justin moved bouncing and swaying to her. "I am so going to kill Alex!"
"Oh, Justin…" Harper was still smiling and giggling at him. "I think you make a really nice Scarecrow."
"It's not funny, Harper." Justin looked at his fingers waving around as he tried to point at her. "I can't believe Alex picked this move. I mean… Star Wars is a really good movie, and I really tried to include her…"
"Justin…" Harper held back her giggling and laughing to a big grin. "Alex didn't pick this movie, I did!"
"I can't believe…" Justin reacted. "What?" He looked back at her from the center of the yellow brick crossroads. "You picked…"
"Yeah!" Harper was grinning excitedly. "Justin, this is a dream come true! I've always wanted to play Dorothy. I mean…" She moved her basket to her left arm. "When I was in the fourth grade, I wanted to play Dorothy, but Shelia Odom got it instead. I didn't even get to play the Witch. I had to play a Munchkin. A Munchkin, Justin!" She stared at him a moment. "Please don't ruin this for me."
"Well…" Justin tried to stand straight, but he was swaying in the breeze. "Okay…." He rolled his eyes.
"Thank you!" She reached out and hugged him. "Oh, my god, I wonder who Alex is going to be? The Tin-Man or the Cowardly Lion?"
"Alex as the Cowardly Lion?" Justin mugged and thought about it. "Oh my god!!!" He slapped his leg laughing. "I got to see that! I got to see that!!!" He started to run ahead and then came back to get Harper. "Wait! Harper, you already ran into the Witch, wasn't that her?"
"No, actually it wasn't."
"Alex as the cowardly lion!!!!" Justin was laughing hysterically eager and anxious to find her. "Or even better! As the Tin Man! We got to go find her!" He started racing ahead then noticed Harper looked upset. Garbed in that blue gingham dress with her hair in pigtails, she was staring at him and pointing to her side. She wanted him next to her.
"What?" Justin didn't understand what she wanted.
"Justin, I am Dorothy…" Harper took charge. "We are doing this right." She took his hand to lead the way. "We're…" She started singing. "Off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz." Justin was finally singing along with her. "He really is a Wiz of a wiz if ever a wiz there was. If every there was a wonderful wiz, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the one because-because-because-because-because-because… the wonderful things he does!" The air twinged with musical notes and Toto running along behind them. "We're off to see the Wizard… the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!!!!" They began following the path down through a shady glen into a nice meadow beyond the cornfields. Their singing voices were emanating from the television into the real world that was the Russo's empty apartment loft above their restaurant. The tinkling of keys sounded as the door was unlocked. A bit disgruntled and annoyed with himself, Jerry Russo entered his home expecting to see his kids watching TV. It was going, but they were not present.
"Jerry," Theresa returned to the loft ahead of her husband. "How could you forget your wallet?"
"I took it out to give the kids money for a pizza." Jerry started across to get his wallet, but Theresa got it first and handed it to him. Jerry took it and noticed the movie on the TV. He had seen the movie a lot himself, and it always took him back to his childhood.
"You know, I've seen this movie over a hundred times," He reminisced nostalgically about it. "I never noticed just how much Judy Garland looked like Harper."
"Jerry…" Theresa was reacting to the likeness.
"Or how much the Scarecrow looked like…" It slowly started sinking in where the kids were. "Justin???"
"Jerry!" Theresa freaked. "That's the kids! They're in the movie!"
"What? Who? How? Why?! Justin!!!" Jerry suddenly broke with anger and raced the set. "Justin, this is your father! I want you out of there, right now!!!"
"Jerry!" Theresa and Jerry stood over the TV and the DVD player. "Get them out of there! Stop the movie or something! Get them out of there!"
"I don't think I should!" Jerry was analyzing what was going on. "If I take the DVD out, I could permanently burn them into it or something, but look…" They looked at the movie in the TV. "They're happy, they don't seem to be in danger, and… we did want to see a movie." He looked to his wife. "We could watch the movie and the kids at the same time…"
"I'll pop the popcorn!" Theresa rushed to get the air popper out.
"I'll order us a pizza!" Jerry took the phone.
