(6)-Finding the Silver Shoes.

Now back on the ground, Aiden walked through the desert all by his lonesome self after finding his way down the rocky mountain. As he made his way through the area, the 10-year old looked around for something that looked familiar. But he couldn't find anything. Nothing looked familiar to him. Where was he? He knew he was in a land called Ev, but where in Ev was the thing. Worst of all, he still hadn't recovered the silver sneakers. He had no idea where they were. He knew he had to find them in order to get back home to the real world, but he didn't even know where to start looking for them. The creepy part was the purple cloud-covered sky. It seemed to have no end to it in sight. It was as if it went on forever. But the creepier part was all the gray stone statues of people that were all over the desert. Aiden had never seen so many statues in one place. The odd part was some of them were of teenagers, which was very strange. Since when did people start making statues of teens?

"The Nome King wants you to open your hearts and pockets in the spirit of giving!" Came a female, making Aiden stop walking. Who was that?

"Shut up, commoner, get out of here!" The female voice said. "The Nome King says he and his band of nomes have been real busy these last several days. He's planning something special for you all! I can't tell you what it is, 'cause it's a surprise!" The voice said. "But he needs a little of your best stuff to help him out!" The voice said as Aiden resumed walking.

The 10-year old boy followed the female's voice to find the source of it.

"The Nome King says he and the other gnomes are going to make this whole land into the most beautiful paradise none of you have ever seen!" The female voice said as Aiden walked over a big rock, poked his head out from behind it, and saw a woman and a male nome standing on a stage in front of a crowd of children in tattered clothing, with steps on both sides of the stage. There was also a box on stage in front of the woman. He could tell she was of royalty by the way she was dressed. But when he managed to get a good look at her, the boy's stomach dropped. She looked like Princess Mombi from the 1985 film, 'Return To Oz'. She even had the same exact outfit as her. He had seen the movie in 1992 at 3 years old when his Dad had rented it for him, according to his Mom. He didn't remember anything about the film, as he was too young at the time. But he just remembered Princess Mombi and what she looked like in the movie, which was strange, to say the least. Aiden didn't know what was creepier. The fact that this woman looked identical to the character in the film or the fact that she was a character in a movie that turned out to be real. Either way, it was creepy all around. He then noticed that all of the children were holding stuff and were all ages 4 to 12. Where were all of the teens and grown-ups? "It's going to be great! It is going to be utopia in Ev and a perfect land!" Said the woman, revealing herself to be the owner of the voice Aiden had been hearing.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" All of the children in front of the woman cheered.

Aiden, meanwhile, just watched the scene with confusion. What was going on?

"But...we've got to have the right things! Your things! Give us everything you have brought with you and place it in this here box!" Said the woman, referring to the box on stage in front of her.

As Aiden watched the scene unfolding before him, he noticed a familiar pair of silver shoes the nome was holding and gazed at them. He couldn't believe his eyes. It was the silver sneakers. Except they weren't silver sneakers anymore, they were glitter coded high heel shoes like they were when Dorothy wore them, only grown-up size. They were the silver slippers again. "The silver shoes. What's that guy doing with them? How did he get them? And who is that lady speaking to those kids? I don't know. And frankly i don't care who she is. She has the silver slippers. My ticket home." He thought.

"Remember, you all look to the leaders of this land! Like me, Princess Langwidere..." Said the woman, addressing herself. "and the wonderful Nome King himself! The one's that take care of you all!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" The crowd of children cheered before they rushed up to the stage and started putting all their stuff in the box.

"Give us your belongings, your parents' possessions, your teen-siblings' materials, your grandparents' items, your great grandparents' things, your aunts' and uncles' things, your teen and adult cousins' things! Nothing useless! The Nome King needs you to open your hearts and your pockets in the spirit of giving!" Langwidere said.

"I've gotta get those slippers back." Aiden thought. The 10-year old boy rushed past the crowd of children, making his way up the right steps, onto the stage, and over to Langwidere and the nome. "Excuse me, those are mine." He said, referring to the silver slippers.

"Be quiet, boy, get out of here!" Langwidere ordered.

Aiden rushed to the nome and tried to take the silver slipper from him, but the nome fought back, which led to a game of tug-of-war with the slippers.

"YEAH!" The children cheered.

Aiden soon managed to get the silver slippers away from the nome, but they both fell on stage, with Aiden dropping the silver shoes in the process. The boy quickly grabbed the silver slippers.

"Get him!" Langwidere ordered, referring to Aiden.

Aiden got to his feet and ran off the stage down the right steps with the silver slippers, rushing through the desert, with the children chasing after him. The light brown-haired boy looked back for a split second to see the crowd of children chasing after him, then he spotted a stack of big rocks up ahead, ran up to them and pushed them over, blocking the children's path. He looked back for another split second, giving a brief grin before seeing a cave up ahead and running towards it. He rushed inside the cave followed by sitting down to catch his breath.

"Who is this Nome King guy?" Aiden thought. "That nome that stood by that lady couldn't have been him. He looked nothing like royalty. But why is this land being ruled by a princess and a king? Shouldn't it be ruled by a king and a queen? The Nome King. Why does that name sound so familiar? How come the sky is covered with purple clouds? And why are there so many statues of grown-ups and teenagers around here? What is going on?"

Just then, seven of the children rushed inside the cave and surrounded Aiden.

Aiden looked around for any sign of a way out...but there wasn't one.

He was trapped.

He wasn't going anywhere.

OZ

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