The nine year old girl pulled the covers over her head and groaned,
"Please let me sleep just a bit longer, Katherine."
Katherine frowned and pulled the covers off of the bed, revealing Rosaria beneath it.
"I can't princess! You have to go to breakfast. Remember? You auntie Alyssa is visiting from the Rose Kingdom this morning to give you a status report on your land. Don't you want to know how everything is going?"
Rosaria groaned again and sat up.
Being a child without the use of her legs was extremely difficult, and Rosaria guessed it would be inconvenient had she not grown up this way. Katherine helped her dress, and then Rosaria pulled herself on to her flyer.
A flyer had the same build as a chair, the only difference being that when you sat on it, the legs would fold up and it would hover. It was invented for racers, but Rosaria used it for her own purposes.
The young girl, though still small, was wise in her way, and found that regular wheelchairs were much too restrictive for her taste. Often Rosaria would sneak out of the palace at night to go be with her friends, who also had flyers, and they would race all night long. Having been caught and punished many times, however, the twilight races were becoming less frequent.
After getting washed, and dressed, Rosaria began to hover down the halls of the Emerald Palace on her flyer to go to breakfast.
Rosaria had long brown hair like her mother's, but she had deep brown eyes like her father's. Rosaria was told so many wonderful stories about her parents David and Dorothy. People called her mother a goddess, and said that someday, Rosaria would follow her. Rosaria was forced to always wear the necklace her mother gave her as a gesture of respect.
Rosaria didn't mind it much, she loved dreaming about Dorothy. She often wondered how life would have been different had her parents been alive. Rosaria emitted a sigh as she entered the dining hall of the Emerald Palace.
"Good morning Rosaria!" Alyssa said as she ran to hug her niece.
Though running the Rose Kingdom was difficult, Alyssa would have to wait until Rosaria was eighteen before she could take over.
"Would you like to hear the status of the Rose Kingdom?" asked Alyssa.
"Yes please auntie."
"Well, I'm happy to report that all inspections were passed with flying colors this month, and everything is wonderful. The people are happy, and every business in the city is prospering as usual."
"Excellent!" said Rosaria.
Scarecrow then smiled at Rosaria and said,
"Where were you last night?"
Rosaria's head snapped up to look at Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion. They were always kind and loving to her, and Rosaria loved them dearly in return. But sometimes, they had to be authority figures, and when they gave her that 'We know you did something wrong' look, it frightened her.
"I was in bed." she lied.
Rosaria was a terrible liar, and they saw right through it.
"Rosaria," said Lion. "You weren't in your room when I went to say goodnight last night. Where'd ya go?"
"I went to see some friends."
"You could have gotten hurt!" said Tin Man. "Racing like that is dangerous!"
"I know. I'm sorry, I promise not to sneak out again."
"Good! You need to be careful Rosaria."
After breakfast, Rosaria went back to her room. She opened a box that she kept under her bed, and inside resided a picture of her mother, along with some of her parents' things.
'My mother was such an active and alive person. A disability never held her back.'
Rosaria looked down at her legs. She had been getting a little feeling in her feet, maybe she would walk someday!
'No, it's best not to get my hopes up. But...maybe...'
Rosaria used her arms to help her to the edge of the bed, and then she let her legs hang off the bed. Trying her best, Rosaria attempted to stand up, but to no avail, her legs gave out and poor little Rosaria fell to the floor. She dragged herself off of the floor and onto her flyer. She sighed.
'Oh well.' Rosaria thought. 'Better to have tried and failed.'
She went into the office where Scarecrow sat reading.
"Scarecrow?" asked Rosaria.
"Yes Rosaria?"
"May I please go outside to play?"
Scarecrow thought for a moment.
"Rosaria, I don't want you racing. I know that's what you'll do if you go out."
Rosaria looked down for a moment, and then looked up to meet Scarecrow's eyes.
"Scarecrow, my mother was the most outgoing person you knew, you say it all the time! She would not want me to spend my entire life inside just because I have a disability. I know I'm not normal, but I'm going to try to make the best of things. If I don't, I know I'll regret it."
Scarecrow smiled.
"You make a compelling case." he said. "All right. Just be sure to be back for dinner."
"Thank you!" Rosaria said happily.
She kissed Scarecrow on the cheek and quickly proceeded back to her room, zooming by Lion in the hallway.
Rosaria opened the window and flew out over the city.
Lion then walked into the office.
"Where's Rosaria going?"
"Lion," said Scarecrow. "Rosaria is a free spirit, just like Dorothy used to be. There's no holding her back. I am concerned though. She's racing again."
Lion shook his head.
"What do we do Scarecrow? What do we do? I hate having to keep punishing her!"
"With that child, there's nothing we can do. She wants it much too badly to give it up."
...The wind raced through Rosaria's long brown hair. The people didn't except the racers, who were a mostly rough bunch, with the exception of a few. Most of the people looked down on them. But Rosaria and her friends were determined to change the stereotype.
When Rosaria reached the outskirts of the Emerald City, there was nothing around but green fields. There waiting stood Rosaria's friends Darien, Jason, and Emily. All but Jason had their flyer with them, and he didn't look happy about it.
"Rosaria," Jason yelled as Rosaria came in for a landing. "My flyer is ruined thanks to you! They can't salvage any of it after that crash in the last race."
"I'll buy you a new one. Don't worry."
"What do I do for the big race tonight?"
"You'll ride with Emily."
"Why me?" Emily complained.
"Yours is the only flyer with two seats." Rosaria replied. Emily frowned.
"Come now, we have to practice!"
"Wait a second Rosaria" said Darien. "How are you going to get to the race tonight? I heard you got caught by Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion."
"I did."
"Did they notice your arm? You went down pretty hard last night." said Emily.
"You would've won too if you hadn't crashed my flyer." Jason added as he crossed his arms.
"I said I'd buy you a new one Jason, let it go! I did get our team into the tryouts, didn't I? Besides, let's just thank God it wasn't my flyer, I never would have seen the light of day again. But don't worry, I'll go home for dinner, and then I'll sneak out and meet you at the stadium tonight. I hate to do it, I did promise Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion that I wouldn't sneak out again, but this is the only way to get into the championship races. Now come on, let's practice!"
The four raced ten times and then took a break. Rosaria won every time, and when they all landed, Emily threw her helmet to the ground in frustration.
"It's not fair! I'm only losing because stupid Jason is weighing me down! I can't race with him on my butt tonight, I won't even place!"
"You'll just have to manage, Emily. The whole team has to race or we can't compete. Besides, Rosaria would have beaten you anyway. Try shortening your turns, you'll gain more speed that way." said Jason.
Jason and Emily looked over at Darien and Rosaria, who were panting hard, staring at each other.
"Good job Rosaria."
"Thank you Darien."
Darien and Rosaria had always been extremely competitive in racing, but they never once argued about it. They both had always been good sportsmen. Rosaria looked at her watch.
"I have to go to dinner you guys, I'll be back tonight."
As Rosaria flew back to the Emerald City, her friends waved.
"I hope she can get there tonight." said Darien with a sigh. "Our team doesn't stand a chance of getting into the championships without her."
When Rosaria got back to her room, Katherine was waiting at the window for her.
"You're going to be late!" she exclaimed in frustration.
Rosaria began changing into her dinner dress when Katherine grabbed her arm, emitting a gasp of surprise. Rosaria winced from the pain.
"What in God's name happened?" asked Katherine as she looked at the deep wound on Rosaria's arm.
"I fell today. Not a big deal, I'm fine."
"You didn't fall today, this is an old injury. You can't fool me! You did this racing, didn't you? I specifically told you not to do that anymore. You'll get hurt, and you'll disgrace your name in the process. Your mother and father worked hard for that name, don't you dare soil it now for a few nights of speed."
"But I love it so much! I bet if mother and father were alive today, they would encourage me instead of trying to bring me down like the rest of you seem to be obsessed with doing. The truth is, I'm really good at it, and I can win competitions. I can! We're the only children's team in the tryouts. I'm not just going to throw away all of our hard work because you don't approve. We're better than ninety percent of the adults in the tryouts."
"I don't doubt that princess, but you could hurt, and it's not worth it. You have a lot on the line, Rosaria. Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion are your caretakers. They sacrifice a lot for you, and love you very much. If you lose their trust, then all is lost."
Rosaria sighed.
"This injury is nothing. I would get hurt again and again if I could only have your support on this. It means a lot to me. You don't know how many times in races I've looked out at the crowd and wished you and Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion were there. I just want somebody to cheer me on."
Rosaria looked down, tears forming in her eyes. Katherine sighed.
"Listen Rosaria, and listen carefully. We love you, and we're only thinking of you."
"But Katherine, I feel that if you were just thinking of me, that you would want me to race, because it makes me happy!"
Katherine just shook her head.
"I promise I won't say anything, but go down to dinner quickly, you can't be late."
Rosaria smiled.
"Thank you!"
After eating dinner, Lion said,
"Hey Rosaria, let's play a game of chess! I'll beat ya' this time, I know it! I know it!"
"No thank you, maybe tomorrow night. I must sleep, I'm so tired."
"Are you all right?" asked Tin Man.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine, I just need a good night's rest and I'll be as good as new. Goodnight everyone."
Rosaria kissed her friends goodnight, and then went up to her room.
Rosaria changed into her racing gear, and pulled herself onto her flyer. '
This is it!' she thought. 'My friends are really counting on me! Please God, even though I don't have my legs, grant me speed tonight.'
That's it for now, the first chapter of Act 2 is completed. What did you think? I hope you like it. E-mail me at or write a review to give me plenty of feedback. I love hearing from you. Thanks!
Tori