On The Yellow Brick Road
By Mr. Crash
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Chapter One: The Scarecrow
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"Ha! There goes some of me again!" cried the Scarecrow in a loud, cheerful voice.
"Does it hurt you?" the girl asked in a frightened voice.
"Oh no, I just keep picking it up and putting it back in again!" He gave a happy laugh, grabbed the straw, and shoved it into his chest.
What simpletons. What children. What fools.
That girl…Dorothy, was her name? Now she was seeking help from a Scarecrow? A Scarecrow? Well, all the worse for her.
I floated high on the wind, looking down on them. I could not touch Dorothy while she was still in Munchkinland; Glina's kiss protected the girl with powerful magic. Were my sister still alive, I would've been able to handle the girl and that Scarecrow so quickly…but my sister was dead, crushed beneath that house, with not even the good sense to leave me her slippers. Worthless.
"Well, what would you do if you had some brains?"
"Why I could….
I could while away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain"
The strawman began to sing. I couldn't help but laugh. What was this, a fairy tale? Did she think that...Well, honestly, what did it matter what she thought? I would have those slippers. I would.
If she would just give them up! I didn't care one whit what that girl did on her own; if she would just give me those ruby slippers! Just give them back to me, and I'd let her go free!
"Gosh it would be awful pleasin'
To reason out the reason
Of things I can't explain"
The Scarecrow continued to sing. Good voice, nice tune; quite catchy.
I tried to do as he wished; I tried to reason out why all this was happening. Who was this girl? She says she's from Kansas. Well, I never heard of that place. Why is she here? So far, all she'd done is make my life miserable; I'd been so close to having those slippers! What was her purpose? She had none, as far as I could see. She just wanted to get out of here.
But everything has a purpose. She must be here for some reason...But what? I'd have to find out.
Now suppose what she said was true? What if she did just want to get out of here?
Well, I'd let her go, happily, if only she would give me those slippers! Once I had those, my power would be the greatest in Oz! I would rule not only the West, but the Munchkins in the East, the Quadlings to the South, and the Emerald City in the center of it all.
Ah, the Emerald City…with the GREAT AND TERRIBLE WIZARD presiding over it all. The untouchable Wizard of Oz...
Mayhap he was behind all this? Was this girl just some agent of the Wicked Wizard of Oz? Had he sent her out with a mission? Kill my sister, take the ruby slippers, and then kill me?
Let her try!
"I could dance and be merry
Life would be a ding-a-derry
If I only had a brain!"
"Wonderful!" cried the girl. "Why, if our scarecrow back in Kansas could do that, the crows would be scared to pieces!"
But something tells me that this little girl is not employed by the Wizard. She was so sweet, so beautiful, so earnest...If the Wizard was in control of her, she would not be so pure. He was nothing but wickedness.
But this girl would not surrender the slippers! I could tell…I could see it. Glinda had instructed her to hold onto the shoes. 'Keep tight inside them' indeed! And the girl must also know that the shoes are all that keep me from simply killing her. No, the girl from Kansas would never give up my ruby slippers.
So what to do?
Well, the girl was on her way to the Emerald City. I would have to stop that! The Wizard would no doubt snatch up those slippers the moment she reached the Gates of Emerald City. And if her gained those ruby slippers...my ruby slippers...I would rather see those shoes destroyed than to have them fall into the hands of the Wicked Wizard of Oz!
But how would I stop her? I could not harm her - not with Glinda watching over the girl. I would have to go about this very carefully. Indirectly, I would have to find a way to stop the girl from getting to the Emerald City.
"We're off to see the Wizard
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
We hear he is a whiz of a Wiz
If ever a Wiz there was!
If ever, oh ever, a Wiz there was
The Wizard of Oz is one because
Because because because because because!
Because of the wonderful things he does!
We're off to see the Wizard,
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"
What a joke. What a farce. The wonderful Wizard of Oz? Not hardly! I'd seen what he'd done, how he interfered with everything, how he tried to control all of Oz. He was just plain wickedness.
So what to do?
Well, for now, I would simply wait until I could find a way to stop the Scarecrow and Dorothy.
I flew off, heading back to my castle.