Disclaimer

I do not own the marvelous movie known as "The Wizard of Oz" or any of its remarkable characters. All copyrights belong to Mervyn LeRoy, Victor Fleming, and MGM. Besides, if I did own it, would I be writing fanfiction? No.

Author's notes

This is a plot I've been thinking about since I was eight years old and saw the movie for the first time. I think Jack Haley was very talented. Jack Haley, may your soul rest in peace. However, I wasn't a skilled writer at the time, so I never wrote anything about it. I hope everyone who reads it will enjoy it. Oh, by the way, e-mail your comments (if you have any) to Or drop me a review if that would be more convenient. This is my version of when Dorothy says good-bye to her Ozian friends.

"Will you help me? Can you help me?" Dorothy asked anxiously.

"You don't need to be helped any longer. You've always had the power to go back to Kansas," Glinda said.

"I have?" Dorothy asked, shocked.

"Then why didn't you tell her that before?" the Scarecrow asked.

"Because she wouldn't have believed me," Glinda answered. "She had to learn it for herself."

"What have you learned, Dorothy?" the Tin Man asked.

"Well…" Dorothy said thoughtfully, "I think that it wasn't enough just to want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em, and it's that if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard, because if it isn't there, then I never really lost it to begin with. Is that right?"

"That's all it is," Glinda answered.

"But that's so easy," the Scarecrow said. "I should have thought of it for you."

"I should have felt it in my heart," said the Tin Man.

"She had to learn it for herself," Glinda repeated. "Now those magic slippers will take you home in two seconds."

"Toto, too?" Dorothy asked.

"Toto too," Glinda answered.

"Now?" Dorothy asked.

"Whenever you wish," Glinda replied.

"Oh, this is too wonderful to be true!" Dorothy exclaimed, stifling a sob. "It's going to be so hard to say good-bye. I love you all, too."

Dorothy went up to the Scarecrow and kissed his painted face lovingly. "Good-bye, Scarecrow. I hope your brain will do you good."

She then went to the Lion. "Good-bye, Lion. I know it isn't right, but I'm going to miss the way you used to holler for help before you found your courage."

"I never would have found it if it hadn't been for you," he replied.

Last, but not least, she went to the Tin Man. She hugged him carefully and said, "I think I'll miss you most of all. Don't cry, you'll rust so dreadfully. Here's your oilcan."

"Now I know I have a heart, because it's breaking," the Tin Man said sorrowfully.

"Are you ready now?" Glinda asked.

"Say good-bye, Toto," she said, waving his little paw in farewell. "Yes, I'm ready now."

"Then close your eyes and tap your heels together three times. Think to yourself, 'There's no place like home…there's no place like home…'

"There's no place like home…there's no place like home…"

Before she knew what had happened, she was in her bed in Kansas, and Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, and the three farmhands were peering at her curiously. She tried to tell Auntie Em of her adventures in Oz, but her aunt didn't quite believe her. Then Professor Marvel came by to check on her, and Dorothy promised never to leave again.

Finish