The Emerald City was the very center of Oz, literally as well as figuratively. The happy green heart of the country of Oz beat in the center of the map. Curling letters proclaimed, "Emerald City!" on every drawing. It was exciting for a young college girl. Or two, if that was the case. But for a jaded woman, old enough now to see through the nasty green cement and the tattered emerald thread holding the City together, all that had been left of the magic and wonder was now a dirty brown stain in the center of an old abandoned corn exchange. A streak of scarlet on a mute animal. A nightmare involving horrific reds, greens, and golds. What had been the middle of this woman's life was soon to be the end.