Chapter 3
That instant of darkness was longer than Richard ever imagined a moment without light to be. It felt like his bedroom had altogether disappeared, and there was nothing left in the world but a powerful, cold draft. It instantly brought a scream to the back of his lips, straining at his throat, before he thought to make a grab for the compass. But his hands fumbled around fruitlessly in the darkness, before he absolutely couldn't stand the suspense anymore.
"Hello?" he cried out on instinct, before thinking about what could possibly have happened.
Then, the light slowly began to come back, along with the warmth of the world; that was, whatever had happened to the world when it was dark.
And with the light, there came a gentle blinking of an icy blue haze, like a spotlight through dirty water. Richard didn't think twice about following the light, as he wanted to get back to normality as quick as he could. Reaching out, he was surprised that he had plucked the light from out of midair, but the haze felt hard and metallic.
That was because the compass had been there, hovering in midair like a flying saucer.
"What is this?" Richard asked, looking deep into the compass's face, which was still glowing but not ticking its black arrow. In fact, the arrow was just trembling again, pointing towards the "E".
To make sure he wasn't just seeing that, Richard walked in a whole other direction, watching the arrow keenly. The ornate arrowhead quivered shortly, before it turned to point another way.
"It works," Richard breathed.
But his breath was instantly lost again when he looked up from the compass. The light had returned to the world around him, but he didn't see his bedroom walls anymore.
Instead, he was in the middle of several patches of green grass, and trees that were bursting in bloom with exotic-looking fruits. Flowers lined a long, deep blue bank that flowed just nearby, their petals pushing outward to the sky in gowns of brilliant colors. The water of the bank whispered beneath the flowers like a child singing itself to sleep. The sky was cloudless, although broken just beyond by a couple of mountains.
"Wow," was all Richard could say.
But then, the compass got hot in Richard's hands, and he jumped back a step, letting go of the compass. In an instant, he prepared himself for the crash, shutting his eyes and tensing his hands, but he didn't hear a peep from below.
The compass rose with a low shing sound, glowing bright yellow while it hovered just inches from Richard's contorted face. When Richard felt a gusty wave of heat brush his face, he opened his eyes to see the compass hanging in midair with its chain waving around, like a tail.
Carefully, Richard reached out and took the compass back into his hands. "Did this thing make my face hot?" he wondered aloud, not taking his eyes off the twitching arrow. As if in response, the compass blinked white, the light moving up and down the face as though the light were one giant eyelid.
"Hmm," Richard murmured, moving carefully to stick the compass into his pocket. But suddenly, he felt a searing burning when the silver surface touched the denim of his jeans, and he flinched back, glaring in frustration.
"Geez, fine," he said, keeping the compass out in his closed hand. Richard let out a long sigh, and squeezed the compass tentatively. He looked around, confused, wherever the silver instrument had taken him; he had no idea he would end up with such a sensitive compass. Maybe he should have asked Mr. Dewey if any of his three book friends were checked in again. Fantasy would be pretty happy to be back in such a pretty place, and Horror would have fun romping through those flowers. Though, Richard couldn't be very sure about Adventure; there probably wouldn't be enough lusty danger for him.
Sighing again, Richard turned on his heel and walked towards the edge of the riverbank. He was about to lean over to look into the pretty, blue water, when he heard the loud creaking of a door, not too far away from where he kneeled down. The compass glowed a bright yellow again, looking like a tangible beacon inside of Richard's fingers.
Not very far from him, there was a tiny, ratty farmhouse, which rested atop a short stump of grass, starting to dismantle in some places. A pile of fraying shingles lay near the grey farmhouse door, where a young girl, in a gingham blue dress and sparkling silver shoes, accompanied by a little black dog, was walking out. Richard heard a low clicking in the door, before the girl turned around, placed the key into her pocket, and started away from the house.
Before Richard could react to noticing her, her eyes turned towards his, and she yelped, almost dropping her basket, and stumbling backwards onto her behind. The black dog barked loudly enough to scare away some birds in a nearby tree.
"Oh, I'm so very sorry," the girl said, putting down her basket, and readjusting her pink sunbonnet. "Are…are you a Munchkin too?"
"No," Richard said, getting to his feet. "I'm Richard. I actually just got here. But, I think I might know just where I am."
"I do," said the girl. "You and I are in Oz, in the part where the Wicked Witch of the East used to live. My name is Dorothy." She gave Richard a gentle grin, before she leaned down and stroked the wiry black fur of her dog. "Toto, no, please don't bark like that anymore! This is Richard. He will not hurt you."
Toto barked once, but then wagged his tail, panting sweetly towards Dorothy.
"Where do you come from?" Dorothy asked, standing back up. "I didn't see you when I met the Munchkins a few moments ago."
Richard hesitated to answer, eyeing the glowing compass in his hand. "I…I don't really know," he finally said. "But, I guess, if you're willing to believe me…"
"I'd like to hear," Dorothy said, folding her hands together over her basket handle. "Suppose you were blown here by a cyclone, like I was?"
"No, no!" Richard blurted, remembering all too well how afraid he was of those. "It was the compass. Here, you see? It's glowing now." He held out his hand, and uncurled his fingers to reveal the glowing compass, its lid closed over the face.
"Oh, my," Dorothy gasped, putting her hand over her lips and leaning closer. Richard then pried open the lid, and the magical face of the compass glowed back at Dorothy, with a few blinks of yellowish light.
"Goodness," Dorothy breathed, reaching out a finger. The closer she approached the compass, the brighter it shone against her curious face. And the minute she touched it, she shuddered, looking at first to be a little uncomfortable.
"You okay?" Richard asked.
"It's very warm," Dorothy noted after a second, stroking her finger across the surface of the face. "It feels like the sun is reaching down from the heavens, and…taking my hand. It's one of the most amazing things I've ever felt."
"Really?" Richard was holding the compass, and he didn't feel like the sun was patting his hand. Well, that figured; the compass had almost burned him when he tried to put it in his pocket.
"Yes," Dorothy answered surely. "Who gave it to you?"
"A librarian I know." And then as Richard spoke, his voice swelled with some kind of enlightenment. Once more, he remembered Mr. Dewey's face when he had handed over the compass, and how anxious he seemed for Richard to take it and use it. Maybe this was what the old librarian had been talking about, although the compass had been so ordinary in his hands. Richard could now imagine why that had been- he was now literally going into a book, and a book that Mr. Dewey had chosen for Richard to read. Right after he had gotten the compass.
"What…? What am I doing in here?" Richard whispered, half to himself.
"I'm sorry?" Dorothy asked, snapping Richard out of his thoughts.
"Nothing, that was nothing," Richard answered quickly, snapping the compass closed. "So, um…you were on your way?" He smiled weakly at Dorothy, pulling the compass back to his side.
"Oh, yes," she replied, pointing off towards the yellow brick road amongst all the other trails leading all around Oz. "You see, Richard, Toto and I were about to start our journey to the Emerald City. The Good Witch of the North has told us that the Wizard there will take us back home, to Kansas. Would you like to come with us?"
"Well, now that you mention it, maybe…I should," Richard said sheepishly, before he glanced at the compass. "There might not be much else that I can do here, anyway."
Dorothy smiled. "And you know, if we ever lose our way, your compass will help," she stated. "Perhaps if we should get cold during the night, its light can keep us warm."
"Uh-huh, sure," Richard said. He stole a kind of helpless look at the compass, which was slowly losing its yellow glow. He didn't quite know what that meant, but he doubted that he could command the magic of this compass on a whim. Clearly, it was sensitive to being handled in such a way. But, maybe Dorothy could do something; at least it warmed up to her.
"Come along," Dorothy said to Toto, while she and her dog started towards the yellow brick road, which, Richard began to notice, was actually littered with piles of books beneath the trees. He couldn't help but think: "Well, now I know that I'm definitely not in my bedroom anymore."
Before Richard caught up to Dorothy, he carefully tried to slip the compass into his pocket. Yet again he felt the burning sensation starting up between his fingers, and he darted the compass in front of his face. He felt like he was being growled at by a cranky dog.
"Come on, could you please cool down a little?" he asked his reflection in the silver lid, although he felt a little ridiculous doing so. "I don't know if I can hold you the whole way to the Emerald City."
It was a long moment before the compass flared up, but then gradually made its glow fade away to an angelic gold, and the almost-harsh warmth it had before was now dying down. Though Richard didn't quite feel the sunny warmth that Dorothy had described, he was satisfied with the fact that at least the compass could take requests.
So, slipping the compass into his jeans pocket, Richard jumped off after Dorothy, all the while wondering what sorts of peculiar things Mr. Dewey might have in mind for him inside this tale. While he wasn't that afraid, he just hoped he wouldn't find the Witch lurking in the trees…