Chapter One

(Hey, y'all!

Here it is! The chapter for The Birchwood Twin(s): The Wizard of Oz.

Enjoy the story and life as it goes!

-imaginarytoon1

PS: If you haven't seen The Wiz, then try checking it out. It's pretty cool. I forgot to mention that in the Trailer In Text. And it's also going to be a combination of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Wizard Of Oz, and The Wiz (I would've added The Wiz if only there wasn't that silly limit of having only TWO movies in a crossover.).)

Greasy:

"Greasy, that's the four-'hungareth' time that you've played Birchwood's memories!" Boss exclaimed as I watched the muchacha's first school performance in my office. "Well, only that one memory of seeing her perform

"Lo sé, jefe." I said. "Pero viendo la Muchacha tocar el piano a la edad de seis años es una cosa muy agradable de ver."

I said that watching the muchacha play the piano at the age of six is just a really nice thing to watch.

"And it's 'implausible'! There is no way that a 'goirl' can play the piano at the age of six!" Boss said.

"No, Boss, it's possible." Wheezy said. "Remember what the Los Angeles Chronicle said two years ago? There was a boy who played the saxophone at the age five."

Boss began to think over on what Wheezy just said and then, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever. It's still 'implausible'." Boss said.

Then, I turned back to the muchacha's memory.

It goes like this:

The date, August 23rd, 2001, shows up on the middle of the screen and dissolves in to a cafeteria with a stage. Parents, a couple of teachers, and some kids are walking around the cafeteria. On the stage is a grand piano and a little girl with a red shirt and blue jeans walks on to the stage without anybody noticing her. The little girl cracks her knuckles, sits down on a chair, and looks at the crowd. As soon as the little girl began to play the piano, everyone stops what they're doing—

My office door slams open and Psycho and Stupid walk in with a nervous looks on their faces.

"Psycho, Stupid, what's going on here?" Boss asked.

"Yen Sid." Psycho replied. "Yen Sid is here."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING!" Wheezy cried.

"Now, now, now, boys." Boss said, remaining calm. "Remember, Yen Sid is the head of us, Toons, and we must treat him with 'rechecked'. Take some time to settle down and then-"

"Duh, we have to see him right now!" Stupid exclaimed.

"All right, boys, 'glisten' up! Let's all take a deep breath and calm down!"

We all took a deep breath.

"Everybody calm?" Boss asked.

"Yes." Psycho, Wheezy, Stupid, and I replied.

"All right, let's go."

We walked out of my office with hesitation, despite of taking a deep breath. Right now, I'm wondering what Yen Sid would want to talk about. What Boss said was true. Since Yen Sid came to Toon Town, thanks to Mr. Disney, every Toon had to treat Yen Sid with respect. If a Toon wanted to learn some magic tricks or wanted some advice, they go to Yen Sid. Some Toons say that Yen Sid is very stern but very wise…almost like the muchacha.

In the waiting room of our headquarters, there stood a toon man with a long gray beard and a stern look.

We bowed in respect. Well, Wheezy had to put out his cigarettes first before bowing in respect.

"How can we help you, Master Yen Sid?" Boss asked.

There is a brief pause.

"I came here to ask you if you can attend this particular activity with me this evening." Yen Sid said to us as we looked at him in the eyes. He points to something behind us. "And bring those two amulets with you."

…

Beatrice:

"Ahhh, no." I said to Mom. "These are too much."

Three days after returning from the hospital and three hours after getting my school schedule, my suspicions of being near-sighted are confirmed. I needed glasses. What still makes me confused is that I passed the vision test when I got my driver's permit and slowly getting near-sighted as time passed (Even my doctors noticed my nearsightedness but I assured them that if I ate a diet of eating enough foods that can help my vision, then my eyesight would improve. Unfortunately, that didn't really work.). Right now, I'm in the mall where there's a store that sold glasses at exceptionally low prices.

After my eye doctor confirmed that I needed glasses, Mom went overboard. She wanted me to have glasses with thick pink frames and purple polka-dots. That's what I'm trying on right now.

"Well, Beatrice, those glasses are definitely you." Mom said.

"Mom, those are not my kind of glasses and you know that pink's not my color!" I said without trying to raise my voice.

Then, Mom grabbed the glasses and took them back to the shelf. She came back with glasses with big round frames.

"Try these on."

I took the glasses and slid them on. I looked at the small mirror on one of the shelves.

"I look like an owl, Mom." I whispered.

"What's wrong with those?" Mom whispered with a crossed look on her face.

"The frames are too big and if I wear these to school, the other students would be distracted by my glasses."

"Everything all right here?" One of the employees—Edit that…it's 'Ashton'—Ashton asked me and Mom.

"We're having trouble on finding the right glasses for her." Mom replied.

"Which pairs of glasses did you choose?"

I showed Ashton the first two pairs of glasses and after looking at them, Ashton studied my face. I hope that he's not treating me like I'm a part of a supermodel scavenger hunt.

"Are you a tomboy?" Ashton asked.

"Yes, sir." I replied.

"Do you play sports of any kind?"

"I play tennis every now and then."

Then, Ashton studies my face one last time and he snaps his fingers, as if he had an epiphany, or a sudden realization of great truth.

"I think I know what you need." Ashton said and then, he walked to a shelf.

He picks up a pair of glasses with a slightly curvy square frame and it was a light shade of copper in color.

"Put these on." Ashton said.

I put them on and I looked at the mirror.

"Oh, yes." Ashton said. "Those look really good."

"These definitely suit me." I said to Mom.

"Are you sure that you don't want the pink glasses?" Mom asked.

"I'm sure, Mom."

"If you say so." Mom said and rolled her eyes.

"Those glasses have the transition lenses, meaning that when they're under sunlight, the lenses turn in to shades. It may take a couple of minutes of adjusting to those glasses but after wearing for a couple of days, you'll be fully adjusted to them. Be sure that you don't use your T-shirt when the lenses get dirty. It makes the smudges and stains worse." Ashton explained.

"I'll remember and thanks for the glasses." I said.

While Mom paid for my glasses, I looked out the window and I saw…Angie Carstens walking by the Mexican restaurant (it was right across the glasses shop) with her little group of friends and guzzling down strawberry smoothies. I looked away. There's no way that she followed me after I left the school.

That master-manipulating, boy-crazy, pink-loving, gum-chewing, Miss-All-That-And-A-Bag-Of-Chips, bad-mouthing, frog-hating queen bee! I thought angrily. If she bombards me with tropical fruit perfume and pink lipstick, then I'll sneak a stink bomb in her purse and put super-glue in her nail polish!

"Beatrice, you can go ahead and have your fun. I already paid for your glasses. Come home no later than eight-thirty." Mom said.

"I'll see you in a little bit, Mom." I replied and turned to Ashton. "And thanks for helping."

"No problem at all. If you have any problems with your glasses, then just call us and we can figure something out." Ash said. "Have a nice day."

"You, too."

I walked out of the glasses shop and I covered my face with my left hand.

Despite of being at a twenty-persons length away, I can hear Angie's friends say certain things about me out loud. Probably loud enough for everyone in the mall to hear.

"Hey, Beatrice!" Angie called.

I ignored her and turned to the right corner.

Despite of the thoughts that I just thought of just a few seconds ago, I'm usually a peaceful person and most of the time, I keep my thoughts to myself. I can only do silly but violent things if they're really necessary. Although sneaking a stink bomb in Angie's purse sounds tempting, I know better than to do that. The only thing that I can do is trying to avoid any more interactions with Angie.

After passing a taco shop, I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket of my denim shorts. I took it out of my pocket and a text from Angie shows up on the screen.

"Hideous + Dorky + Freak Show= you" The text said.

I'm not going to let that stop me or put me down.

"I'm criticized but all of your bullets ricochet…

Shoot me down but I get up.

I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose,

Fire away, fire away,

Ricochet, you take your aim,

Fire away, fire away.

Shoot me down but I won't fall!

I AM TITAAAA-NI-UUUUM!"

Yes, Titanium was playing in the mall and it's kind of setting the mood for my thoughts of fury.

Anyway, I put my cell phone back in to my pocket and I walked to the nearest exit. I didn't want to have anything to do with Angie or her friends. They gave me too much trouble in the past and my main goal for this school year is never pick fights with Angie Carstens.

As I walked out of the mall, I began to think about what happened before I got my glasses.

I was in the hospital and I was recovering from—Oh, wait, that's a little too far. I was at my school getting my schedule and I was just MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS. I wasn't planning on doing anything except get my schedule, look around the school, locate my classes that I'm planning to take in a week, and go home. But after I found out that I needed glasses, Angie walked by and asked me if I would like to talk to her. Since our big fight in kindergarten (Let's just call it 'The Noodle Incident', which is an event that is mentioned briefly but is either never revealed or will be talked about much later), I knew better than to do that. To avoid trouble, I decided to not talk to Angie. She got on my nerves by asking me if I was listening to her and when I was getting ready to walk down a long staircase, Angie pushed me down the stairs and I fell down. My schedule flew out of my hands and I slid down the stairs like I was penguin sliding on its belly.

After I made it to the bottom of the staircase, Angie shouted,

"Beatrice, you're so ugly that you make the train drive a dirt road!"

I was really tempted to say, "Do you have a license to be that ugly to me," but I still didn't want to say anything. After I got up, I felt something hit me and I saw that Angie threw a tomato at me after seeing a tomato bounce on the floor for a second.

"Nobody throws tomatoes anymore!" I shouted and I ran off with my schedule.

That was pretty much it.

As I opened the doors to my truck, my glasses did their job. I look like I'm wearing shades.

"Sweet!" I whispered.

I got in my truck and while getting out of the parking lot, I began to think about what happened after I left the hospital.

As soon as I got home and was about to play the piano, I found four fortune cookies. The four fortunes that sound like they'll become life's greatest philosophies. The first fortune said that I should never lose my loyalty, the second one said that I should relive past memories, the third one said that new adventures happen to people and their old friends, and the last fortune said that you'll NEVER know when love comes to you like a sickness.

After reading the fortunes and trying to ignore them, I began to think.

Man. I thought. I wish that I had a giant book and it'll have the answers to every question in life. 'Like, when will Mom and I get along and an excellent mother-daughter relationship'…and…'will Greasy try to remember our promise about staying friends'? But of course, I continued, if I knew every answer in life, then I would already expect the things will happen in the next minute, day, week, month, or year…and life will not be like a daring adventure. You sometimes have to face the unexpected.

After thinking that and opening the fortune cookies, I remembered when I thought that I saw Greasy standing outside of my house and watching play the piano through my bedroom window.

"Greasy's just a figment of my imagination now. There's NO WAY that a fictional character can coexist in the world of reality." I whispered.

When night came, I became restless. Although Lexi already left my house a few days ago, I always checked the guest bedroom to see if the bed is unmade or if the window is found unlocked. So far, there were no suspicious signs of the Toon Patrol breaking in to my house. After checking the guest bedroom, I snuck in to the kitchen one night and took one of my mom's frying pans. I now sleep with a frying pan underneath my pillow.

Say that I'm paranoid. Go on. Go ahead and say it. I don't care. Just get it out of your system.

Mom didn't like the idea of me being so defensive. She got really mad at me after I nearly hit her on the back of her head with my frying pan. Dad, who is still uses his 'words and theories of the police', believes that I'm going through a phase when 'a victim who faced a traumatizing event and his/her mode of defense will fade away eventually'. Tommy is the only person who believes that the Toon Patrol attempted to make me sleepwalk to Toon Town. I'm glad that he sticks with me in times of trouble.

Well, now that I'm home, I'm just going to get my school clothes organized, re-organize my binder, review some German vocabulary (I took German in the tenth grade. I'm going to the eleventh grade and taking German again.), eat dinner, take a shower, read a book, and try to get enough sleep. For a tomboy, I think too much and I'm probably too organized.

So:

5:56:10 pm: Memorization of school schedule

First Period: Advanced English

Second Period: German II

Third Period: Pre-Chemistry (Mon., Wends., Fri.)/Chemistry (Tues., Thurs.)

Fourth Period: US History

Thirty-Minute Study Time

Lunch Period

Fifth Period: Advanced Algebra (Same as Third Period)/Math Models (Tues., and Thurs.)

Sixth Period: Physical Education (P.E.)

Final Period: Theater Arts

6:18:54 pm: German Review

Machen- to make

Woher- where

Spielen- to play

Es klapperten die Klapperschlangen, bis ihre Klappern schlapper klangen- The rattlesnakes rattled until their rattles ran down.

…and it kind of goes on a little bit.

6:57:12 pm: Dinner

I drove to a Chinese restaurant and ordered some shrimp-fried rice. The shrimp was delicious and the rice was good and sticky.

The fortune cookie that came with my meal said:

"In everyone, there is a hidden kid."

I'm not sure if that made any sense but I added that fortune to the other four fortunes that I found a few days ago.

8:10:57…make that '8:11:02'…pm: Reorganizing Binder

Yeah, my binder is really thick with old papers from the tenth grade. I nearly got a paper-cut after throwing away the thick pile of papers.

A scorpion was found in my binder and I have no idea on how it got inside and I squished it and sprayed it with rubbing alcohol.

I made a mental note:

Put a lavender-scented odor stick in my backpack. Research says that it's a good and natural scorpion repellant.

9:00:32 pm: Shower

Nothing that you need to know!

9:15:23 pm: Reading a book

From my book shelf, I grabbed John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

Despite of reading it a lot as a kid (I read at a college-student reading level when I was only five years old), it didn't hurt to read the book again.

…and finally, 10:34:56 pm: Beddy-Bye Time.

I dress myself up in an over-sized white T-Shirt and black pajama pants.

I double-check on my window to see if it was locked.

…Yep, locked up real tight.

Then, I got my frying pan ready and as soon as my blanket covered three-quarters of my body and my head hit the pillow…

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzz…..

3:03 am…approximately:

*RING, RING*

"Huh?"

*RING, RING*

Picking up the sound of a chorus of ringing telephones, I woke up with a start. I looked around my room with caution.

"Who's there?" I whispered.

Then, my light in my closet switches on.

"*gasp*! The Toon Patrol!" I whispered.

I took my frying pan and I quietly leaped off of my bed. My legs were shaking and my heart was beating really fast. Carefully, I grabbed the doorknob and I took a deep breath.

I opened the door at a really fast pace and I got my frying pan ready. The bright light from my closet blinded and I use the frying pan as my face shield.

"COME FORWARD." A deep, bold voice said to me.

"Who, me?" I asked while putting the frying pan down.

"COME FORWARD."

Since my frying pan won't be any good at this time, I left it on my bedroom floor and walked in to my closet.

The door closed behind me when I was twenty feet away from it. I was walking in an open egg-shell white space and a cool wind was blowing.

After walking another ten feet, the light faded into a room that looked like the inside of a church. But as I took another careful observation, I realized that I was in a courtroom. The people in this room were…Toons…from my childhood videos that I used to watch as a kid. Bugs Bunny was there, so was Scooby-Doo, Fat Albert, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Daisy…almost every Toon that I knew as a child was in this room. I even saw Tommy sitting next to Panchito.

In the jury box, the members of jury were Mush Mouth, Bill, Dumb Donald, Weird Harold, Russell, and Rudy. At the defendants' table…there was…THE TOON PATROL. All members, except for Greasy and Psycho, gave me angry looks.

At the judge's bench, there was a toon man with a long mustache and a blue robe. I knew who he was. He's a sorcerer. I know because I saw him from Fantasia but I don't know his name. Well, his name was NEVER mentioned in the movie.

I looked at the name plate on the rim of the judge's bench.

"YEN SID".

HUH! I thought. That's 'Disney' backwards!

"State your name." Yen Sid said.

"Uh…my full name? Beatrice Elaine Birchwood…s-sir." I replied nervously.

"Have a seat in the witness stand."

I walked to the witness stand with nervousness and I sat down.

"Am I trouble, s-s-sir?" I asked Yen Sid.

"No." Yen Sid replied. "I just want to ask you some questions."

Smarty gave me an angry look; as if he was going to say 'Don't you dare answer any questions'.

"You may proceed with the questions, sir." I said to Yen Sid.

Whatever the questions are, I'll be one-hundred percent honest and truthful. I thought.