Chapter Twenty Four
(Hey, y'all!
Fun Fact:
In Silence Of The Lambs, Hannibal Lector blinked only ONE time while he was on-screen he didn't even blink anymore as the movie continued. Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit didn't even blink when he was also on-screen and he kind of shares that trait with Hannibal.
I wonder if the actors who played Hannibal and Judge Doom ever put eye-drops in their eyes when their parts of a scene was over.
Anyway, here is the next chapter for the story.
Enjoy the story and life as it goes!
-imaginarytoon1
PS: Here are a link for a song:
watch?v=GkeNEvwq7A0 : Merry Old Land of Oz
watch?v=gOCNY9pJ850 : If I Were King Of The Forest
PPS: Recommended movies to watch over the Christmas holiday:
Frozen (I just watched it. It was EPIC and AMAZING!)
It's A Wonderful Life
A Christmas Carol
How The Grinch Stole Christmas!
The Christmas Story
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Home Alone
Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer
Rise Of The Guardians
Jack Frost (Michael Keaton)
and
Elf)
Beatrice:
A toon owl (with light brown feathers and an orange beak) in a green outfit that looks like something that Kenobi (a Star Wars character) would wear peeks out and perches on the rim of the porthole. The angry look on its face reminded me of people who get angry after waking up at a very early time. I suddenly remembered that the owl is named 'Archimedes'.
"WHO RANG THAT BELL?!" Archimedes exclaimed.
"I did." I said with honesty.
"Can't you read?!"
"Read what?" Head Numbers One and Two asked.
"The NOTICE!" Archimedes exclaimed again.
TW, Lion, Scarecrow, and I looked around the door.
"What notice?" We asked in unison.
"IT'S ON THE DOOR," Archimedes exclaimed and pointed to a spot on the right side of the door, "AS PLAIN AS THE BEAK ON MY FACE!"
He looked at the spot where he pointed earlier and then, Archimedes gasped, stuttered in gibberish, disappeared, and flew back out with a sign that was being held with his tiny beak. He hung the sign on a small nail and disappeared to the other side of the door. Archimedes slammed the porthole closed.
" 'Bell Out Of Order'," TW, Scarecrow, Lion, and I read in unison, " 'Please Knock'."
I grabbed the giant silver doorknocker and I banged it on the door a few times. The porthole opens back up and Archimedes shows up and he perches on the rim again.
"Well, that's more like it!" Archimedes exclaimed. "Now, state your business!"
"We would like to see the Wizard." TW, Scarecrow, Lion, and I said in unison.
Archimedes gasped.
"The WIZARD?" He asked.
We nodded.
Then, Archimedes frowned.
"But nobody can see the great Oz!" He exclaimed. "Nobody's ever SEEN the great OZ! Even I've never seen him!"
"But if you never saw him, then how do you know if there is one?" I asked.
"Well, because he's…"
The spoken sentence quickly transforms in to gibberish for a few minutes and finally, Archimedes rolled his eyes, and sighs in an exasperated matter.
"You're wasting my time! I don't have time for this!" He said.
Just as Archimedes was about to disappear, I quickly stopped him.
"Please, sir!" I said. "I've got to see the Wizard. The Good Witch of the North sent me here."
"Oh, yeah?" Archimedes asked. "Prove it!"
"She's wearing the ruby sandals." Head Number One said.
Archimedes looked down at my feet for a second and then, he says,
"Oh, so she is! Well, I'll be! Why didn't you say so in the first place? That's the horse of a different color! Come on! Come on in! Ha, ha, ha!"
With a smile, Archimedes disappears and slams the porthole shut. The doors opened up and my eyes widened as I saw more of the beauty of the Emerald City. Everything was green! The floors, the townspeople's clothing was green, and even most of the plants were green.
The townspeople saw me, Scarecrow, TW, and Lion standing in front of the doorway and Mr. Toad, I believe, in a green suit and hat drives his horse carriage (pulled by a toon horse who looks like Cyril Proudbottom) to the entrance.
"Cabby! Cabby!" The Mr. Toad Look-Alike said with an Irish Cockney accent. "Just what you're looking for! Take you any place in the city, we does!"
TW, Lion, Scarecrow, and I walked up to the carriage.
"Would you take us to see the Wizard?" I asked.
A surprised look began to spread on 'Mr. Toad's' face.
"The Wizard? The Wizard?" He asked. "Why, yes, of course! But first, I'll take you to a place where you can tidy up a bit."
"Oh, thank you so much!"
Scarecrow and Lion climbed in to the carriage and TW and I (along with Toto) climbed in after them.
"We've been gone for such a long time, and we feel so…" I began but I was interrupted by the horse, who was now…purple. "What kind of a horse is that? I've never seen one like that before!"
"No, and never will again, I fancy." 'Mr. Toad' replied. "There's only one of him, and he's it. He's the Horse of a Different Color you've heard about."
As 'Cyril' began to pull the carriage, music began to play and some of the people in some of the crowds began to wave at us.
"Ha, ha, ha,
Ho, ho, ho,
And a couple of tra-la-las!
That's how we laugh the day away,
At the Merry Old Land of Oz!" The townspeople began to sing.
"Bzz, bzz, bzz,
Chirp, chirp, chirp,
And a couple of la-di-das!
That's how the crickets crick all day,
In the Merry Old Land of Oz!"
TW tapped my shoulder and he points at 'Cyril'. To my surprise, 'Cyril' is now red! Seriously, how can he do that?
"We get up at twelve and start to work at one,
Take an hour for lunch and at two, we're done!"
'Cyril' changes into another color. This time, he's yellow.
"Jolly good fun!
Ha, ha, ha,
Ho, ho, ho,
And a couple of tra-la-las…"
'Mr. Toad' pulls up and stops at this place called 'Wash & Brush-Up Co.' and a couple of women who were kind of dressed up like nuns in green outfits led Scarecrow, Lion, TW, and me inside.
"That's how we laugh the day away,
With a ho, ho, ho,
Ha, ha, ha
In the merry old land of Oz!" The townspeople continued.
Almost immediately, Scarecrow, TW, Lion, and I were placed in separated rooms. Even though Toto was with me and five women, I was really nervous because I am not used to getting a 'special treatment' whenever I'm at a place that's like a beauty parlor.
One of the women, the one with red hair, told me to undo my braid and I reluctantly did so while I sat down on a green barber's chair. She took my ponytail band and threw it in an incinerator, burning the only ponytail band that I owned at home. Red Hair came back with a green ponytail band around her wrist and she and another woman, Caecilia, began to brush my hair while the other three women began to comb Toto's shaggy fur.
Surprisingly, Red Hair and Caecilia were very gentle with my hair (Mom is always very rough with it) and they didn't have to brush out any tangles.
They began to layer my hair, brush one part, and move on to the next layer of my hair, making it completely tangle-free.
Finally, Red Hair pulled my thick blond hair back and I felt her fingers separating three parts of my hair. I knew that she was making a braid.
While Red Hair braided my hair, Caecilia squirted a couple sprays of honeysuckle-scented perfume on my neck. It smells really nice.
"There we are." Red Hair said and gave me a mirror.
I looked at my reflection and I smiled with a hint of surprise in it. My braid looked very neat and it wasn't frizzing up. Red Hair did a very good job with my neat braid.
"This is a really nice braid." I said. "Thank you for braiding my hair."
"Are you ready to see the Wizard with your friends?" Caecilia asked.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm ready."
As soon as I stood up, Toto was put back in to my bag and his fur was neatly combed back. To be honest with you, he looked really handsome with his fur combed down.
Caecilia led me out of the room and I found TW, Scarecrow, and Lion with almost completely different looks. TW looked really shiny, the stitches from Scarecrow's clothes were sewn up completely, and Lion's mane was tamed and trimmed a little bit.
I swear, they look so much nicer with their 'make-overs'.
While the employees of the 'beauty parlor' were leading me, TW, Scarecrow, and Lion to the exit, everyone began to finish the last part of the song.
"Ha, ha, ha,
Ho, ho, ho,
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!
That's how we laugh the day away,
In the merry old land of Oz!
That's how we laugh the day away
With a ha ha ha,
Ha, ha, ha,
Ha, ha, ha,
Ha, ha, ha,
Ha, ha, ha,
Ha, ha, ha,
In the merry old land of Oz!
Ha, ha, ha,
Ho ho oh!
Ha, ha, ha,
Ah, ha, ha!"
TW, Scarecrow, Lion, and I were walking down the stairs when the workers and townspeople were waving at us in a friendly and welcoming matter. I was probably going to enjoy this.
Unfortunately, the joy and laughter didn't last very long when one woman screamed in the crowd.
"Look at the sky! Look at the sky!" The woman exclaimed in fear.
Immediately, I looked at the sky. My eyes widened and I gasped along with TW and Scarecrow when I saw the Witch flying around the blue sky with a broomstick in between his legs.
Uh oh.