Chapter 21

Elphie

"Hey, Lukas, it's me, Elphie, calling you again. Missed you yesterday at Glinda's wedding. Hope you're alright. I'm leaving for Quadling Country today, and my number there will be 675-357-8832. Again, that number is 675-357-8832. Please call me!" Elphie hung up the telephone despondently. What was up with him?! He wasn't answering phone calls or letters, and when she had tried to visit his apartment a few weeks back, no one had answered the door. Elphie knew she should have had more important things on her mind, but this really was worrying her.

Boq stumbled into the dining area of Elphie's suite as she was making breakfast. "Morning, Elphie," he said sleepily.

"Hey, Boq!" she replied cheerfully to emphasize her relative liveliness. "I'm making toast. Want some?"

"Sure." Boq sat down heavily. "Coffee would be nice too."

Elphie grinned. "Already ahead of you. Fresh Munchkin Roast, straight from the bread basket of Oz!"

"Or in this case, the coffee bag of Oz." They both laughed a little at that, but soon descended into an awkward silence.

"Boq …" Elphie started nervously. "I just … was last night … good for you?"

He looked as though he was eating lemons. "It was … nice. You were … good. It was just …" He sighed.

"No spark?"

"Not really. And it's not because of …" He gestured to her skin. "… that. Don't worry. It's just …"

"I'm not Glinda," Elphie stated bluntly. "I get it."

"Ugh, Elphie, I'm sorry! But it's … hard, you know? She'll never care about me. I guess I just thought that sleeping with you would make things easier somehow."

Elphie nodded in understanding. "Same here. What with the Vinkus basically cut off from the rest of Oz … ugh, I shouldn't have even done this! I'm going to miss my train!" She stood up and woofed down the last bites of her toast. She grabbed her two suitcases and rushed for the door.

"Elphie?" She turned back to see Boq smiling nervously at her. "Good luck on your trip."

She smiled back. "Thanks."

Elphie arrived at the train station to find the two glamorous brides of the day before eagerly waiting for her. "Hey Elphie!" they said in unison before bursting out into giggles.

"Hey, you two," Elphie said with a grin. "I thought you would be on your way to Fliaan by now!"

"And not see you off?" Glinda asked, shocked. "Never! We'll be back in the EC before you will, you know."

"Yeah," Milla agreed. "You'll be missed, you know?"

Elphie smirked. "You want to hear about my night with Boq, don't you?"

Glinda pretended to be confused. "You were with Boq last night? I didn't know that!"

"Sure you didn't."

"But now that you mention it, we are interested," Milla mused. "How was it? 'Cause I have to admit, if I played for his team …" Glinda cut her a look, and she immediately sobered. "Love you, honey."

"There's not much to talk about," Elphie said. "We did it, and then I made him toast this morning, and then … I came here." She shrugged.

"So … he was a dud," Glinda deduced. "Bummer."

Suddenly, an announcement came over the loudspeaker. "Train departing the Emerald City for Qhyore leaves shortly. Repeat, train departing the Emerald City for Qhyore leaves shortly. If you are on this train, please board now."

"Crap!" Elphie exclaimed. "I have to go. Glinda, Milla, have fun on your honeymoon. I'll see you later."

Glinda stepped forward and hugged her, with a ferocity that only Glinda could manage. "Bye, Elphie."

Elphie struggled to breathe again. "Bye Glin."

"See you, Elphie!" Milla said, waving. "I can't wait to get to know you better!"

"Yeah, see you!" Without another word, Elphie rushed for her train. She hated to leave the city of green that she had come to call home, but this was something that had to be done.

For the first hour of the journey, Elphie could feel someone's eyes boring into her. Of course, she was accustomed to this, but it started to happen less frequently once she had become Vizier. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She turned to find the man sitting next to her looking right at her. "What?!" Elphie snapped. "Oh, do I have something in my teeth?"

"Um, I don't think so," the man said, clearly embarrassed. "Um, if you don't mind me asking …"

She interrupted him. "Yes, I've always been green. No, I am not seasick. No, I did not eat grass as a child … Staring is rude, my name's Elphaba, and I'm traveling to Qhyore on business. What about you?"

The man turned more towards her. "Well, I'm Howark, and I'm actually going to Ovvels. Most of Ovvels is sunk into the marsh, and I'm supposed to help redevelop it. I'm a city planner."

"I'm Grand Vizier," Elphie countered. "But please, don't call me 'Madam Vizier' and all that nonsense. Just call me Elphie. Even though we're strangers, and probably never going to meet again …" She realized she was rambling. "I'm going to Qhyore to oversee the ruby excavations for His Ozness."

Howark nodded approvingly. "Keeping Oz's economy strong. Cool."

Suddenly, the train started going extremely fast. Elphie turned back to Howark, alarmed. "What's going on?"

He shook his head, just as frightened as she was. "I don't know."

"Attention, passengers," the conductor said. "The tracks are extremely wet. That is the reason for our increased speed. Do not panic. The engineer is currently trying to stop the train."

Unfortunately, Howark was, in fact, panicking. "I'm gonna die."

"You're not going to die," Elphie said reassuringly.

"Ugh! I'm going to die in a train accident! So cliché!"

Elphie scoffed. "Okay, say we are all going to die. All you're worried about is how cliché it would be?!"

Then Howark screamed. "OH MY OZ, WE'RE GOING OFF THE TRACKS!"

Elphie was about to tell him to shut up, when she realized he was right. There was a bend in the tracks, but the train was going too fast to turn. She closed her eyes as they cavorted into the marshland.

And it reaches to the future and the past,
To every moment ever first to last.
And every life I reached or could not touch,
And everyone I loved or loved too much.
And every chance I took or did not take,
Connections that I made or did not make.
But I'll never take those turns to other roads
Once the moment explodes.