Halloween in Oz?

Dorothy had not been to Oz in many years however she had never forgotten her adventures there. Dorothy was now on to another adventure she was a wife and mother. She had put the silver slippers up in a lock box in the attic and hadn’t really looked back. She needed to keep her mind in the here and now. She needed to focus on keeping her feet on the ground and not running off to strange exotic lands. Her little girl was getting ready to turn 7 years old and on Halloween no less. Dorothy really didn’t enjoy celebrating Halloween and after being in Oz who could blame her? Nothing on earth could be as beautiful nor as scary as the land of Oz. She however enjoyed her little girl and her birthday celebrations very much. Her little girl was so happy and full of energy and very adventurous just like her mom. She even looked like her mom with dark brown hair and light brown eyes. She was short and a little chubby although not overly so for her age, just like her mom had been. Dorothy’s husband was an Army General so he was a little adventurous also and very heroic. She had a great life so why did she need Oz, the answer is she didn’t. She lived in a beautiful little farmhouse in the middle of the prairie in Northern Texas. She had a wonderful family and even a little black dog named Toto however he was like Toto the 12th not the very first one of course. The dog loved the little girl and followed her everywhere.

On the eve of Halloween, it was cold and cloudy out and there was a slow drizzle of rain that had been steady all day. Her little girl Dora was due home from school any moment now and the final plans for her birthday slash Halloween party would be finalized. Dora almost leaped off the bus with one of her girlfriends close behind. The little girl's name was Myra and to be honest, I didn’t really like this kid she was pushy and bossy with a smart mouth. So needless to say it was going to be a long evening.First thing this kid heads for the front door and up the stairs without so much as a hello how do you do? I spoke to the girls and let them go to Dora’s room to unwind a little before we got into any family planning. I also let them go so I could say a little prayer and regroup before my patience would be tested by our present company. Not that I was all that in tune with God however I did at least believe in Him and I would need him today , that kid just rubbed me the wrong way in every kind of way.

To cheer me up a little I decided to go upstairs and get the box, the one with the shoes in it. The one I hadn’t touched in like forever. I think I have decided to share them with my daughter for her 7th birthday. I would share the tail of Oz with her and the magic of the shoes. I always wanted to tell someone because really I was told to stop talking about Oz and my little adventures or people would think me mad. This would be a mother-daughter thing between me and my girl. Around 4 pm the girls came down for a snack and Myra’s eyes quickly fell on the box. I moved it a little closer to me and rolled my eyes. “What’s that”, she said as she entered the kitchen. “It's a surprise for my little birthday day girl.” She didn’t seem to care for my answer because she wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes when she looked at my daughter. That was another thing I disliked about this kid she was jealous. No one could be in the spotlight when she was around it had to be all about her “It’s not her birthday yet”, the little girl said with a big frown on her face. “True however it’s almost here and it is very important to celebrate others and show them how much we care.” The little girl rolled her eyes and grabbed an apple out of my child’s hand. This kid needed to go home why was she even here? Oh yeah, I reminded myself my daughter likes her. “I smile and remind her she’s a special little girl too which she seemed to like. I also reminded her that however it was Dora’s day tomorrow and we were celebrating her which she didn’t like. So I decided to shift gears a little and ask them did they want some cocoa.

As they drank their cocoa I could see my daughter’s friend eyeing the box off and on. I made up my mind I would have to hide the box out of sight until my daughter's birthday. I looked out the window of the kitchen it was getting dark really dark for the time of day it was. This was never good bad weather was on the way clearly. Just as I was about to turn my attention back to the girls my cell phone rang. I look over at the Id it was my husband which never called this time of day. I smiled politely to the girls and excused myself however not before warning the girls not to touch the box. Then I stepped out of the room and answered the phone.

Meanwhile, the girls sipped their cocoa quietly for a moment or two. That didn’t last long because Myra spoke up quickly convincing Dora to take a peek in the box. Dora didn’t agree to this at first of course however with Myra’s nagging she gave in. The two quickly grabbed the box and headed out the back door to the barn. The wind was picking up and it was starting to rain a little harder. “We’ll Miss smarty pants how are we going to get the box open now that we have it,” Dora said. “I think I can pick the lock my older brother taught me,” said Myra. Dora didn’t look too shocked she just shrugged her shoulders and gave a look like of course, you can. Myra rolled her eyes and took one of many Barbie pins out of her hair and sit to work. It took a while however she did get in the box. Dora placed both hands over the box trying to stop the little girl from opening it. Well, Myra was very dissatisfied and disappointed in her friend for being such a chicken plus she really wanted to know what was in the box. The little girl who was bigger than Dora grabbed hold of the box and gave a pull knocking her friend down and securing the box for herself. The little girl ran towards the back of the barn as fast as she could with the box. By the time Dora had caught up with her she had one of the sliver slippers out and in her hand. “Stop it now,” Dora yelled. However, the little girl only smiled and slipped her shoe off and the sliver slipper on. Dora came rushing at her friend really fast with balled-up fists and fire in her eyes. Myra slipped the other slipper on without even batting an eye.
“Take them off now”, Dora screamed. Just then a loud roar broke through their little disagreement, the girls looked outside to see a twister barreling down upon them. The girls grabbed for each other just as the twister picked up the barn with them in it. The sliver slippers began to glow. The girls were so scared. In what seemed like forever to the little girls the barn rode on the wind. The barn finally landed with a big “Bang.” Which caused the girls to fall down hard knocking them out cold.

When the girls awoke it was very quiet however bright light was streaming in the large picture window. First thing Dora hopped to her feet and smacked Myra in the face and snatched both sliver slippers off her feet. “Don’t you ever take anything from me again or I will whip you good.” “ Now let’s find out where we are and what mess you have gotten us in.” The other little girl looked shocked and angry but she got up and followed Dora without a word. The little girls were shocked when they pried the big wooden barn door open. They surely weren’t in Taxes anymore from what they were seeing. They saw large poppy flowers of red, yellow blue, and purple. They saw a very bright yellow brick road a little beat up however it was definitely yellow. In the far distance, they saw a black castle all covered in webs and something white that looked like a sheet flying from window to the window in and out in and out. Could it be a real ghost? They must be dreaming this couldn’t be real, could it? The old black castle had lights coming from every window however there were different colors in each window blue, orange, yellow, red, and green. The girls walked for a long time confused and frustrated and frightened. Finally, they came across a Tin Man who could talk they discovered. They all introduced themselves and they were informed by the Tin man that they were in Oz, which was over the rainbow . They also were informed that Dora’s mother had been there a long time ago. The tin man said they had enjoyed many visits from Dorothy until she was all grown up and stopped coming. He told Dora they were in the middle of a Halloween celebration when the Wicked witch's brother showed up threatening to make it a real Halloween nightmare. The Land of Oz had learned about several earth holidays during Dorothy’s visits and decided to adopt some of them and put their own Oz twist on them of course.
What were the girls to do? How were they to get home? Why hadn’t Dorothy shared this part of her life with her own daughter? Did they need to try and stop this wicked wizard first? The girls didn’t know the answers to any of this all they knew is they wanted to go home. It looked like the girls would be spending Halloween in Oz.


Word count: 1743