As a senior student, Judy was allowed to take a seminar class. The
seminar courses are really interesting because they are taught off
campus by adjuncts, who are often really important people in the Ozian
community. This year, Judy got into the most coveted class of all:
"Journey to Oz."
Judy and her classmates caught the
train from Shiz University to the Emerald City. When they arrived
at the Emerald City's station, their teacher was waiting on the
platform.
She was as pretty and as sweet as
the stories, but now, she was all grown up and an important political
figure in Oz.
"Hello, students," Dorothy Gale
said. "I don't have anything really planned for today. I just thought
we could talk about whatever is on your minds. Any thoughts?"
"Well," Judy said. "I know that you
left Oz years ago, but why couldn't the Wizard help? How did Glinda get
you home?"
"All of these are good questions." After my friends and I returned to
the Emerald City from the
Wicked Witch's castle, Oz gave Scarecrow his brains, the Tin Woodsman
his heart, and the Cowardly Lion his courage, but he didn't know
how to get me home. He was actually a Nebraska man and had never
returned. I don't think he had ever tried. The plan he devised
turned out to be a very good plan--just everything went wrong.
He decided to cross the desert in a
hot-air balloon. As the Great Oz and I got in the balloon, my little
dog Toto saw
something he wanted to chase. He jumped from my arms. Of course, I ran
after him. Unfortunately, the balloon was trying to leave the ground,
and my friends lost their grip on the ropes that were holding it and it
flew. I had to think of another way back home.
I wasted a wish asking the Winged
Monkeys. They said it was impossible for them to cross the deserts that
border the Land of Oz.
Then, I decided to travel down to
Quadling Country where Glinda lived. She had pointed me in the right
direction before, and I hoped she would again. Of course, my dear
friends would not let me travel alone, so the Scarecrow, the Tin
Woodsman, the Cowardly Lion and I started on our final journey
together.
This journey was just as long and
dangerous as before. We first had to fight through a forest of Fighting
Trees. The Tin Woodsman and his axe successfully escorted us through. I
felt bad that we had to hack off the trees' arms, but they were being
very rude.
After, we came to a great wall of
china--just not THE Great Wall of China. The Tin Woodsman again got us
through by building a ladder to get us over the wall. I'll never
forget the creatures of this country. They were beautiful, but also
high strung. They are real, live china figures and very
breakable.
They actually cannot be taken out of the Dainty China Country or they
will be stiff and good for nothing but sitting on a mantle.
Then, we found ourselves in a
terrible marsh. The Cowardly Lion actually loved it; it was just the
place for him. Here we were approached by Beasts, but very friendly
ones. They were being attacked by a great spider and wanted our help.
The Lion was of course the perfect Beast for the job. He rid the marsh
of the terrible spider in no time.
Finally, after all this, we came to
a large hill protected by the Hammerheads, which are short creatures
with flat-top heads, necks full of wrinkles, and no arms. The
Hammerheads can launch their heads like springs and they use this to
hit people. For little things, they really are terrifying. I had to use
my final wish and ask the Winged Monkeys to carry us over into Quadling
Country.
Once there, Glinda immediately
received
us. When I asked her to help me, she said she would tell me a way back
to Kansas--I just had to give her the Golden Cap. I wanted to get home
more than anything, and I had already used all three wishes, so I
gladly gave her the Cap.
"I
will have the Winged Monkeys carry
Scarecrow over the hill of Hammerheads and back to the Emerald City. He
will be a wise ruler.
"Then, the Winged Monkeys will
carry the
Tin Woodsman to the land of the Winkies. He is not as wise as his
friend, but he has such a kind heart. After the Wicked Witch, the
Winkies need all the love than can get.
"Then, finally, the Winged Monkeys
will carry the Lion back to the wonderful marsh and be the King of
Beasts.
"That will be all my wishes, so I
will give the Golden Cap to the King of the Monkeys and they will no
longer be slaves."
Glinda was truly wonderful to my
friends, but she still had not told me how to get home.
"You've always had the power to get
home. It's in the silver shoes, but if I had told you this, you would
have never had your journeys, and would not have helped the people you
were meant to help." "I clicked my heels three times and
thought of home. I was back to Kansas in no time. Unfortunately,
the silver shoes fell off somewhere in the desert. I got back to
Kansas and realized what was really "home" was my Aunt Em and Uncle
Henry. My family was home.
"And that kind of explains why I am
back in Oz today. I loved my friends here and wonderful Oz. One day, I
brought my "home" with me to Oz. Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and I have
lived happily in the Emerald City for many years now."
Another day finished, Judy
daydreamed about Dorothy's wonderful adventures as she road the train
back home.
Author's Note:
I thought a lot about my final storyteller. I wanted it to be someone
just as exciting as the Winged Monkey, the Munchkin, and the man from
the Emerald City. I figured--who is more exciting than Dorothy herself?
For my frametale, I have Dorothy back in Oz an undetermined
time after her first visit. This was not a fact that I made up
myself. In Baum's sixth Oz novel, The Emerald City of Oz, Dorothy and
her aunt and uncle
come to live in Oz permanently. I put this in here because I wanted to
further stress what I put in my introduction, which is that Oz, for
Dorothy, is REAL. It's not part of a dream that she has when she bumps
her head, but it is an actual place where she has tons of adventures.
For this final tale, I combined SEVERAL chapters. The end of the book
is similar, but different than the movie and much more detailed.
I wanted everyone to know the rest of her journey, so I tried my best
to cram it all in for you. I didn't change any of the facts according
to Baum; I just condensed it heavily. Bibliography: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by
L. Frank Baum 1900
Available online at: Literature.org
Image Information:
Wizard and Hot Air Balloon
Web Source: Gone
Movies
"There's No Place Like Home"
Web Source: WetCircuit
"I
will have the Winged Monkeys carry
Scarecrow over the hill of Hammerheads and back to the Emerald City. He
will be a wise ruler.