Abducted to Oz | Page 3

Dorothy on her first visit to Oz. To the East is the blue
Munchkin Country. Here, all of the things that the Gillikins paint
purple are painted blue. This is the region where little Dorothy's house
had fallen down atop the Wicked Witch of the East. And it was this
incident that had caused the Wicked Witch of the West to take notice of
the little girl. So wicked was this Witch, in fact, that she sent a host of
plagues in the hope that they would destroy poor Dorothy and her
companions. She lashed out with her flesh-eating gray wolves, her
sinister crows, and her horrific stinging bees. But it was not until she
called upon her Marvelous Flying Monkeys that she was able to
succeed in her goal. The monkeys, enslaved by the powers of a magical
hat, destroyed the Scarecrow and tin man and enslaved Dorothy and the
Lion.
Oz history would have been dismal, indeed, had Dorothy not splashed a
bucket of water over the Wicked Witch, wetting her from head to foot.
As Witches and water do not mix very well, the evil woman was
reduced to nothing more than a puddle of ugly liquid. With the help of
some kindly Winkie tinsmiths and seamstresses, Dorothy was able to
retrieve her friends and bring happiness back to Oz. Had she desired to
live there then, she would have had a welcoming home with any or all
of the citizens of Oz, even the Scarecrow, who was made ruler over all
the land. The Scarecrow was a good and honest king--a thing that rarely
happens in the mortal lands--but was not to stay long in that position.
Instead, he had gladly handed over his crown to the rightful ruler of Oz,
Princess Ozma. Even though she is but a child, Ozma has become the
most well-loved ruler in all the earth. Citizens of Oz love her like a
sister, while children of other countries who read Oz books yearn to
leave their homes to go to that wonderful country to be near to her.
[Illustration]
Of course, Oz is a very big place. But if all of us who wished to go

there were suddenly whisked away on a cyclone of our own, it would
surely become decidedly too crowded. So it is good for Oz that we are
made to stay here except on the rare occasion when Ozma may call
upon one of us, or one of us may find Oz by accident.
CHAPTER THREE
:
PRELUDE TO THE PARADE
Dorothy and Ozma have become fast friends over the many ageless
years. Only on rare occasions is the incident with the Wicked Witch
discussed any more. Once a year, on the day of the anniversary, there is
a parade and a feast, but the reason for these festivities is not generally
acknowledged. The very fact that dear little Dorothy is present is
considered reason enough to celebrate. Oz people, it should be told,
will accept any excuse to have a celebration. And the celebration might
well have continued as it always had, except that something most
peculiar had happened this year. Sir Simon the Shrew, who had come
to live in the Emerald City after Princess Ozma had magically enlarged
him to human-size, had become very good friends with Dorothy. He
was of the opinion that the annual festival should better commemorate
the event on which it was founded. He determined that the most
elaborate float in the parade should be one which depicted Dorothy
dousing the Wicked Witch with water.
Because he was now as large as a human child, Simon was able to
gather together the materials he needed in record time. Although he
was hardly W.W. Denslow or Frank Kramer, Simon's artistic abilities
were far superior to those of Dirk. Borrowing the Red Wagon, he
created a large platform on which he could build his float. He arranged
with Kabumpo, the Elegant Elephant, to draw the float through the
streets, as he thought it would be too heavy for the Sawhorse. Kabumpo
agreed to this only because he respected Dorothy and because he
enjoyed parades. He was still a tad disgruntled about being used as a
work-horse, but he allowed this feeling to be repressed in favor of the

pomp and circumstance of the parade. He was, after all, a bit of a
show-off when he could get away with it. And that is a real
understatement!
Sir Simon the Shrew was able to construct upon the Red Wagon a
magnificent papier maché image that kind of resembled Dorothy. She
wore one shoe, which Simon coated with glue and sprinkled with silver
glitter. He deftly colored her dress blue and white and gave her two
braids in her ribbon hair. He stood back