Dorothys Mystical Adventures in Oz | Page 3

people in fear." She wondered how they had behaved when they were children.
She began to think of her friends again. She could not help but wonder how they were and what they were doing right now.
She thought of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. How /could/ they disbelieve her story? It made her sad to think that no one believed her. It couldn't have all been a dream -- of that she was sure. Everything was so real and vivid in Oz. All the events that occurred there couldn't have been her imagination. Why, even the colors of the flowers were ten times more intense than in Kansas. The flowers in her garden -- pretty as they were -- couldn't compare. They seemed faded in comparison. In fact, Kansas seemed faded in comparison.
A strange thought suddenly occurred to her: What if Oz was the real world, and Kansas but a shadowy dream world? Oz her real home and Kansas just a place she was somehow visiting in her dreams...? No, that couldn't be. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry and the others were all a very real part of her life. But then, the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Lion were all a part of her life, too. And so were the Munchkins, the Good Witch of the North, and Glinda -- even the Wicked Witch of the West. They were all as real as anyone
in Kansas.
A feeling of utter confusion came over her. "Oh no, what if I can't distinguish between the real and the unreal?"
*

Chapter Three
:
Dorothy Returns to Oz
*
Dorothy's head began to throb. She wondered if the injury that she suffered during the tornado had caused some permanent damage. A feeling of extreme dizziness came over her. She walked over to her bed and lay down again.
As she lay back, the room began to spin. Had she been standing she was sure she would have fallen. She imagined she could hear a voice inside her head telling her she must return to Oz. Suddenly it appeared that the floor gave way as she felt herself falling ... falling ... twisting and turning over and over as she fell. She began spinning around very fast. Her body felt like it was being torn apart. "Oh, no!" she cried. "What is happening to me? Please! Someone! Help me!"
The thought raced through her mind that she was being sucked into a huge vortex by a great evil force. A tremendous fear filled her heart. She visualized the leering faces of a hundred wicked witches swirling around her. The faces were cackling with loud screams of hideous laughter. A hundred pairs of ugly hands with long bony fingers clutched at her as she fell.
"Now we've got you!" screamed the witches in unison. "You'll never get. away from us this time, little Goody-Two-Shoes!"
"Help me, someone. Please help!" Dorothy cried.
As she called out for help, the witches' images began to fade; the screaming to diminish. In their place a shining metallic substance appeared. It spun around her so fast it seemed like a solid sheet of metal. Whatever it was, it appeared to slow her fall.
Gradually, the spinning object slowed. As it did, her image was reflected each time it passed in front of her. Suddenly she saw two dangling arms and legs attached to the spinning form, and a shiny face grinning at her.
"Nick Chopper!" she cried, recognizing the Tin Woodman and lunging toward him with her arms outstretched.
CLUNK! There was a dull thud as the soft material of her body made contact with the woodman's metal body. They both fell the last few feet to the ground, laughing uproariously.
"You know," Dorothy said, when their laughter subsided, "before I realized who you were, I kept seeing my face reflected as you spun by me. It is reflected now on your chest, right where your heart is."
"Oh, Dorothy!" said the Tin Woodman, starting to cry. "I'm so happy to see you."
"Now don't you cry," said Dorothy, wiping his eyes with her handkerchief, "you'll rust up again."
"It's wonderful to have a heart," the Tin Woodman said, "and to have all the feelings that a human has; but a heart can grow very heavy when someone you love has to go away. Of course, it enables you to be filled with joy when they return. That is why I am crying, because I am so happy."
"I know how you feel," replied Dorothy, her own eyes beginning to mist. She held him tightly for a long time.
"Well," said the Tin Woodman at length, "how would you like a nice cup of tea?"
"That would be lovely," answered the girl.
"Then let us adjourn to my castle," he replied.
As they walked, each brought the other up to date on the latest developments in their lives.
"After you returned to Kansas, Dorothy, everyone settled down