The Forest Monster of Oz | Page 2

happened to squish her was one which
belonged to a tiny little girl named Dorothy Gale. To think that a mere toddler could
bring an end to the story of the Wicked Witch of the East!
But the story did not exactly end there. It seems that, before such time as the old woman's
liveliness was shmushed by little Dorothy's home, she had left a little souvenir to
remember her by. Actually, it was quite a large souvenir!
She and her equally-vile sister Allidap, the Wicked Witch of the West, had created the
souvenir to do battle with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz himself. Had it not been for the
Wizard's powerful magic charms, he may well have been defeated. But thanks to his
magic, the Wizard of Oz was able to thwart the attacks of the Witches and banish their
souvenir to a forest that lay in the southern land of the Quadlings. But fearing the
Witches may try to attack him again, the Wizard hid himself away in the glorious
Emerald City and became a hermit.
Then, one day, Dorothy's house came down and whumped out the Wicked Witch of the
East. This, needless to say, was not a healthy situation for the Wicked Witch. Little
Dorothy was advised in the Munchkin Country to head for the central city and seek out
the reclusive old Wizard, being told that he alone could help her to get home to Kansas.
It was a long and difficult journey, but the child was equal to the challenge. Along the
way, she chanced to meet up with the Cowardly Lion. He was a formerly respected leader
of the Animal Kingdom, but this particular lion had fallen into disgrace due to his
outlandishly unkinglike cowardice. He and the little girl became fast friends, and they
journeyed together in search of Oz and, later on, Glinda the Good. It was on their journey
to locate Glinda the Good that they happened to stray into the very forest where the
Witches' souvenir was staying. As they walked through the vast forest, a large and tawny
tiger approached the Cowardly Lion and bowed subjectively before him.
"Welcome, O King of Beasts!" quoth the tiger. "You have come in good time to fight our
enemy and bring peace to all the animals of the forest once more."
"What is your trouble?" asked the Cowardly Lion in a quiet voice.
"We are all threatened," answered the tiger, "by a fierce enemy which has lately come
into this forest. It is a most tremendous Monster, like a great spider, with a body as big as
an elephant and legs as long as a tree trunk. It has eight of these long legs, and as the
Monster crawls through the forest he seizes an animal with a leg and drags it to his mouth,
where he eats it as a spider does a fly. Not one of us is safe while this fierce creature is
alive, and we had called a meeting to decide how to take care of ourselves when you
came among us."
The Cowardly Lion thought over the situation carefully.
"Are there any other lions in this forest?" he enquired.
"No; there were some, but the Monster has eaten them all. And, besides, they were none

of them nearly so large and brave as you."
The Lion got an idea that he hoped would help him overcome his disgrace.
"If I put an end to your enemy," he began, "will you bow down to me and obey me as
King of the Forest?"
"We will do that gladly," returned the big tiger. The rest of the forest animals voiced
assent.
"Where is this great spider of yours now?" asked the Cowardly Lion bravely.
"Yonder," said the tiger, indicating with a tawny paw, "among the oak trees."
The Cowardly Lion overcame his fear and ignored the trepidation within his heart. He
came upon the Forest Monster shortly thereafter. Even though it was sound asleep, it was
the most ghastly sight that the Cowardly Lion had ever laid eyes on. It was huge, black
and furry. It was filthy, too. Its putrid smell had the Lion reeling in spite of himself. But
he pressed onward. The snores of the ugly Monster revealed its razor-sharp fangs which
measured in at at least a foot long. Its powerful legs were as muscular as those of a
Hercules and were as big around as a house and as long as the trunk of a tree. The claws
on the end of its eight enormous legs were curved and as sharp as scimitars. It was quite
the sort of thing that nightmares are made of.
But the Cowardly Lion noticed that the Forest Monster had one weakness. He was
observant enough to notice that,