The Red Brick Road by Cassidy Shay (readnow .txt) 📕

Everyone knows the story of the yellow brick road. Everyone knows what happened to Dorothy and that little dog of hers. But no one ever told the story of what happened after Dorothy left Munchkin Land. That’s about to change.

First, let me tell you that I’m not a big fan of Dorothy. Sure, the Wicked Witch of the East was kind of cruel, and unfair, and there’s no denying that she was ugly. But she was my mom.

I had to dig under that darn house and retrieve my mother’s body. The munchkins didn’t help me. They sat and watched. I stuffed her shriveled body into my brown bag and headed off. I had to get to Amethyst City, where the Wizard of Zo would give my mom a proper funeral.

So I set off down the red brick road. It’s the road that twists along with the yellow brick road, but no one ever notices it. It heads in the opposite direction, towards Amethyst City. As I was leaving, alone and grieving the loss of my mother, the munchkins cheered.

Not long after leaving those ghastly little creatures, I came upon a scarecrow. He wasn’t alive, he didn’t have a brain, or want one or any of that nonsense. Instead, he provided me with some shade while I rested. While I was sitting there, a farmer’s daughter came through the field.

“Hey,” she said. I noticed a bag in her hands. “I’ve just got some pens that ran out of ink and I have to throw them away.”

“No! Don’t do that!” I yelled. “The Wizard of Zo can give you more ink to put in them. I’m headed that way myself. You can join me if you want.” I smiled at her, and she thought about it for a moment.

“That sounds great. I wouldn’t have to buy new pens then. You see, I am dirt poor. And I don’t care, but it wouldn’t hurt to save some money.” She smiled at me and we linked arms. “I’m Juniper.”

“Nice to meet you, Juniper. I’m Cassidy.” And we were off.

Not long after I gained my first passenger, we found ourselves in an orange orchard. And the trees didn’t attack us with their fruit. Instead, they handed us their fruit without even a word of protest. At first, they seemed afraid. When I noticed them eyeing my bag, I let out a little laugh. “Oh, that’s nothing to worry about. She’s dead. She can’t hurt you.”

They just shied away even more, so Juniper and I headed on down the road. In minutes, we came upon a little log cabin. On the opposite side of the road was another house. This one was made of tin.

Outside the house was a woman tending to her garden. She was working hard to make sure that the weeds didn’t ruin the beauty of the garden, and the flowers all had smiling faces. She whispered to each one, commenting on what she loved about them.

When she stood up, she noticed up. “Hello. Can I help you with something?” She bent down to pick up a bag. “I’m just going to throw these weeds away.”

I exchanged a look with Juniper, and she nodded. “Why toss them away when you can turn them into beautiful flowers?”

The woman looked at us like we were crazy. “That’s not possible. For me, gardening is like having a fire in my belly. Sometimes the flame dies but mostly it rages and I am startingly bright.” She looked at her garden and laughed. “So is my garden. But it only makes sense that I would know everything there is to know about something that I’m so passionate about. And I know that you can’t turn weeds into flowers.”

I stepped forward and grabbed the bag. “You may not be able to, but the Wizard of Zo can.” A smile began to play with her face. “I’m Cassidy, and this is Juniper. What do you say?”

Now, her smile covers her face. “I’m Wendy. What are we waiting for?”

Now a party of three, we continued down the red brick road. We entered under the hot, humid roof of the jungle, and joined hands.

“I’m sure that we’ll be fine,” I said. “I mean, I’m the daughter of a witch. I’ve seen all the terrifying things.” Despite my confident words, I was shaking with fear.

Right after I finished my sentence, we heard the sound of a lion’s roar. Then, a sweet voice said, “Good! You’ve improved so much! Now, even if the cowardly lion gets his courage, you’ll still have the better roar.”

We followed the road, and after a few more yards we were able to see the woman and the lion. The lion left when he saw us, jumping through the trees and roaring like there’s no tomorrow. The woman turned to us. “Hello there. I’m Judy. How can I help you?”

“We don’t need help,” I said. “We’re just passing through, on our way to see the Wizard of Zo. He’s going to give my mother a proper burial, and he’ll put more ink into Juniper’s pens, and he’ll turn Wendy’s weeds into flowers.”

Judy looked at the bag in her hands. “That sounds wonderful. Do you think he could get me the right kind of berries? You see, what I do is I help people improve their situations, just like I helped that lion with his roar. But I can only help people when I’ve had my berries. And these are the wrong kind of berries.”

Wendy and Juniper looked at me and nodded. “I think he could get you your berries. Welcome to the group.” Judy linked arms with us.

“Oh, look at that sunset. It’s pretty, don’t you think? Like a jellyfish with carpet burn.” We studied the sunset for a moment, and then set up camp. In the morning, we got an early start and by midday we could see Amethyst City.

When we got to the gate, I used my knuckles to knock on the door, since I couldn’t see the knocker. A small window opened and a man’s head appeared. “Why’d ya do that?” he demanded.

“Well, we need to get into the city to see the Wizard of Zo,” said Wendy.

“I don’t care why ya need to come in. I want to know why ya knocked when we have a fancy new door bell.” His tone suggested that he was very impressed with the technology. “Why do ya think we removed the knocker?”

He shut the window, and we looked around for a bell. There wasn’t one. “Maybe it’s this,” said Juniper, pointing to a button the size of a large fist. She pressed it, and we heard a loud buzzing sound. The man in the window appeared again.

There ya go!” he beamed at us as if he was watching his kids grow up and become successful. “What can I do for ya?”

“We’ve come to see the Wizard of Zo,” said Judy. “We each have something that we need him to do for us.”

The small man just shook his head slowly. “I’m afraid that I can’t let you see him. You see, he’s suffering the loss of an old friend.” His bright smile was gone, replaced by a sorrowful gaze. “The Wicked Witch of the East died yesterday. They’ve been friends since they were little. I heard someone dropped a house on her.”

“That’s my mother!” I say. “I have her body in this bag. Sadly, I don’t have the ruby slippers. But I was going to ask the Wizard if he could give my mother a proper funeral.”

“Of course!” he said. He opened the gates, and we were in a small room. “Put these goggles on,” said the man. “They protect your eyes from some of the bright lights in the city.” I put them on, and couldn’t help but notice that they were tinted a light purple color.

The man opened the door again, but this time it opened up into the city. “Welcome to Amethyst City,” he said. He called a carriage that took us directly to the Wizard of Zo. There was a guard at the door, and he opened his mouth to protest. Before he had a chance to actually say anything, the doorman explained, “I know that he doesn’t want to see anyone. But this is the Wicked Witch of the East’s daughter.”

The guard immediately opened the door and went to see if he would allow us to enter. He came running back. “He said he wants you to go in right away.”

The four of us practically sprinted down the short hallway to his room. “Hello?” said Judy. “Wizard of Zo?” Wendy pushed open the door, and we went inside. The Wizard was sitting in a chair next to the Wicked Witch of the West, my aunt.

“Cassidy! Oh, this is terrible!” She dragged the bag from my hands and opened it, and I saw a tear roll down her face. “Come here, my pretty!” She wrapped me in a hug. “I was just talking to the Wizard. He was your mother’s best friend. But he can’t give her a funeral until he has the ruby slippers.”

“Which I don’t have,” I said, and threw my hands in the air. Juniper wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “Wait. Why do we need them?”

The Wizard stood up and looked at me. “The slippers have the power to take someone home. This can be a physical home, or the eternal resting place. You mother had the slippers for so long, and depended on them so much, that she can’t be properly buried without them.”

We talked about it, and formed a plan to get back the slippers. He sent all of us home with the Wicked Witch of the West. He’d heard that the Wizard of Oz had sent Dorothy there, so that would be the best place to go.

“But I can get your friends’ things before you go.” He refilled the ink in Juniper’s pens, turned Wendy’s weeds into beautiful flowers, and gave Judy the right kind of berries. Then, we all headed to the castle.

My aunt checked her crystal ball, and sent the flying monkeys out after Dorothy and her friends. “Now, we just wait,” she said, revenge in her eyes.

She led us to a room where we could sleep until she retrieved the ruby slippers. Everyone else fell asleep almost immediately, but I couldn’t clear my mind.

I kept thinking about my mom, and how, even though she was a witch, she’d been a pretty decent mother. After a while, I finally cried myself to sleep.

But then someone was shaking me. “Cassidy! Cassidy, wake up!” It was Juniper. Her face was sad, her voice tired and scared. “Dorthy… She killed your aunt. And she got away with the slippers.”