Over the Rainbow (RE: 'Tell me a story')

[Quiverwing Quack]

The tornado had finally stopped and Gosalyn opened her eyes to find she was at home and in bed. Dazed, she looked around trying to recall how she got here when the last thing she could remember was – was – no true memory came. The image of a bookstore flickered briefly in her mind but a distracting throbbing above her brow quickly made her forget. Gingerly, Gosalyn examined the area for a bump but felt nothing other than phantom pain. Oh yes, that’s right. She was running from a tornado but could not find her way into the storm shelter; she’d bolted to her room instead but was swept up by the twister which jostled the house and caused her to hit her head on the window frame. Yes, that is what happened and that made perfect sense.

“Dad!” she called. “Dad! DAD! Aunty Em!”

Aunty Em? Did she have an Aunty Em? Yes, she must have. In the room with her was a bear she wanted to call Bongo except this sounded wrong when she formed the name on her tongue. “Come on Toto,” she told her companion, addressing him naturally as if he had been with her all her life. “Let’s go find Aunty Em!”

She expected to discover the tornado’s destruction outside and was startled to emerge in a colourful village with strange, bright flowers, and the cheeriest yellow brick road she had ever seen. “Keen gear,” she breathed, absolutely bewildered. “We must be over a rainbow!”

[Femme Fatale]

A rainbow orb glowing brightly descended slowly from the sapphire sky, growing bigger as it hovered before the girl, and from it an equally stunning beauty appeared. The long legged woman towered over the child, dressed in a strapless ruby gown that glittered and hugged every voluptuous curve; fingers from a lavender gloved hand were pressed lightly to her temple.

“Where am I?” she questioned in a husky voice.

Clarity dawned in her olive eyes when they settled upon the pigtailed girl in her powder-blue gingham dress. Glancing around the seemingly empty village, yet feeling the stares of eyes all around her, Jessica Rabbit cocked her head to one side, surveying the child with a soft smile. Approaching her on dainty feet, she tipped the thin floor length staff in her other hand forward, pointing the silver star ornament topper at the girl.

“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” It was an honest question.

[Quiverwing Quack]

When a woman popped out of a massive bubble, Gosalyn’s beak opened in surprise and she turned to Bongo with a sardonic, “Now I know we’re not in St. Canard anymore.” She eyed the newcomer suspiciously, folding her arms across her chest.

“A witch?” she protested, her voice cracking. “I’m not a witch. My name is Dorothy Gale and I’m from St. Canard. Besides,” Gosalyn continued sounding as if she was stating the obvious, “Everyone knows witches are old and ugly!”

Bell-like laughter chimed all around, startling the young duck, and she edged closer to Bongo. The woman in red was laughing too and Gosalyn placed her hands on her hips. “What’s so funny?”

She cautiously peered around once more, trying to locate the source of the titters.

[Femme Fatale]

Jessica hitched a shoulder, eyes twinkling with amusement as the girl snapped out opinions. "It's just that I am a witch. I am Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. And yet I must admit, I'm a little confused." With a sweeping gesture of her hand, she drew the duckling's gaze to the village around them. "The Munchinkins called me because they said a new witch dropped a house on the Wicked Witch of the East." Jessica leaned forward in order to be closer to the child, her dress glittering like rubies in the sun. "There's the house," she said matter-of-factly, looking at the residence and pointing with her scepter. "And here you are-" she tilted the staff sideways and one of the points of the silver star tapped Dorothy in the ribs. She moved the wand back towards the house, pointing at a pair of striped stocking legs poking out from beneath the abode with bright ruby slippers on her feet. "And that's all that's left of the Wicked Witch of the East. And the Munchinks wanted to know," she continued, straightening up, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch? The Munchkins are the people of this land, you see, and you have freed them from their tormentor, the Wicked Witch of the East."

Dorothy had claimed she wasn't a witch however and Jessica had taken her at her word. Determining that the village was safe from further harm, she sauntered to the center of the town square, calling out with an encouraging, "It's all right! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

[Bongo]

Thwump! Utterly dazed and disoriented after being shaken around like a can of beans, the dizzy-eyed bear plopped right off of the surprisingly intact bed and stumbled around for a bit, not knowing which way was what. Come to think of it... he didn't really know what was what, right now. As he gradually came to his senses, he took notice of a vaguely familiar little duckling girl standing about. He thought he'd seen her before... until, when she called to him, it hit him. Of course! She was his best friend, Dorothy - and he, of course, was her faithful companion, Bongo... no, that wasn't right. Toto! That was it. The bear didn't know what he was thinking, there.

Now re-oriented with himself, Bongo nodded exuberantly and scampered after Dorothy, feeling the wind blow through his fur... funny. This felt different, to him. Did he usually wear clothes...? The bear blinked, stopping to look down at himself... nope. Nothing but brown fur on him. Oh well! Must've always been that way.

... He certainly didn't remember this colorful place they were in, though. It was pretty, but... unfamiliar. Toto craned his head all around and sniffed the air... it smelled of daisies and... candy. Toto grinned - he already liked it here. Suddenly, though, a startling sight took his attention - a huge, rainbow-colored bubble floating right towards them! Toto gawked at it for a moment, not sure what to think - but as it drew closer, he instinctively leaped in front of Dorothy, puffing out his furry chest defensively and balling his fists. Yet... the bubble then faded away to reveal... a human woman in a sparkling dress. Confused, the bear titled his head at this stranger. What the heck was she doing floating around in a bubble?

Oh, well. She seemed friendly enough, by the way she smiled at Dorothy. The bear decided to give his own greetings, lifting up a paw to tip his hat to her... wait a minute... did he have a hat? Apparently not, he decided upon feeling around the top of his head for a moment. Strange... oh well. After a shrug, Toto settled on just giving the woman a smile and a friendly wave of his paw.

... Instantly, however, he felt completely lost, as the woman talked on and on about things like... witches and munchkins. Whatever those were. Losing interest, the bear's attention drifted as his eyes wandered around... until a sudden sound made him jump. All around them was a chorus of high-pitched laughter, but whoever was making it was completely hidden. Toto edged closer to Dorothy as he looked around warily, growing rather suspicious of this strange place...

[Quiverwing Quack]

Gosalyn blinked in surprise, her mouth flopping open when she realized she was facing an authentic witch. She became a little more wary of that staff too, grasping Toto’s wrist and inching backwards as she stammered a hurried, “Well- uh- gee- I’ve uh- I’ve never met a good witch before! But don’t worry! I believe you.”

Her hammering heart leapt like a trout as Glinda sashayed past, catching in her throat as she eyed the candy-striped legs peeking out beneath her home. Did that foot just twitch? It – she – was really dead, right? For a second Gosalyn considered poking the twiggy limbs with a stick but thought otherwise when the chiming laughter rang again.

Slowly but surely, people about the same height as her began to reveal themselves, poking heads through shrubs, and out of door and window frames. The tittering died down as a couple of Munchkins cautiously approached, staring at her and her bear cub curiously. Trembling, one dared to look at the house beyond, a gasp flying from his lips, the second glanced over and elbowed the third who cried out in pleasant surprise, “The witch is most sincerely dead!”

Running as fast as his stubby legs would carry him, he rang the village bell vigorously, tolling their lucky hour.

”Ding dong, the Witch is dead!” he cried. ”Get out of bed! Ding dong, the Wicked Witch is dead!”

At once the citizens of Munchkinland came pouring out of their hiding places. Down treehouse ladders they climbed, while on the ground lines of them pushed between the stalks of their giant garden flowers; elsewhere heads popped back into bushes and entire bodies came strutting out from behind them, and many streamed forth from their quaint village shops and homes. Dressed smartly and lavishly in bright coloured clothing, they crowded around their heroes Dorothy and the bear, each one eager to touch them, shaking both hand and paw in turn. Munchkins representing the Lollypop Guild offered her a giant swirling circle of the sugary sweet confectionery, while many others promised her fame for her accidental act.

”You’ll be history!”
”History! History!”
”And we will glorify your name!”
”You’ll be a bust!”
”Be a bust!”
”In the hall of fame!”


Gosalyn smiled down at Toto, swept up in the hype of the Munchkins; she offered the bear a bite of the lollypop, thinking she and Toto could stay here forever if they asked. How could she be homesick in a wondrous land like this?