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It is hard to look anywhere on social media these days and not see an advertisement or clip for the movie Wicked. For those who don’t know, Wicked started as a book by Gregory Macguire. It tells the story of Elphaba, more commonly known as the Wicked Witch of the West. We follow Elphaba from birth to her final days. It is not an easy journey. Elphaba’s legendary green skin makes her life miserable. She faces social ostracism, bigotry, and rejection, bullied throughout her life.
So, was Elphaba truly evil? 0r was she a product of her upbringing? We walk beside Elphaba through her childhood and school years, along that famed yellow brick road to her castle in the mountains. She makes mistakes as we all do, but she tries. Elphaba is not a cardboard villain. She is instead a multi-layered character you cheer with at times, cringe at others, and despair with at the end.
(I fully disclosed that I have not seen the movie or the musical. I just have this thing about prequels. I love my green-skinned villain as she appears in the book and original 1939 production. I am sure all the actresses who have portrayed the Witch throughout various media forms are wonderful, but NOBODY will ever top Margaret Hamilton!)
One thing to remember – Baum wrote his stories for children. Maguire most definitely did not! These are tales meant for adults, including adult themes and grown-up problems. And… spice… (That’s the polite way to indicate ‘physical affection’ in books nowadays.) These books range from ‘not-hot-at-all-bell-pepper’ to a ‘siracha-ghost-pepper’ mix. So be warned. It’s getting hot in 0z!
EXTRA! In our writing club, we sometimes do prompts for the next meeting. A few years ago, I received the task of a one-page Wizard of Oz remix. Glinda has never been my favorite character. Even as a child, I was so mad at her for not telling Dorothy to click her heels to go back home. Her whole spiel about how she had to figure it out herself just felt so wrong! Anyway, I wanted to make her the bad guy. This is my flash fiction take on what could be happening in our fabled lands of Oz. Enjoy!
The Wizard of Oz: Shortened Version
“I just want to get home to Kansas!” Dorothy Gale clutched her dog Toto tight to her chest. She and Glinda the Good Witch stood atop the raised dais in the middle of Munchkin Square.
“Oh, you will have to ask the Great Wizard of Oz for help. All you have to do is follow the Yellow Brick Road!” Glinda waved her crystal wand towards the spiraling beginning of the trail.
“But I don’t want to see the Wizard. I just want to go home!”
“Nonsense, my dear. You have killed the Wicked Witch of the East and now the Wicked Witch of the West is after you. You must go see the Wizard! Just follow the Yellow Brick Road!” Glenda gently pushed the reluctant girl toward the platform’s edge.
“I didn’t mean to kill her. Honest I didn’t!”
“Too late for that now. You will have to deal with her sister. And the Wicked Witch of the West is not a threat to ignore. You must go!” Glenda tugged Dorothy’s arm, pulling her across the square.
“Follow the Yellow Brick Road! Follow the Yellow Brick Road! Follow the Yellow Brick Road!” A high-pitched chorus of voices carried across the wind and Munchkins crowded the streets.
Glinda escorted the young woman and her dog to the first yellow paver. “The journey will be dangerous because you’ve made the Wicked Witch angry. But just keep going and you will find your heart’s desire! Just follow the Yellow Brick Road!”
“Why doesn’t she just click her heels together three times?” A young Munchkin child pulls on his mother’s skirt.
Dorothy stepped over to the child. “What will clicking my heels together do?”
Excited to be singled out by his witch-killing hero, the young boy eagerly said, “If you click your heels together three times and say There’s No Place Like Home, you will go straight back to your Kan-sas Land!”
“That sounds much easier than taking a long dangerous trek with a wicked witch after me. I’ll do that instead!”
Glinda lunged forward and tried to grab the girl. “No! You have to kill the Wicked Witch!” She stumbled forward as Dorothy disappeared. Toto too.
“No! That’s the third girl this month! New rule – children are NOT allowed when we bring possible assassins here!” The Munchkins shrunk back in fear as Glinda stalked away.
“Now I have to conjure another tornado and get another silly girl here. One of these days I am going to have that witch killed! Then that meddling Wizard. One day I shall rule Oz!”
Thanks for reading! I will see you over the rainbow!
