The Wizard of Sunset Beach
Chapter 2
Meg walked down the yellow brick road until a fork came on it. A scarecrow with long blond hair stodd on a stick there, but Meg paid no attention to it.
"Which way do I go, left or right?" she muses.
"Well, that way is very nice," the Scarecrow announces, pointing right.
Meg looks at the scarecrow and gasps. "Caitlin?"
The Scarecrow puts her hand to her straw heart and her eyes fill with tears. "You want to give me a name? How sweet" Yes, yes...I'll be Caitlin."
"Oh, my...we have to find a way to get you down from there!" Meg says, hurrying around behind Caitlin. She notices a screw holding Caitlin up. "Hold on...let me pull this out..." Meg finally gets it out and Caitlin falls to the ground.
Meg hurries back around to Caitlin."Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'll be fine...I just wish I had a brain." Caitlin's eyes fill with tears again.
"You don't have a brain?"
"No. And it makes me feel like such an idiot! You see, at one time, I had a scarecrow husband, and he got me pregnant. But I lost the baby, and pretended to still be pregnant anyway because I was afraid he would leave me. So I tried to pass of another baby as my own. It worked for a while - my husband didn't have a brain either - but eventually he learne the truth. Now, doesn't that sound like not having a brain to you?"
"Well, I'm going to see the Wizard of Oz, so he can send me back home, to Sunset Beach. Maybe if you came along, he could give you a brain!" Meg tells Caitlin.
"Do you think he would do that for me?" Caitlin's eyes fill with tears yet again. "Oh, boy! Let's try!"
The two of them link arms and head down the yellow brick road, singing "We're off to see the Wizard."
A short while later, Meg slows down on the road. "I'm getting tired. Let's stop for a little while, " she suggests.
Caitlin agrees, and they go sit under a tree. Meg notices a tin man sitting nearby, and points it out to Caitlin. Just then, the rusted tin man attempts to say something!
"Oiiiyyyyllll..cccaaaaannnn..."theTin Man says.
"He said oil can!" says Caitlin, jumping up and grabbing the oil can in the Tin Man's hand.
"Mmmmaaahhhh...mmmoooouuuuuttthhhh..." the Tin Man says, so Caitlin oils his mouth.
"There, that's better," the Tin Man groans. "Now oil my arms, because I don't trust you two to oil the rest of me."
As Caitlin does so, meg looks closely at the tin man and realizes it's Gregory! "Gregory!" she gasps.
"Call me whatever you want," the Tin Man groused. "It's probably better than you calling me "The Tin Man" for the rest of our lives."
After Gregory is completely oiled, Caitlin asks, "So how did you get this way?"
"It's al that ex-wife's fault of mine," he complains. "She hired the wicked witch of the west to put a spell on my ax, and I ended up chopping all my body parts off and having to get tin ones to replace it. And the tinsmith left out one important part - my heart."
"No heart!?" gasp Caitlin and Meg.
"No heart," confirms Gregory. "Obviously."
"Well, you know, the two of us are on our way to the Wizard of Oz to get a brain and Meg home. Maybe he could help you too!" Caitlin suggests.
"Well...I suppose I could try that. But I have to be in charge of this mission, you understand?" Gregory roars.
"Y..yes, sir," Meg stammers.
"Now,let'sgo." They all head off down the yellow brick road, Meg and Caitlin singing, and Gregory just stomping along beside them.
A short while later, the three of them arrive in a haunted forest. "You know what," Meg murmurs, "I wouldn't be surprised if there were lions around here."
"And tigers!" Caitlin chimes in.
"And bears," Gregory mutters, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Oh my!" Meg cries.
Just then a lion jumps out, startling Gregory and Caitlin, and they fall to the ground. Meg runs behind a tree, holding Franklin's basket tightly.
"I'll fight ya with my eyes closed" I'll fight ya with one paw behind my back! I'll even fight ya with both paws tied behind my back!" the lion roars.
As Gregory and Caitlin argue over who'll fight the lion, Franklin jumps out of his basket and starts mewing angrily at the lion. The lion notices him and rushes forward to fight him.
Meg jumps forward and slaps the lion on the nose. "It's bad enought that you try to fight straw women, but to try to hurt a poor, defensless kitten?!" she cries.
"Well, you didn't have to go and hit me!" the lion sobs. "Is my nose bleeding?"
Meg looks at it. "Of course not," she says, and then recognizes the lion. "Michael,"
she says, not even surprised to see someone else she knows."Call me what you wanna," Michael sobs. "I'm terrified of my own name,even! I have no courage. I even scare myself! Look at the bags under my eyes. I haven't slept in weeks!"
"How did you get like this?" Caitlin inquires.
"Well, I had a fiancee once. A beautiful lion, she was. But she got pregnant with another lion's baby and didn't tell me it wasn't mine. After I found out, I refused to trust her again, even thought it turned out not to be her fault that she was pregnant with the other lion's baby. But that's another story. But anyway, my fiancee got tired of me and my distrust of her and left me, and I lost every bit of my courage then."
"Well, we're going to see this Wizard guy, It he's real, maybe he can help you too," Gregory says grudgingly.
"Oh, boy! That would be great!" Michael says enthusiastically.
They all head down the yellow brick road singing "We're off to see the Wizard," except for Gregory, who just looks at the happy campers in disgust.
A little while later, the yellow brick road comes to an end. Meg looks ahead and sees the green doors to the Emerald City across a field. "We madeit!" she cheers, and they thake off toward the Emerald City.
Meanwhile...the wicked witch of the west watches through her crystal ball. "I'll get you, my pretty," she mutters. "You and your little kitten too!"