Dorothy's Mystical Adventures in OzEvans, Robert J.
Science
Dorothy's Mystical Adventures in Oz
Evans, Robert J.
Fantasy literature; Oz (Imaginary place) -- Juvenile fiction
Dorothy looked at the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow, and swallowed.
"Yes," she said. "We do."
"Very well; so be it!" the leader replied. "The results will be on your
head."
The Scarecrow whispered to the Tin Woodman. "What did he say would be on
Dorothy's head?"
"The results of her decision," answered the Woodman.
"Oh," said the Scarecrow, as he thought the whole thing over.
"Well, let's be on our way then," the leader said, kneeling down for
Dorothy to mount him. Two others did the same for the Tin Woodman and
the Scarecrow.
Although the journey took almost two days, there were, fortunately, few
incidents. However, there was one particular situation that had left
everyone more than a little shaky: The first indication that trouble was
brewing was when a loud thumping sound could be heard in the distance.
It sounded at first as if a bunch of people were beating on drums. But
as the thumping got louder it became apparent that some sort of stampede
was in progress. The Girrephalumps seemed ready to make a run for it
when the deafening roar came to a sudden halt. Everyone looked at each
other in complete bewilderment. One moment they had been ready to run
for their lives; now there was only a deathly silence. The Girrephalumps
stood perfectly still for the longest time. Then their leader motioned
his head slowly towards a wooded area where he had detected some movement.
"G-G-Good gracious," stammered Dorothy, as about fifty grizzly bears
emerged. The strange thing is that they didn't exactly lumber towards
the little group as one might expect. They were bobbing up and down in
place as if they were all on trampolines. It then became apparent to
all, that these were not ordinary bears, but were kangaroos with bear
bodies, or, if you prefer, bears with kangaroo legs and tails. It was
the most incredible sight imaginable!
One bear, larger than all the others, approached (perhaps that is not
the word to use, hopped would be more like it). He hopped over to the
leader of the Girrephalumps and growled very loudly in Dorothy's face.
Unfortunately, he had very bad breath which caused Dorothy to quickly
turn away.
"Look at me when I speak to you," growled the bear. "You are in Krizzlie
Bear country now. You will show the utmost respect."
"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Krizzlie ... Mr. Bear ... ER, Mr. Krizzlie
Bear. I didn't mean to be disrespectful, sir. But I, I thought I was
about to sneeze and didn't want to sneeze in your face."
"Hmmm, is that so?" mumbled the bear, looking a bit suspicious. "Well,
what are you people doing here in the first place? We don't like
visitors. Didn't anyone tell you that?"
"We didn't even know you existed," replied the Girrephalump leader. We
have traversed these lands many times, and know every swamp and bog. And
we have never come across another living creature. In fact, we thought
this whole area was devoid of life. It is so barren and inhospitable, we
didn't think anyone would want to live here."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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