The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (OC Inserted)

Chapter 1: Meeting the Munchkins

*This means a line is dramatic, emphasized, or in the background*

The windy flatlands of Kansas. Here, on a small farm, with their beloved Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, lived a brother and sister named James and Dorothy. As usual, the two of them were daydreaming of fantastic adventures in faraway lands. Dorothy, the younger one, was a small girl with long, wavy brown hair, dressed in a simple blue, knee-length dress with a white pinafore. James, the older one, was taller than her, with tousled brown hair and a yellow plaid shirt under a pair of overalls.

They were very close—each other's best friend—since they lived out on the plains by themselves. Although the Kansas plains weren't the most exciting place on Earth, they loved the farm they called home. On this particular day, James and Dorothy were leaning against the farmhouse as they daydreamed, when Aunt Em peeked out from the kitchen window. "James!" she called. "Dorothy, honey!"

Her call interrupted their daydream, and they rounded the corner to respond. "Here we are, Aunt Em," James replied. "Do you need us?"

"I got some chores to do. Can you see if Uncle Henry needs anything?"

"Okay," Dorothy agreed, and the two dashed off to the cornfield, where Uncle Henry was plowing with the horse. Dorothy paused at the edge while James kept running and shouted, "UNCLE HENRY!"

"Dorothy, if I thought he could hear me, I'd have called him myself," Aunt Em remarked.

"Sorry, Aunt Em. Wasn't thinking, was I?"

James turned back to his sister and playfully ruffled her hair. "Hey!" "Come on, you nut." And they raced each other to Uncle Henry while Aunt Em looked on. "Always letting their minds wander. They're living in some other world."

The siblings' boots kicked up dirt as they ran through the cornfield to reach their uncle. "Hello, kiddos," he said with a smile. "Come to check on me, have ya?"

"Need anything?" Dorothy inquired as James patted Lucy, the horse.

"Oh, don't think so, dear," Henry answered, unhitching the plow. "Just about quitting for the day. I want Lucy safe in the barn. Supposed to be some bad weather coming our way." With that, James boosted Dorothy onto Lucy's saddle and grabbed the reins to guide her to the barn. Uncle Henry strolled alongside them, glad to spend downtime with his niece and nephew. "So, did you two fight any more make-believe dragons today?"

"Sure, lots of them," James said proudly.

"'Course, we won every time," Dorothy added. Just then, Uncle Henry halted Lucy and gazed out into the distance. "Huh? What are we stopping for?"

"Look out there, kids."

"At what?" James asked, but he quickly realized what was happening when they spotted the dark clouds looming over the fields a few miles away.

"See that? That's our bad weather. Could be a twister brewing." The wind started to pick up as they led Lucy back to the barn. In the house, Aunt Em was finishing making lunch when her family came in the front door. "Sky looks bad, Em, real bad," Uncle Henry said, dusting off his hat. "And it's the season."

"We'd better make sure the kids know what to do, just in case," Aunt Em responded.

"You're right." Uncle Henry crouched down and opened a trapdoor hidden in the floor. "Dorothy, James, come here, kiddos! Now, if ever a twister hits, I want you to scoot down here into the storm cellar as fast as your legs will carry you, you hear me? And don't come out. 'Cause underground's the only safe place to be."

The kids peered into the cellar. The ladder that led down was bolted to the wall, and it was so dark that they couldn't even see the bottom. "What exactly is a twister, Uncle Henry?" Dorothy inquired.