OZ

6 үεαяs ℓαтεя: тнε тяσυвℓε ωιтн ∂σяσтнү

 ∂σяσтнү headed home from the market, humming a haunting melody softly to herself.

Toto trotted beside her, his short legs trying to keep up with her. Both girl and dog walked slowly, enjoying the cool spring breeze. They stopped and sat at the side of the road, almost home, Dorothy letting Toto rest in his old age. She looked up at the clouds, absentmindedly petting Toto. In this calm, quiet moment, her thoughts started drifting back to Oz. Beautiful, magical Oz.

No.

Dorothy suddenly shook her head, and turned her gaze to her dirt dusted shoes. Trying to think about anything besides the magical land. She had to stop thinking of Oz.

She needed to stop thinking about Oz.

She had just finished her final year of school earlier that spring, and now she had to focus on the farm. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry were getting too old for her to keep neglecting her work on the farm.  And they needed her now more than ever. 

Hickory, Zeke, and Hunk were forced to leave the farm when Uncle Henry could no longer afford to pay them. Now it was just Dorothy, Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, struggling on the farm. And Mrs. Gultch was just waiting for the farm to go under, wanting to have the satisfaction of seeing them penniless.

But Oz!  

It was just so beautiful! How could she ever stop thinking about it? Everyone thought she was crazy. Always going on about how a knock on the head during the tornado had made her hallucinate or something. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry had even taken her to a "special" doctor.

Dorothy had pleaded with them, telling them that she didn't dream it, that it truely was a real place. But that only seemed to strengthen their decision.

The hospital they took her to was dark, and tortured screams echoed off of every wall. Dorothy hated it. She wanted to go back home. She didn't need to be helped. The doctor made her lie down on a very lumpy bed, and he instructed a nurse to secure her wrists and ankles tightly to the bed. Dorothy's heart was racing a million miles a minute. She didn't like this place, she wanted to go back to the farm with Toto.

After the doctor checked her bindings, he turned and uncovered a large machine, and picked up a stethoscope looking device that was attched to the ominous machine. In this type of situation, any twelve year old would be rather scared, but poor Dorothy was absolutely terrified. She had heard of this treatment before from one of the farm hands. She had heard them say it did more harm than good. Now what was the name of it...

The doctor placed the two padded ends of the device over her temples and nodded to the nurse. The nurse then flipped a switch on the machine, causing it to spark and flash.

Electroshock therapy. That's what it was called.

Dorothy squeezed her eyes shut, but was not able to contain her scream as her head was encased in a blazing white heat.

For two hours they shocked her.

After the procedure, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em were apalled at her state. She was moaning in pain, and her temples were covered in severe burns. They never took her back to that dark hospital, but Dorothy would forever bear the scars from that horrible day.

She wished she could go back. Then she could at least be in a place where everyone knew she was sane. She could forget the farm and be happy, living in the Emerald City. Dorothy stood up, picking up Toto and the basket of groceries, and began to head the rest of the way home.

As she walked, the sun disappeared behind pitch black clouds, and the gentle spring breeze soon grew to a howling wind. A tornado was coming their way.

Dorothy ran, abandoning the basket of groceries and making it to the edge of the farm right as a twister formed, its funnel reaching to the ground and knocking a tree onto the storm cellar after Auntie Em and Uncle Henry stepped inside. She ran quicker, getting into the house and running into her room as the storm grew stronger, the wind ripping the house apart. Dorothy curled up under her bed, clutching Toto close and praying for survival.

The house twitched and groaned for what seemed like forever, but it never fell apart. The wind died down suddenly and the house jerked, slamming to the ground. Dorothy crawled out from under her bed and Toto ran to the front door barking. She walked through the house slowly, dizzy and afraid, picking up Toto again once she reached the door. He kept barking and she shushed him, gathering her courage and opening the door to a burst of color.  

She grinned.

They were back.