The Revolution of Oz

Chapter Three: Celebration of the Munchkins

Not long after Glinda had taken off in her bubble vehicle, the Munchkins had brought tables and food and other things outside for their celebration. The Munchkin mayor showed Dorothy to his house so she could stay there for the night before heading off to the Emerald City in the morning.

Several Munchkins had come up to her to thank her for what she "did" for over an hour, and she just smiled and nodded politely.
The Munchkins... were unsettling, at times.
Many of them openly talked about their time under the rule of the Wicked Witch of the East, Malideena.

Apparently, the witch didn't use them for heavy labor, but rather dictated their entire lives, or at least attempted to do so. She would arrange marriages, assign jobs and careers, and make terrible things happen to them, even if they had done exactly what she had wanted them to do.
One Munchkin had mentioned to Dorothy how he had been forced to murder his entire family... It was if she were an author, and instead of creating her own characters and settings, she placed the Munchkins and their homes under her own curse. Luckily, the curse had been broken the moment she had been crushed by Dorothy's spaceship, so the Munchkins were now able to do whatever they pleased.

"There was a group of us," one Munchkin woman told Dorothy as they sat at a long table together as the celebrations had begun. "I wasn't a part of it-- though I wish I had been-- who had somehow escaped. They formed some sort of resistance against her. Nobody knows how they did it. Not even the hag knew. They were on the outside."

"Do they know that's she's... gone... now?" Dorothy asked.

The woman shook her head as she wiped her mouth with her napkin. "Nobody seems to know where they are."

"Maybe I'll run into them when I'm headed to the Emerald City," Dorothy mused, "If they were trying to liberate all of you from the Witch, I'm sure they can't be too far."

"I wouldn't know if you would be able to or not. But the best of luck to you, Miss Dorothy Gale," the Munchkin lady told her as she stood up from her seat. "Thank you, once again."

"You're welcome," Dorothy said, probably for the billionth time since had first encountered the Munchkins. It had gotten tiring, but she felt guilty for getting annoyed by the Munchkin's gratefulness to her. After all, they did experience some really demented things under the Wicked Witch's rule.

At dusk, the Munchkins had built huge bonfires. Some began to play music, and several groups had begun dancing. Dorothy stayed at the sidelines, only watching and observing.

She was also thinking.

Tomorrow, right at sunset, she'd head off onto the yellow brick road. The Munchkins were already gathering supplies for her to take on her journey, which she was grateful for.

Toto hopped up onto her lap and curled up. His exterior began to slightly warm up, emulating the temperature of a living, breathing dog.

A real dog would have been nice, but a robotic dog was far more useful.

Dorothy stretched a bit and gently stroked Toto as she watched the Munchkins and the dancing flames of the bonfires.

What if the Wizard was unable to help her get home or even get her contact with her aunt and uncle? After all, he hadn't been able to do anything about the Witch.

But... from all she had heard from Glinda and the Munchkins, he was wonderful at making things happen, no matter what it was. Maybe he was a good leader. After all, she hadn't even been in Oz for even twenty-four hours, so what would she know about the Wizard, and what was she to criticize him when she barely knew anything about him?

While Dorothy had her doubts, going to the Emerald City to try to get his help would be much better than doing nothing.

                                   ***
The next morning, Dorothy awoke in the guest room in the house of the Munchkin mayor.

Toto had nudged her left knee until she awoke.

She sighed loudly as she blinked her eyes open.

It had taken hours to sleep, especially since the Munchkins had been out celebrating well into the wee hours of the night. They were loud partiers, with their loud music, singing, and drunken laughter and cheers. Well, maybe they weren't drunk, per se. She did notice an awful lot of candies and sweets, and she couldn't recall seeing any bottles.

Dorothy shoved the blankets off of her and rolled off of the bed. She landed on her feet and stretched some, popping the bubbles in her spinal cord. Toto wagged his tail a bit and jumped off of the bed, his metal feet clattering against the hardwood floor.

"Morning, Toto," Dorothy murmured as she rubbed her eyes a bit.

She smoothed her hair out a bit and grabbed the silver boots. They glinted off several different colors, like red and green, but they were also still silver. She turned them in her hands a bit as she examined them. What could be so special about a pair of shoes?

Special or not, she pulled them on. They fit her perfectly and were surprisingly comfortable. The Witch must have had them for long time, since they were broken in, but somehow, there was not a single scuff or a speck of dirt on them. Maybe it was more of that "magic" stuff, like how Glinda had transported the boots onto her feet with a tap of her wand.

The mayor and his wife had told Dorothy before they had all went to bed that they would still be sleeping when she set out for Oz. Sure enough, the house was completely silent now as Dorothy grabbed her new backpack and slipped her arms into its straps.

Toto wagged his tail a bit as he waited patiently for Dorothy to be completely ready. She glanced over at him with a smile of amusement.

She pulled her hair into a ponytail, and they were off.

Though the top of the sky seemed to be completely dark, there was a hint of gold, swirls of pink, and globs of purples and blues all in the horizon. Birds sang in rejoice at the beginning of a new day.

This new world was ready for her, and Dorothy was ready for it