-------------------The blurp about the story---------------------
A horrible thing has started
to happen! The wonderful world
of Once Upon a Time has--
It seems that someone
Is ripping the pages out
Like a tornado rips up homes
With no cares about the memories stored there.
Then whoever the sick person in is gluing a new
Story to every few pages. The characters are getting
lost on impact! And some stories just come to an
The Wizard of Oz seemed to be the last of its kind. It was the only one not dreadfully befuddled.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
And so it begins...
It all started with dear, old Dorothy and Once Upon a Time. When she was around her Kansas home, Dorothy and her pet dog, Toto, were out walking around the farms. The farms were dull in color with sepia browns and jaded greens. It was as if the entire scenery was nothing more than a faded picture of a long ago memory.
All of a sudden, as Dorothy hummed and Toto sniffed the ground, the sky darkened like a candle going out and the wind picked up speed as it whistled through the trees. Dorothy became startled. She ran toward her home. Hoping her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry would find a way to save her from the maddening darkness.
Toto looked around, noticing as the wind stopped howling and the sky lightened for an instant that something was amiss. His barking became the only sound as the birds fluttered East and the crickets deadened their already muffled chirps.
Toto ran.
Toward Dorothy
And their farm
To his family.
As the tornado grew
Closer to his house
Toto ran towards....
A Gingerbread Man?
Toto opened his eyes wide in fright as he continued to run knowing no idea what was in store. Where had Dorothy's screams gone? Where was the land of Munchkins and Lollipops? This wasn't the story with the normal twists. And what was it that he was smelling. The scent smelled like Auntie Em's homemade cooking around Christmas time but sweeter, softer, larger.
As the Gingerbread Man ran passed him, the smell illuminated every sense of Toto's being and he did what any hungry dog would do. He chased him. He ran past the butcher, past the baker as he smacked his lips with anticipation of the aromatic sugars of the little man. He couldn't wait to sink his teeth into the smells he'd savor.
Toto was gaining on the Gingerbread Man.
Toto opened his mouth,
His bark finally close enough to bite.
The little man skittishly laughed
And screamed yet again
"YOU CAN'T CATCH ME I'M THE--"
"Big Bad Wolf!"
Toto sunk his teeth into the Wolf! "What happened to my fast, little cookie?" Toto gulped as he thought about the taste in his mouth. "What happened to the candied icing and cinnamon flavor as it wafted to my nose!" Toto looked up at the Wolf with his tail between his legs and his heart racing a mile a minute.
The Wolf looked furious and downright ferocious. Toto did what any dog would do in the face of danger. He ran the opposite direction! He was afraid of becoming a delicious snack himself! Toto became the one running as fast as he could.
He dashed past the three blind mice searching
For fallen cheese and past the crazy chicken screaming
About some falling sky under an acorn tree. Just when
He seemed to have outran the Wolf, he saw the true problem
He was facing. The page he was on became a wall of words
Being torn out of the story! "This was it!" Toto thought.
"I am going to leave the story, like Dorothy getting abandoned,
And that sweet dessert getting away from me!"
The page loomed closer...
Toto stood still, held his breath and jumped!
Into the next story...
Landing, on a chair
Next to an italian restaurant
With a gorgeous brown dog
Across the checkerboard table
Eating spaghetti with meatballs
Waiting for him to dive in.
He rolled a meatball over to
Her with his nose. She shyly smiled.
"Ah..." Toto sighed. "There is no place like home."
