The Red Brick Road

Chapter 2 Tiny Town

The town was filled with small houses upon small houses. They looked to be the size of a large children's play house. But made of wood, stone and brick, there were many broken windows and shingles falling off the roofs. I quietly walked around. There were tiny stores that I had to duck to walk into. Shelves were bare of supplies. I found a bottle labeled Lonelyt. I opened the bottle and inside were blue and red pills, just like what I take for a headache. I tossed the bottle into my bag. I found a few other supplies as I went from store to store. Some bandages and a couple of lolipops.

There was a large house that sat on the edge of the town and a plaque that read.

'This was the House of the Great Dorothy of Kansas. She fell from the sky and saved us from the wicked witch of the east. A pair of ruby slippers she was gifted and a journey she took to meet the wonderful wizard of oz. Instead of returning home, she became our queen, and we will serve her till the end of our days. May 17th 1900'

Well, I guess this must be like Wizard of OZ land or something, although why it's here is beyond me. On the ground I see an intertwining swirl of yellow and red bricks. The yellow looks torn up like it was purposely destroyed by something. The red brick road was untouched, it just looked dirty from years of being unused.

I took my phone out and decided maybe I should pull up a map or at least GPS coordinates, so maybe I could figure out which way to go. I powered it on and I had a 40% charge. However, there is no service. I figured if the yellow brick road was what got destroyed, then that might be my best way of finding civilization. I couldn't be too far from the road. I don't remember going through the guard rail and going too far away. So the road has to be near.

I started making my way down the rough yellow brick road when, all of a sudden, a swarm of well, I'm not quite sure what they were. They look like black terriers, but they have long teeth, nails so long that they can rip chunks of flash off of a body with so much as closing a hand, and their wings look like large bat wings.

"Quick Hide! The Battotos are coming."

"The what?"

"Hide or they'll get you."

I quickly ran, hiding in Dorothy's house since that was the closest. I climbed into a closet and shut the door. I piled up some old clothes that were filled with dust over me to hide me even more. The Battotos flew over. The noises they made were almost like screeching nails on a chalk board. I covered my ears and waited for the noises to stop. I heard the front door open and a high-pitched voice, not the one who told me to hide.

"Come out, come out wherever you are. I won't hurt you. I just want to talk to you."

Nope, I'm not coming out. No way in hell am I coming out.

I heard her walking from room to room. I heard her walk by where I was hiding. I heard the doors opening and closing. I stayed still. There was a reason I was told to hide and that was my plan, to stay hidden. The door to my hiding spot opened, and I could see her, but she just huffed. I was very well hidden in the pile of clothes. She was wearing a blue and white gingham dress. Her now-white hair still held the red bowed pigtails with a slight curl at the ends. She looked just like Dorothy from The Wizard of OZ movie. She was even carrying a wicker picnic basket with a red and white gingham cloth hanging out. I held my breath as she flipped through the clothes that were hanging. She still didnt see me. And that's when I saw her eyes. No longer did they hold any color. They were white. Like she had been blinded. I just needed to hold on for a little bit more until she left the area.

She slammed the door shut, and I heard her steps leave the house and slam the door behind her. I heard her steps stomp down the path away from the house.

I continued to stay hidden. I wasn't a fool. Just because it sounded like she left the house doesn't mean she actually did.

For hours, I stayed in that closet. I saw under the door that the light faded into darkness and then fell completely black. I heard the voice of the person who told me to hide.

"Hey, you can come out now. The Battotos are gone and so is Dorothy."

I shook the clothes off and opened the closet door. I crawled out and used the wall to stand. My legs were shaking from being in that position for so long. There stood a man who looked to be in his thirties. He was around 6 feet tall and wearing tattered clothes. His brown hair disheveled, and his blue eyes looked like clear pools of water.

"Hey, Thanks for letting me know. I'm Izzy."

"I'm Cornelius. No problem. You're the first person I've seen in a long time. I've been trapped here since Dorothy refused to go home."

"What do you mean trapped here? And you mean that story was real?"

"Yes, the story of Dorothy and how she came here by a tornado is very real. She crushed the wicked witch of the east, poured water on the wicked witch of the west, melting her. She even met the great and powerful wizard. She was given a choice of going home. She at first was going to go home. That's the version that L. Frank Baum, who was our wizard, wrote about how she went home and was reunited with her family. But that's not the true ending. She decided to keep on the ruby slippers and she became the next ruler. She was an amazing ruler at first. She met with all the small counties in OZ. She cared for us and made us feel heard and seen. This was the town of Munchkin Land. She would visit us on an almost monthly basis. Over the years, and the many magical treatments, she started to lose her mind. She was a human in a magical world. She took the dna of her beloved dog, a bat and a Komodo Dragon. It took several years for her to build her army of Battotos. She called them her "Guards." One day she appeared here in Munchkin Land. Hair whiter than snow, eyes white and unseeing. Still in her blue and white gingham dress, hair still in pigtails tied with the red ribbon. She commanded her Battotos to capture everyone from Munchkin Land. I managed to hide in the same closet you were just hiding in. I covered myself in Auntie Em's clothes and hid. The smell hid me from her sight and the Battotos from finding my scent."

"Why didn't you leave here? Why not find somewhere to go? "How long have you been here?"

"I've tried. But it's like there's a force around the road that won't let me go.and I'm not sure. What year is it?"

"It's 2025."

"I've been here for 125 years. I was thirty when Dorothy first arrived. I haven't aged a day since."

"If you're from here in Munchkin Land. Why are you so tall?"

"My parents were human. I arrived here in a similar way to Dorothy did. But instead of a twister, it was a hurricane. I was only an infant. I was found in the center where the red and yellow bricks meet. I was raised by wonderful parents. They were land bakers. I learned how to bake and cook all sorts of treats."

"Have you tried to leave by the red bricks?"

"No, I was told to never take the red bricks. My family said they would take you to the darkest, most horrifying places in OZ."

"If we stay here we risk getting caught. The yellow brick road is torn up and destroyed. It seems like we need to try. Maybe it's not that bad to take the red brick road. Maybe we can find our way back home."

"It was never my home. But I'd love to help you find your way home."

"Come with me. If we find a way back, come with me."

He didn't say anything after that. I picked up my duffle back and re-adjusted it to my back. He grabbed my hand and started walking to the door.

"We need to stay quiet once we leave this house. We'll go to mine and grab some supplies. I'm not sure what we'll encounter along the way or how long the road is. But I do know we won't last long without food and water."

"I agree."

"Hold my hand and don't let go no matter what."

I squeezed his hand. It was warm in mine. He held on like it was for dear life.

Stepping outside of Dorothy's house. The red brick road glowed. The entire town reflected in the glow, looking like something that would be in a haunted house. The broken windows and falling down shingles, while not scary in the daytime, looked like they would almost eat anything that crosses their path at night.

We walked slowly and quietly towards the bakery. I hadn't noticed it before. It was all boarded up and almost hidden from view. He walked to the side door that had debris hiding the door from immediate view. We walked in, and he lit a candle that was by the door. Once, the outside door was shut.

Rows and rows of shelves were filled with supplies. There were cans and jars of fresh vegetables and fruit. There were dried meats and fish. Containers of flour and sugar that looked like he made them fresh. Even jars of honey that sat on a shelf.

"Wow, you've been busy."

"Well, I've had a long time to build up my supply. Stay here, I'm going to get my bag packed."

I sat on a chair that was in the back of the storage room. There was a cookbook that looked to have been written in the most beautiful handwriting I have ever seen. Each recipe had a date, some going back almost three hundred years. It looks to have been updated at least by the same person. There was Aunt Ellie's Potato Pie 1692, Tiny Tim's Tip Toe Tulip soup 1724. There were newer recipes that were in different handwriting, all saying Cornelius's and whatever it was. There were no dates after 1900. I can't believe he's around 155 years old. That's just crazy to think about.

Now that I'm really sitting here thinking about it... This has to be a dream. I was in Maine. I had an accident. I must still be passed out in my car. I mean, come on, Dorothy was just a story. It wasn't real. And here I am listening to everything Cornelius has said to me without question.

I stood up and reached for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?"