Finding Alex | TLOS

Ch.21

Red, Morina and the Scarecrow continued on the yellow brick road for more than two hours. The sun was starting to droop in the sky, meaning it was almost time to sleep. The group made their way to a flowery field of grass to lay down.

When they woke up the next morning, they had realized there had been a storm the night before. 

Red's poofy dress was soaked and stuck to her legs, Morina's black cloak was damp and her curly red hair was frizzy under her horns, and the Scarecrow's hay was soggy. 

"Oh no," Cried the Scarecrow. "What do we do now?"

Red thought about it for a minute. "Let's keep walking. If the weather clears up and sun shines through then our clothes will get dry. We can't waste any more time looking for the flying monkeys." she said thoughtfully. 

Morina and the Scarecrow nodded. "That seems like a good idea," They said in unison.

After walking around for a little while, the yellow brick road turned on a curve and they entered a flowery field. 

"Help!"

Red jumped. "What was that?" she asked her friends. She looked around for the person the voice belonged to but only saw some metal rubble by the side of a house where a tree must have fallen on it.

Morina walked towards the pieces of metal and started taking off little pieces off of something big.

 "Look!" Morina cried, and the Scarecrow and Red peered around and saw a...man made of tin. "What are you?" Morina asked the tin man.

The Tin Man struggled to make his lips move. He shook his head sadly and motioned to an oil bucket on the side of the abandoned house.

The Scarecrow's eyes widened. "I think he needs us to water him with oil! He must be rusty after the rain last night,"

The Tin Man nodded in agreement, and once again, made eye contact with the oil bucket.

 Red picked up the oil bucket and started hosing the Tin Man over. "I remember this," Red said happily. "My name is Red," she told the Tin Man. "I've met you before, do you remember me?" 

The Tin Man, finally able to speak, gaped at Red. "You were that pretty lady with the whole other group, right?" he asked. 

Red blushed, feeling humble for once. She nodded. "I was!" she said, glad that he remembered her.. "This time, remember not to take us through the field that makes us fall asleep! It really took time away!" 

The Tin Man blushed with embarrassment. "Yeah, sorry about that. I had completely forgotten!" he said. 

"It's fine," Red chorused. "Everything turned out well in the end." 

The Tin Man got up from his seated position on the ground. "Well, why are you back?" he asked. "Do you need another favor? Saving the world, perhaps?" 

Red smiled, her heart fluttering when she remembered that the last time they had encountered was when they had saved New York City. "We're trying to find the flying monkeys," she answered. "We need to get some information out of them."

"Do you by any chance know if the flying monkeys can do magic?" The Scarecrow peeped. "I've always wanted a brain of my own."

The Tin Man beamed. "I believe I do! The flying monkeys know how to grant wishes, just like the wizard does and the witch do. I've always wanted a heart."

Red was confused for a second but then came up with a solution;  The characters might remember who you are, and you will too. But when you leave the story, the characters go on with the rest of their lives. Just when someone enters the book does the story start back up again. She was getting a lot smarter, now that she had traveled lots of worlds! 

"If I assist you on your quest, will you promise me a heart?" the Tin Man asked.

Red and Morina nodded, as did the Scarecrow. "We'll do our best," they said at the same time. 

The Tin Man smiled. "Then follow me," he crowed, happy that he had been saved from being a rusty old tin! 

Red, Morina, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man walked for a few more minutes before coming up to a forest. There were thick evergreen trees, and you could not even see light from the other side. It was as if it was night in the forest.

Morina froze, making Red tumble into her. "We're going in there?" she asked, her voice quivering. She might have been one of the most powerful witches' in the world, but she was also afraid of the dark. 

The Tin Man bit his lip. "Well, yes. It's the only way to get to the monkey camp," he explained. "Unless you'd like to go the long way, which I must remind you-is through the sleeping field?" he raised his eyebrow, as if in challenge. 

"Fine, fine, we can go into the forest," Morina said, and started off into the forest, everyone following closely behind her. 

Once every one of them stepped into the dark forest, they could hear noises. Not noises of crickets or squirrels, like you'd hear in a normal forest. But it was as if there were jungle animals, leopards, and tigers, and lions. But the thing is, you couldn't see them. All you could hear were the ferocious roars.

Morina continued on into the forest, gripping her black dress worriedly. She was very much used to the Dwarf Forests but this forest was much more scary.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!"  The noise that had erupted inside the forest was terrifying, and no one could pinpoint which direction it had come from, nor what it was. 

Morina and Red jumped, almost running away. These forests were too much for the poor girls; they both hated the feeling! 

The Scarecrow's eyes seemed to wander, looking for the source of the scary noise. "What was that?" the Scarecrow questioned. He wasn't as afraid of Morina and Red, but he was still worried something might pounce. 

He got his answer when a big fluffy ball of yellowish brown jumped on top of him and the Tin Man.

Red screamed. She backed away and fell into a bush, her blonde hair still poking out as she struggled to be free.

Morina tried her best to pull the lion off of the Scarecrow and the Tin Man, but it was useless. The lion was too strong, she couldn't do it by herself! 

"Red, help me!" Morina cried, and turned to Red for help. 

But Red was still stuck in the bush, and all she could do was wiggle her foot. "I'm sorry!" she shouted over the roars of the lion. "I can't get out!" 

"Food, food, I need food!" the lion kept muttering. He finally looked up and saw Morina and Red staring at him. "Oh my," he blushed and jumped up from the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. "This is your food? I'm terribly sorry." he apologized. 

Morina shook her head. "This isn't our food, they're our friends!" she glanced strangely at Red. This lion was not like most. He was ferocious, but when he knew something wasn't his own then he apologized and went on his way. 

The Tin Man groaned and got up from the ground, pulling the Scarecrow up with him. "Look, lion-whatever your name is. What do you want?" 

The lion cowered away, but finally sighed and opened up. "I just want to find the wizard. All I want is to find courage, to overcome my fears!"

Red smiled. "Well, darling, that's just wonderful!"

The lion stared at her, hurt. "That I'm not brave?" his voice sounded tiny, now that he felt ashamed of himself. 

"No, you misunderstood me," Red assured the lion. "We're headed to find the Wicked Witch's flying monkeys. They know magic. Maybe they can grant you some courage, while they grant the Scarecrow's brain and the Tin Man's heart."

The lion grinned. "That's wonderful, thank you! What did you say your names were?"

Red grinned, happy that she had given him some hope. "My name is Red, this is Morina, and that's the Scarecrow and the Tin Man."

"Great!" Announced the lion. "I don't really know my name. But people call me the Cowardly Lion."