Imaginings of a Dorothy in Four Frames

Tuesday, June 16, 1998*

Tuesday, June 16, 1998*

"Grandma is talking crazy again,"  Glinda announces to her cousin Oscar.
"Not more Oz stuff?"
"Yep, more Oz stuff."
"Is she still trying to convince you it exists?"
"No," answers Glinda.  "It is more like since Grandpa's passing, Grandma is busting with Oz thoughts and needs to share them.  Obviously, Grandpa used to be an Oz buffer before he passed.  Now, without Grandpa, Grandma has no filter.  It is like she is a television with a broken remote, always stuck on her Oz channel."
Oscar and Glinda sit silently drifting off into their own thoughts while enjoying their morning caffeinated drinks.  Glinda, currently not illuminated, usually lights up any room she enters.  Her golden curls are now more ashen in the early shadows and her expression remains blank.  Oscar, although a few months younger than his cousin, now looks older as his pudgy face and neck strained against the collar of his shirt and tie.  This look of exasperation and doubt would surprise most of his staff and clients because he is both fierce and decisive, always creating an aura instilling both fear and security.
"Flying monkeys?"  Oscar asks.
"Oh yes, flying monkeys," answers Glinda. "Witches, what she calls Munchkins again, and trees that throw their own apples.  The whole gambit."
"What are we going to do?"
"I am just letting her tell her story.  She seems happiest when she is sharing the details."
"But what if she tells this to others?  Won't people think she's bonkers?"
"I am hoping we can be her outlet.  If she shares with us, she may not need to share with others.  She just needs to share."
Oscar looks at Glinda unconvinced.
"It is a fascinating story," continues Glinda.  "Perhaps we should write it down."
"It is totally disjointed," counters Oscar.  "I mean scarecrows and a tin man and horses that change color.  These details can't possibly add up to a coherent narrative."
"Perhaps if we wrote down the details.  Maybe we can link the pieces together."
"I don't know, Glinda.  That would take more magic than this marvel can muster."
"Let's both write down whatever Grandma tells us.  Maybe it can lead us to some path of understanding."
"Yes, yes, her yellow-brick road."
With Oscar's response, Glinda's face lights with a smile.  "That's the spirit, Oscar.  You protest, but you always amaze.
Oscar can not help but feel pride in seeing Glinda's face glow.  Together, certainly, they are a wonder and the grandchildren of a wonder.

*Tuesday, June 6, 1998, is the date that the American Film Institute announced that The Wizard of Oz was one of the Ten Top Movies of the 20th Century.