Somewhere Over The Rainbow

The Merry Old Land of Oz

"You're out of the woods,
You're out of the dark,
You're out of the night.
Step into the sun,
Step into the light.
March up to that gate
And bid it. . . open.
Open."

     Rhianna, Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Toto stopped in front of the gates leading into Emerald City, and Dorothy rang the bell. A man opened a little window in the gates, and popped his head out. He was clad in emerald-green clothing, making him almost blend in with the city. He looked around, but saw no one, because he was only looking straight ahead instead of looking down at the group.

     "Who rang that bell?" he asked in a scratchy voice.

     "We did!" the friends said in unison, drawing the doorman's attention down to them.

     "Can't you read?" he asked.

     "Read what?" Scarecrow asked, not seeing any writing anywhere.

     "The notice!" the doorman replied.

     "What notice?" the friends asked in unison, not seeing a notice anywhere.

     "It's on the door! As plain as the nose on my face!" he snapped at them. "It's. . ." He tried to point at the notice, but then he saw that these strangers were right. He went back inside for a split second and came back out to hang the notice on the door, and closed the peephole.

     "'Bell out of order. Please knock,'" the group read the notice.

     Rhianna used the door knocker to knock, and the doorman opened the peephole again and poked his head out again.

     "Well! That's more like it! Now, state your business," he said.

     "We wanna see the Wizard," the group replied in unison.

     The doorman suddenly gasped, looking at them as if they had each grown another head. "The Wizard? But nobody can see the great Oz. Nobody's ever seen the great Oz! Even I've never seen him!" he told them.

     "Well, then, how do you know there is one?" Dorothy asked him.

     "Because he's. . ." he mumbled, but he was unable to come up with a good answer. "Oh! You're wasting my time!" He started to go back inside, but stopped when Dorothy spoke.

     "Oh, please. Please, sir. My sister and I have got to see the Wizard. The Good Witch of the North sent us," she pleaded.

     "Prove it!" he demanded.

     "She's wearing the ruby slippers that she gave her," Rhianna answered.

     The doorman looked down to see what Rhianna said was true. Dorothy really was wearing the legendary ruby slippers!

     "Oh! So she is! Well, bust my buttons! Why didn't you say that in the first place? That's a horse of a different color! Come on in!" he laughed, and closed the peephole.

     The gates opened, and the group saw that Emerald City was just as beautiful inside as it was outside. Everything was a lovely shade of emerald, and the citizens were wearing emerald-green clothing. When they heard the gates opening, the citizens looked to see the five strangers and little dog coming in. A carriage being pulled by a white horse rode up.