The Bride in Oz

If I Only Had the Nerve

Sophia and her friends were just skipping through a creepy forest, and it was really giving Sophia the creeps.

"This forest is giving me the creeps," Sophia gulped. "I don't suppose we'll meet any wild animals here."

"Well, dear, we have to be careful with lions, tigers, and bears," Tin Man told her.

"Lions?" Sophia gulped.

"Tigers?" Scarecrow also gulped.

"And bears," Tin Man told them.

"Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!" Sophia gulped.

Sophia kept chanting this to herself as she and her companions skipped down the Yellow Brick Road. She thought the faster she chanted this, the faster they could get out of the forest.

But suddenly, there was a crackling sound that stopped the trio. Sophia saw one of the bushes moving.

"I think I'm getting the jitters," Sophia gulped. "There's something in the bushes."

Sophia carefully approached the bushes and took a little peek. Suddenly, a ferocious lion came out and roared at Sophia, who was so scared that she screamed and jumped into Scarecrow's arms. But she stopped herself when she saw that the lion had the same face as Hugo.

The lion was terrified by what he'd done. "Oh, I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I'm such a coward, frightening an innocent little girl."

Sophia saw how sorry the Cowardly Lion was, and Scarecrow put her down. "It's okay," she told the lion.

"No, it's not," Cowardly Lion insisted. "I'm such a coward. I haven't any courage at all—I even scare myself."

"That's terrible," Scarecrow sighed. He tapped Sophia on the shoulder and asked her, "Don't you think the Wizard can help him too?"

"I don't see why not," Sophia shrugged. She turned to Cowardly Lion and told him, "Why don't you come along with us? We're on our way to see the Wizard now."

"I'm going to ask him for a brain," Scarecrow declared.

"And I'm going to ask him for a heart, and we're going to ask him to send Sophia home to Nebraska for her wedding," Tin Man added.

"I'm sure he can give you some courage," Sophia reassured Cowardly Lion.

"That's awfully nice of you, Sophia," Cowardly Lion sighed happily. "I just have to tell you how I feel." As he and his new friends started walking down the Yellow Brick Road, he started to sing.

Yeah, it's sad—believe me, missy,

When you're born to be a sissy

Without the fim and verve

But I could show my prowess

And be a lion, not a mouse

If I only had the nerve

I'm afraid there's no denying

I'm just a dandy lion

A fate I don't deserve

I'd be brave as a blizzard

TIN MAN: I'd be gentle as a lizard

SCARECROW: I'd be clever as a gizzard

SOPHIA: If the Wizard is a wizard who will serve

SCARECROW: Then I'm sure to get a brain

TIN MAN: A heart

SOPHIA: My home

COWARDLY LION: The nerve

The quartet was happy to be going to see the Wizard, and they skipped down the Yellow Brick Road, singing their travel song.

We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz

We hear he is a whiz of a whiz if ever a whiz there was

If ever oh ever a whiz there was,

The Wizard of Oz is one because, because, because, because, because, because, because of the wonderful things he does

We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz!

Meanwhile, the Wicked Witch of the West was still spying on Sophia and her new friends.

"So Sophia wants to go back to Nebraska," the Wicked Witch smirked. "I know how to get her and those lavender slippers."