East's Munchkinland

The Story

Ding-Dong.

The store clerk looked up from his work to greet his customer.

“Hello, welcome to Bernie’s Ice Cream Shop. How may I…” he cut off. A young woman clad in black and purple hair smiled shyly at him.

“Hi, Bernie, can I have two scoops of black raspberry ice cream,” she asked. Bernie nodded; his hand shook as he scooped her ice cream.

“On the house, Miss East,” Bernie said, standing on his toes to hand her the cone.

“Better than under the house,” she said with a laugh. The clerk smiled meekly, then sighed with relief when his customer left.

There was something empowering about being taller than everyone else. Though East was only 5’ 2” she towered over the munchkins that inhabited Munchkinland. Though that was not why they trembled with fright whenever she walked down the street.

East ambled down the cobble street licking her ice cream and smiling at the people around her. They did not meet her gaze. East pretended to not notice, but picked up her pace to go home.

The pastel colors grew duller and dirtier the further West she went. Finally East came to an end of the cobble and was met with hard packed dirt; this was her turn. To an outsider the road would look haunted and dangerous, to East it was the last stretch to home, much safer than the town was. The trees blocked out the warmth of the suns, making East reconsider her cold snack.

“Clearain Hazel East, is that you?” a shaky voice yelled when East opened the screen door and stepped into her house. A woman, East’s mother, stepped into the room. “Where have you been?”

“I was in town, Mama,” East said, shrugging her jacket off.

“Clearain, you know you can’t go there.” She stroked East’s hair, smoothing her purple curls. “Glinda won’t be happy.” East rolled her eyes.

“Who cares what Glinda thinks?” East moaned. “She can’t force us to stay in this house all our lives, Mama. She has no power over us.”

“Don’t say those things, Clearain,” her mother scolded.

“Don’t call me Clearain!” East exclaimed. “I hate that name.” Her mother sighed.

“Glinda is the ruler of this God forsaken land,” her mother replied. “She has stronger magic.”

“If you taught me magic we could double up against her, Mama.” East said optimistically. Her mother shook her head.

“No, you can never learn magic,” she said, turning away from her daughter. She walked up the stairs to where her room was. East was never allowed in there.

“One day you will have to teach me magic, you coward!” East screamed in frustration. Some books flew off the shelf near her, but no reply came from her mother, now locked in her room. East grabbed her jacket and stormed out.

East turned West and hurried towards the ferris wheel.

The ferris wheel was in the old carnival. The little kiddie rides, the only rides the munchkins fit on, had been moved into town. The carnival was as far from the town as one can go without venturing into the dark unknown, making the munchkins feel uneasy about it.

“Hello, East,” a winged monkey said when East stepped onto the ride’s platform. “What’s the matter this time?”

“Everything, Jaspher, Everything,” East sighed. “But that’s nothing new.” Jaspher laughed.

“You are so dramatic,” Jaspher said. He took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. “I suppose you have earned that right though.” Jaspher was right.