Beatrice grew speechless at TinMan’s words. She understood that she was here for a special purpose but was that also the same purpose she was born for? Was she born for the sole purpose to help the people of Oz? Wasn’t that concept a little extreme though?

No one spoke. The only sounds that were heard were Storm brushing his wings against a leg of a chair—he must have had an itch he was trying to scratch—and the grimly dressed woman on stage singing an opera number that filled Beatrice’s heart with great melancholy.

Scarecrow, TinMan, and Simon were staring at her with pensive expressions, causing her to shift her weight from foot to foot. It was an action she did each time she was nervous or unsure about something. “Could you all please stop looking at me like that? I’m not sure what major change I can bring about.”

“Don’t fret, my flower” TinMan crooned with a smile. “I have a feeling that everything is going to work out for the best. And as long as you keep my good buddy Scarecrow here at your side,” He stretched an arm out in Scarecrow’s direction. “then you’ll be okay.”

Beatrice shook her head sadly. “TinMan, you forget that we’re just two people.”

TinMan reassuringly palmed her shoulders before whispering to her, “Just keep him nearby. He’ll teach you how to think big.”

She beamed once more. “I believe he’s already doing so.” When they both peered over at him, Scarecrow was blushing as he made a poor attempt to pretend like he wasn’t listening to them.

When the lady on stage ended her song, the audience responded with remarks like, “THAT WASN’T THE SONG WE ASKED FOR?” and “WHY DON’T YOU PEOPLE EVER SING ANYTHING FUNNY?”

Simon abruptly rose from his seat and whispered, “Christine was the last act. You two must go before the guards come back here.”

“Before you go,” TinMan moved over to the far corner of the room and kneeled. He pulled up a long piece of the wooded floor and removed a medium sized brown sack that was hiding beneath it.

Beatrice had no idea what was in the sack but she could see several round shapes coming through the bag.

TinMan handed the sack to Scarecrow. “It isn’t much but I think the Munchkins will appreciate it.”

Scarecrow nodded and gratefully retrieved the bag. “Thank you. We’ll be back really soon with a plan.” he promised. The two friends hugged before Scarecrow walked towards the secret passageway and extended a hand out for Beatrice, indicating that it was time to leave.

Simon walked over to Beatrice and gave her a devoted gaze. “I want to let you know that if you really do end up saving us and giving us all our home back, then I will be devoted to you until the end of time. Whatever you desire of me, it would be my pleasure to…”

“Beatrice” Scarecrow called out suddenly, cutting Simon off before he could finish his sentence. Scarecrow had a deep disapproving frown on his face. “We should really get going now.”

Beatrice whipped her head around at him and nodded eagerly. “Good idea.” She quickly jogged over to Scarecrow’s side before turning back to Simon. “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure things turn around for you all but…don’t worry about being devoted to me or anything like that.” She gulped and mentally thanked Scarecrow for stopping Simon from finishing that last sentence. “That won’t be necessary.” She almost gasped in surprise when she felt Scarecrow entwine his hand in hers. When she looked down that only confirmed that he was indeed holding her hand. His eyes, however, were still fixed on Simon with a frown.

Heavy footsteps were now being heard from the other side of the door. TinMan did a shooing gesture with his hands towards his friends. “Go, quickly!” he whispered.

“Will you be okay?” Beatrice whispered back with worry as Scarecrow tugged her closer to the hole they crawled out of.

TinMan gave her the sweetest smile. “Never fear, my flower. They can’t hurt me. I’m just a hollow shell.” Despite his grim situation, he winked at her.

She still worried about him. She worried about all of them. “Storm, come on.” The FlyMam quickly hopped through the dark opening and Beatrice climbed in with Scarecrow following suit. She soon heard the opening seal off behind them, but it didn’t seal off the voice of an angry guard that was demanding Simon and TinMan to tell him who they were talking to. She prayed they hadn’t gotten the two in any trouble.

“Just keep straight and we’ll end up back at the same spot from which we entered” Scarecrow’s velvet voice told her in a quiet tone.

When they finally exited the passageway, they were once again at the back wall, just like Scarecrow said they would be. The sky was a heavy dark blue with millions of golden stars scattering boldly across it with bright illumination. The Emerald City also produced light to some extent. The difference was the green light that radiated off of it was dim and miserable. These just weren’t happy times for the poor city.

Beatrice helped Scarecrow with the sack so that he could climb out. They ran a few feet away from the wall before pausing to catch their breath. “Do you think the guards know that we were there?” she asked him.

He shook his head. “There is no indication of our presence, giving them reason to infer that we were there.”

Despite her worry, Beatrice couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t get over the way you talk.”

“You don’t like it?” His tone was disappointed.

“I love it. You sound so…brainy.”

Scarecrow hauled the medium sack over his shoulder without taking his eyes off Beatrice.

“What’s in the sack?”

He took it off his shoulders and sat it down on the ground to reach inside of it. He handed her a green pear. “Hungry?” he offered.

Her stomach growled but she shook head no.

Storm, however, was jumping up and down in delight as he watched Scarecrow hold up the fruit. He squealed and his beautiful wings fluttered quickly. If he could fly, he definitely would have elevated himself in that moment out of excitement.

“It’s for the Munchkins. They need it more than I do,” she said.

“We all need food just the same and there’s still enough in here for them if you take one.”

Storm squealed once more and intentionally jumped a little higher, knocking the pear from Scarecrow’s hand. When it fell to the ground, Storm wasted no time attacking it with his teeth and snarling.

“Storm!” Beatrice protest. “We’ve got to work on your self-control when it comes to food.”

Scarecrow laughed. “It’s okay. Young ones are always hungry. Besides,” He dug inside for two more before standing back up. He offered one of the two pears to her. “I know you’re hungry. I can hear your stomach.” He extended the pear further. “It’s really fresh.”

She took the pear. “I have no doubt about that. Thank you.”

After the three of them finished their snack, Beatrice caught Storm with half of his body inside the sack with his tail waving happily at them as he munched on more fruit. “Storm!” She quickly pulled him out. Unsurprisingly, he was holding on to another pear as he looked at her with feigned innocence. “You really are something else, you know that?” She gave Scarecrow an apologetic look. “I truly am sorry.”

He shook his head with amusement. “That was my fault. I should have been watching the bag.”

Beatrice was puzzled. “What were you looking at then?”

His turned sheepish. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude but it’s hard to stop looking at you.”

“Oh. I guess I do look a lot like my mother. So I understand why you would be intrigued.” She tried her best not to sound disappointed. She knew that was the only reason why he even showed an interest in her.

“It’s more than that, Beatrice.” He eyed her curiously. “You reminding me of Dorothy may have been the initial reason why I found you interesting but now I see that…”

She stepped forward, still holding on to Storm who still kept a tight grip on that pear with his mouth. “See what?” she prompted.

He tilted his head to the side again in that examining way of his. “I see that you aren’t Dorothy.”

Since that statement was coming from Scarecrow, the one who obviously missed Dorothy more than anyone else, Beatrice wasn’t sure if he meant that as a compliment or an insult. “Scarecrow, were you in love with my mother?” she blurted out.

He quickly took a step back in surprise as if she shouted at him. He didn’t respond but gazed at her with astonishment.

“I won’t get mad if you are” she told him even though, truth be told, she wasn’t sure how she would really feel if his answer was yes. “I’m just…curious.” Heck, she was more than curious. She held her breath as she waited for his answer but he just looked on blinking.

It didn’t take her long to figure out that he wasn’t going to answer her, which ironically gave her the answer, didn’t it? Why else would he remain so quiet? She sighed after a moment, deciding to let it go. “I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that. I won’t do it again. Forgive me?”


Scarecrow only nodded. He still hadn’t said a word in what felt like forever.

The two were quiet for an awkward moment until Beatrice said, “Should we head back to the hideout now?”

Seeming to have recovered from the shock brought on by her question, Scarecrow picked back up the sack and gave her a friendly smile. “Wait, there’s one more thing that needs to happen tonight. This way.” He ran with her in tow even further from the green city and towards a big cluster of trees in the West direction.

Once they were inside the forested area, they couldn’t see a thing, even most of the sky way out of view, courtesy of the towering saplings. Beatrice said, “Uh, you’re not trying to find more trouble for us to get into, are you? Because that’s what Storm is for,” she teased but her smile went away when she was met with silence. She couldn’t see him but he was still nearby, right? “Scarecrow?”

Scarecrow whistled a soft tune that carried a melody she was unfamiliar with. The moment he finished, a large tree in front of them lit up like a Christmas tree with multiple colors marking every leaf and branch. A soft echo of the tune Scarecrow just whistled suddenly erupted from it.

“Whoa” Beatrice whispered. The sudden light revealed to her that Scarecrow was only standing a few feet away from her and much closer to the colorful tree. She walked up to him, not taking her eyes off the captivating view. “Let me guess. It’s a magical tree.”

“No, but it’s the home to magical beings.” He pointed upward. “Those thousands of lights you see up there are bodies of Sprights. They love to respond to music.” He whistled again and on cue half of the tiny Sprights gracefully leapt off the tree and floated down towards them. Scarecrow whistled enough of the melody that they caught on very quickly and soon took over the entire song.

Beatrice’s mouth dropped in pure amazement. So many variations of blue, red, purple, green, yellow, orange, and pink were everywhere around them. She gently placed Storm on the ground so that she could touch one. The moment she raised her right hand, a green Spright landed on her pinky finger. If she squinted her eyes and tried to look past the bright illumination, she could see a small green pair of arms and legs moving gracefully as though it were dancing to the melody it was humming.

Beatrice could feel several of them landing in her hair and a purple one floated down in front of her, barely missing her nose. When she peered back over to the spot Scarecrow was standing in, he was no longer in sight. She felt someone standing behind her on her left side and when she glanced around she saw him quickly ducking over to her right.

Scarecrow snickered as he tried to keep close to her but remain out of sight. When she turned fully around to face him on, she saw that like her he was adorning several Sprights. At least three blue ones were dancing in his hair and so many orange ones were trying to coordinate with his orange and white sleeves. The Sprights lovely humming in the background only complimented Scarecrow’s words when he crooned softly to her, “Happy birthday. I figured this would be a good way to celebrate it.”

Beatrice’s face was occupied with a large grin. “Scarecrow, this is amazing.” She cupped a few more of the tiny colorful figures in her palms. After a moment, she gently began swaying to the rhythm of that sweet melody. “This makes me never want to leave.”

That got Scarecrow’s attention. She saw his eyes light up at her words. “Really?” His tone was hopeful.

She didn’t answer him. All she wanted to do at this point was dance with the Sprights. They were so fascinating.

Even Storm was playfully trying to jump up and catch the ones surrounding him. He squealed delightfully and ran in a circle.

Beatrice turned in a circle twice herself with her eyes closed and laughed when they started dancing with her. “I love this.”

Scarecrow caught her in his arms after her second spin and said thoughtfully, “Beatrice, are you saying that you want to stay here with me?”

So many Sprights were surrounding them at this point that she couldn’t even see the rest of the forest. All she saw was Scarecrow covered in orange and blue and behind him danced hundreds of colors of green and purple. They circled around the two of them like a Spright cyclone and their song grew louder.

Beatrice was in a trance of pure amazement. “Look what they’re doing around us” she whispered. “This is so awesome.”

“It could be” he breathed, holding on to her elbows. “I’ve never had anyone to call my own before. If you stay with me, Beatrice, it would be awe-inspiring. We can come here every night, if you wish it.” He was giving her a heart melting smile and she found it irresistible.

She could tell by the gleam in his eyes that whatever he was talking about meant the world to him but she was just simply going to have to ask him to repeat himself once the Sprights were done entertaining them with song and dance. The alluring melody and excitement surrounding them was too delightfully overpowering to focus on anything else. However, she loved seeing Scarecrow this happy and whatever he was talking about was truly taking him to the point of elation. Maybe he was going on about how amazing these beautiful creatures were. Beatrice definitely could agree with that. She nodded and said, “Absolutely.”

Scarecrow went rigid and gasped. His eyes grew wide when he said, “You will?”

“Whoa, look at those two!” Beatrice pointed at the orange and blue Spright floating above their heads. It looked as if the two Sprights were dancing. Maybe they were, Beatrice thought.

“I can’t believe this is really happening” he said in awe as he watched her happily enjoy the scene around them. Scarecrow said dreamingly and more to himself, even though Beatrice really hadn’t heard a word he had just said, “Now I know things are definitely going to be okay here in Oz because we have you to stay here with us forever.” Beatrice chuckled when a purple one brushed against her neck. She had no idea Scarecrow’s mouth was still moving. “I understand now why Dorothy was never meant to stay. She had to leave to give life to you because you are the one who’s meant to stay.” He grew even happier when he said, “You’re the one who’s meant to stay here with me.”

When she lock gazes with him again, she beamed and said, “Will you dance with me, Scarecrow?” She pulled on his arm and led them out of the swirling Sprights, causing the little magical beings to scatter all around them and break free from the intimate gathering. They still kept at their song.

Beatrice giggled and so did Scarecrow. Now that the magical beings were no longer huddling so close to them, she was finally able to hear Scarecrow and thought that the sound of his laugh was one of the sweetest things she’d ever heard.

The two of them jumped around and danced happily together for what felt like hours. Until to her surprise, Scarecrow had suddenly gotten intimately close and said with so much joy, “This is the best night of my life!”

That look he was giving her was a new one. His eyes were shining with so much admiration and tenderness. And it was equally captivating as the Sprights around them. She stopped her swaying to study the way he was gazing at her. He had her heart accelerating a little faster than usual. “Scarecrow?”

Without another word, he palmed her cheek with his right hand and slowly leaned forward.

Beatrice grew still like a statue and had almost forgotten how to breathe. Is this really going to happen, she mentally crooned. She realized this wasn’t a dream the moment his lips made contact with hers and created a tender kiss. The action was sweet and yet so powerful that it had her head swimming with enchantment.

When their lips finally parted, her head was screaming from the bliss she felt but her heart was shouting, WHERE THE HECK DID THAT COME FROM? Didn’t his silence from earlier imply that he was still in love with her mother? But then again, he never said that so maybe she just misinterpreted the silence wrong. She must have. Otherwise, Scarecrow wouldn’t have kissed her like that, would he?


She stared at him with a mixture of satisfaction and astonishment. “Scarecrow?”

His smile was triumphant. “‘When virtue and modesty enlighten her charms, the lustre of a beautiful woman is brighter than the stars of the heaven, and the influence of her power it is in vain to resist.’ Akhenaton said that and I incontestably agree.”

Whoa, Scarecrow and his words again were getting to her. She had no idea where all this was coming from, but she did know one thing. It was making her putty in his hands.

He leaned in for another kiss but halted when he heard a growling noise nearby. Beatrice heard it too and it alarmed her because she knew immediately that it wasn’t Storm. His growls can only go so deep since he was still a baby. His were more like adorable snarls. What Scarecrow and Beatrice were hearing right now belonged to a full grown animal.

The colorful Sprights abruptly ended their song and quickly began to retreat back to their tree, making things darker and more eerie looking where Scarecrow and Beatrice were standing.

Realization soon hit Scarecrow in the face as he looked around in the dark. “Oh, no” he whispered. “This isn’t good.”

“What is it?” Beatrice asked worriedly. But before he could answer her, her question was instead answered by a loud roar coming from the way in which they entered the forest. Beatrice was suddenly screaming loudly as she watched a big and ferocious lion charge straight at her with his teeth bared and ready for piercing.