Shadows of the Emerald City Read Free Page A

filled with bright colors and rainbows.
    The two of them sat there for a moment, the only sounds the ticking of the cooling engine and a big dog barking somewhere in the distance.
    “ Dorothy?”
    She turned to him, and he noticed for the first time that her eyes were an amazing shade of green, like the ocean as the sky clouds up. Though he had seen many pictures of her over the years, he realized that in her youth she must have been extraordinarily beautiful.
    “ Do you want to go in?” he asked.
    She nodded slowly, looking again at the house as she did so.
    As if it might disappear.
    Will got out first, and went to help her out. Her hand was strong as it clasped his, and despite her age there was no hint of weakness or palsy.
    The front door was open, and he and Dorothy walked in.
    The house had been cleared of furniture and bric-a-brac decades ago. Only a pair of faded gingham curtains remained in living room. Still, for a house standing vacant for sixty years, there was no sign of vandalism or decay.
    How could that be?
    Will realized he must have spoken this thought aloud, because Dorothy was looking at him.
    “ I was thinking,” he said. “The house looks remarkably untouched for one so old and abandoned.”
    “ It was touched by Oz,” Dorothy said, as if this was obvious.
    She walked over to the curtains and touched them tentatively, then leaned in to smell them. She smiled for the first time since Will had known her, and it was a beautiful smile.
    “ I … I can smell her perfume,” Dorothy said, her voice the whisper of an acolyte.
    “ Whose, Dorothy?” He wished now he had brought a portable tape recorder with him, but he had a feeling Dorothy’s days of silence and immobility were over.
    “ Auntie Em,” she said, and suddenly wiped at a tear in her eye.
    “ Where is Auntie Em, Dorothy?”
    “ She’s waiting for me, back in Oz with Uncle Henry and the others.”
    “ And Elmira Gulch?”
    Dorothy’s smile disappeared and her eyes flashed.
    “ Her? My house crushed her sister and I melted her. Good riddance!”
    Will couldn’t believe how well it was going. True, she was persisting in her fantasy, but it was carefully crafted over years of inactivity and lack of stimulation. That was all going to change.
    The dog barked again, but now it sounded different. It was closer, for one thing, and it…
    “ Toto! ” she cried, her face lighting up like a child’s a Christmas. “Oh, Toto! Toto, I’m here!”
    She ran toward the back of the house. The barking had sounded more like the yip of a terrier, but surely that was a coincidence.
    He hurried after her, not trusting the ancient floor to support her.
    She was in a back bedroom, spare and empty, with one window. She held something in her hand, and looked at him, her eyes shining with tears.
    “ This was my room, Dr. Price, when I was younger.”
    She remembered his name! Surely this was a breakthrough!
    In her hand was a single poppy, its bright orange petals satiny and vibrant. The flower looked as if it had just been picked from a field, yet the land for miles around was too hot and dry for poppies.
    Will wanted to ask her where it came from, but then she smiled and blew on it, like a dandelion. Shining pollen like diamond dust swirled and eddied, each mote a tiny star suspended between them, and both of them were inhaling it before he could protest.
    Suddenly, there was a roaring all around, as if some great beast had discovered the long-empty house was now occupied. Will felt a sickening lurch in his stomach, that kind of giddy, nauseous joy experienced on elevators and roller coasters, and the room began to spin. Will’s knees buckled, and his vision blurred.
    As he lost consciousness, he heard the yapping of a small dog growing louder, more urgent. Everything went Kansas gray, and then he slipped into a darkness that seemed to have been waiting the whole time.
     
    Something wet touched Will’s face, and for a moment he thought he was out