🖋 The Thorned Quill

From the Ink & Thorn Studio, somewhere in Grimmveil

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz - Retelling

Written by L. Frank Baum, 1908
↪ A Grimmveil Fairytale

So, Dorothy Gale thought she was done with Oz. Cute idea. Really. But you know how these things go. No, sweetheart, the universe has other plans. One minute she’s in Kansas staring at clouds, the next the floor opens under her feet and down she goes. Not flying. Not twirling with happy songs. Just a long, unpleasant tumble into a world that is somehow familiar and utterly terrifying all at once. And yes, I know, she’s only a girl. But that doesn’t mean Oz is going to make it easy.

She landed in the under-Oz, and trust me, this is not the glittery Emerald City you’re imagining. This Oz is older, darker, and smells faintly of “things that want to eat you but are polite about it.” Creatures that look like dinner and act like judges. Stone corridors where echoes chew on your courage. And Dorothy? She keeps walking, because walking is what she does.

Accompanying her are Zeb, her cousin, a horse named Jim who is way more patient than anyone deserves, and that wizard everyone thinks is so clever. Spoiler: he is a fraud. Yes, yes, go ahead and gasp, I already know. He can do smoke and mirrors above ground, but below, he’s just a man in a suit looking increasingly nervous.

They wander, and I mean wander, through underground kingdoms where everything makes less sense the longer you look at it. People made of glass who have the charming habit of showing all their secrets at once. Plant monsters who might consider killing you but do it with a smile and an invitation to tea. Oz does not do subtle. Oz does not negotiate. Oz just exists, and if you are in it, you better keep up.

The Mangaboos, in case you were wondering, are not polite vegetables. They are polite vegetables that want to kill you. Pleasantly, of course. The Wizard tries to command them. Hah. The Wizard tries to intimidate them. Hah again. He flails. Dorothy rolls her eyes and refuses to die. That is her strategy, my dears, and it works far better than anyone expects.

They survive. Of course they do. The earth shakes, monsters appear, and just when you think the tension might finally give, Oz shifts beneath their feet. They reach the surface. Ozma is there. Regal, perfect, and probably judging everyone’s posture. The Wizard is exposed. He should have known better. Dorothy shrugs, because really, what else is there to do?

Oz invites her to stay forever. Glittering halls, singing streets, childhood that never ends. And Dorothy looks at it and says, “Thanks, but no thanks.” She remembers Kansas. Wind, dust, chores, and the ache of wanting life to move, even if it hurts. She leaves. Again. Oz shifts quietly behind her, waiting for the next idiot to fall through a crack.

Yes, my loves, she is brave. No, she is not perfect. And yes, Oz never really lets go. That is the whole point.

Side Notes from the Thorned Quill

• Dorothy survives because she refuses to be erased, simple as that.
• The Wizard is a man, a fraud, and possibly the biggest disaster tourist Oz has ever seen.
• Underground Oz is honest about danger. The aboveground stuff just dresses it up in sequins.
• Going home is not rejection. It is active rebellion, and Dorothy does it with flair.