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| Brainless The scarecrow did not sleep. When Dorothy was asleep he had nothing to do and did not want to just sit there. He had been still for too long up in the field. Of course he was grateful to Dorothy for getting he down, but that did not mean that he was sit all night, waiting for her to wake up. It was nice not having to sleep. That meant he got to think about his past. Then again he was brainless so he could not think too much. Some crows that were in the field he was suppose to be protecting and Dorothy had told him all he knew. He could not remember anything else. He had awoken to the crows about three days ago, or was it two? They had told him he had just been made. Then when he asked how scarecrows where made the crows told him. Then Dorothy had come along and had gotten him down from the poles he had been tied to. She had told him that a good witch, Glinda (why was that name so familiar?), had told her to go to the Emerald City to see the wizard. The scarecrow was going to go with her to help her as she helped him. As the night had fallen, he and Dorothy had found a cottage, which was where they were now. Dorothy was inside asleep and the scarecrow was outside, pondering about his life. What a funny thing life is, he thought. Then he whipped around, hearing a twig break behind him. The person there would stand out among any normal crowd. It was not just her skin, which was green, but her all black clothes, her hat (which was a bit like his) and the cruel look on her face. ‘Fae?’ the scarecrow said then shook his head. Where did he get that name? ‘Who are you?’ he fiercely asked. ‘I am the Wicked Witch of the West,’ the witch said after a moment. ‘I am looking for my sister’s shoes that the murderous girl stole,’ she motioned to the cottage. ‘Your sister? The Witch of the East?’ the scarecrow remembered what Dorothy had said of her, ‘she enslaved the Munchkins! She deserved to die.’ ‘She was in love,’ the witch snapped, ‘we have all done stupid things when we were in love.’ A sadness showed on her face but it disappeared so quickly the scarecrow wondered if he had imagined it. He shrugged, ‘I would not know about that. I was made a few days ago so I have not been in love.’ Then why was he being attracted to this wicked witch? He had just met her and she was trying to steal from his friend. ‘Lucky you,’ she said dryly, ‘that means you’ve never had your heart broken.’ She sat down on a rock in the clearing, continuing, ‘When did you get together with the girl? When I fought with Glinda she never mentioned anyone else.’ An image passed through his mind of the good and the wicked witch fighting as some guards ran in. It seemed like his mind was being very creative that night. ‘She helped me down from some poles someone put me on.’ ‘Poles?’ the witch questioned, ‘did you say someone hung you up on some poles?’ Her eyes narrowed, ‘Do you have a name?’ The scarecrow shook his head, ‘No, I’ve just been the scarecrow. That’s what the crows told me. Are you just the witch?’ ‘Of course not!’ she said angrily. She paused for a moment to calm herself before answering, ‘I am Elphaba Thropp, the would-be-governor if people did not think I was evil.’ The scarecrow looked at her strangely, ‘Governor? Does that mean your sister was governor?’ ‘Yes, she was an unelected official. Our father had died awhile ago so she had the position.’ ‘So now your father has died and your sister. I’m sorry.’ ‘I never liked him anyways. I thought it would be better if it was just her and I, but as I said, love makes us all idiots.’ The scarecrow shook his head, ‘But that does not means it’s a bad thing.’ ‘How would you know? You have never been in love!’ Elphaba glared at him, almost wistfully as if she wished she had never fallen in love. A silence followed her words. ‘The sun is up,’ the scarecrow said to break the silence, ‘I should go back inside the cottage. The wicked witch watched him then turned away and disappeared into the forest. When Dorothy woke up, the scarecrow was sitting there trying to figure Elphaba out. She was so confusing to him, at first she seemed so wicked but as they talked she just seemed hurt. Dorothy most likely didn’t know about her or the scarecrow would have asked. Still as Dorothy ate she breakfast and fed Toto he wished he could find out more about her. As they were leaving the woods, Dorothy saw something. It was a tin man. For a few moments they just stood there, looking at the rusted man. Then the tin man realized that to fix his joint, they would need the oil can. He quickly found it and gave it to Dorothy who in turn, oiled the tin man’s joints. As soon as the tin man was able to move, he told his story. ‘Elph- The Wicked Witch of the West did this to me,’ the tin man said to them. ‘Then when I was hunting her, it started to rain and I rusted. I would have been stuck there for a long time if it was not for you two.’ ‘What? Another wicked witch? The Wicked Witch of the East is already dead and there still is another?’ Dorothy looked worried. ‘What? The Witch of the East is dead. Good,’ the tin man would not meet their eyes, and changed the subject ‘where are you folk going? I may be able to help you.’ The scarecrow spoke this time, ‘The Emerald City. We are going to the wizard so Dorothy can go home to Kansas and I can get a brain.’ He didn’t mention he also wanted to see if he could remember anything before the field. ‘The Emerald City? I wonder if the wizard could give me a heart. You see, the witch also took away my heart so now I cannot love,’ the tin man said sadly. Dorothy nodded, ‘I’m sure he can. Now all we must do is continue following the yellow brick road.’ The three continued down the road, stopping only when they had to. The scarecrow hoped for a time when he could question the tin man about Elphaba. He never got a chance to question the tin man, but he did question Elphaba when she appeared that night. She was so different from Dorothy and the tin man. She acted, talked and held herself differently. There was just something about her. The conversation that night was about how less and less Animals were able to speak. ‘What do you mean animals cannot talk?’ he asked her. ‘Not animals, Animals. It’s pronounced differently,’ she told him. ‘People are suppressing them more and more. Think of a world where animals cannot speak and are kept in cages.’ ‘I have questions about you,’ the scarecrow said, changing the subject. ‘The tin man said that you were the one that took away his heart and changed him into tin,’ ‘Maybe I was. Are you scared of me?’ The scarecrow shook his head, ‘I am not smart enough to be scared.’ ‘You are brilliant,’ the witch told him, ‘you just cannot see it.’ The scarecrow shook his head, ‘Maybe I’m brainless, maybe I’m wise. You just do not seem evil to me.’ Elphaba looked at him as if she had seen a ghost, ‘Fiyero? That is what Fiyero said.’ ‘Who is Fiyero?’ the scarecrow asked her. She smiled blissfully, ‘He was my love. He got killed though. Trying to save me.’ ‘How?’ the scarecrow questioned, wanting to know more. ‘It was right after Nessa, my sister was killed. Glinda and I were fighting,’ the witch smiled guiltily, ‘pretty badly over Fiyero. Then some guards came in and I was supposedly evil so they tried to capture me. But then he ran in and distracted them so I could escape. He was captured and I never saw him again.’ ‘Why do people think you are evil?’ the scarecrow also wanted to know. Elphaba frowned at this point, ‘The wizard has a problem with me because I would not help him suppresses Animal activity. Since I knew too much they had to say I was lying and trying to take over Oz.’ She shrugged. The scarecrow saw all the things people had said about her had hurt her and he could not think of anything to say. The two sat in silence for a few moments. Out of the silence a voice was heard. It was the tin man’s. ‘I should go,’ Elphaba disappeared once more. The scarecrow slowly walked back to Dorothy and the tin man. A roar broke through Dorothy’s, the tin man’s and the scarecrow’s conversation. The three huddled in fear as they tried to decide what to do. They had been walking for a few hours through a forest and this was the loudest noise they had heard all day. ‘What do we do?’ Dorothy said, holding Toto. The dog jumped from her arms and barked at the forest. A large lion pounced on him and was about to eat him. ‘Stop,’ Dorothy yelled at the lion. ‘What a cowardly thing to do, scaring a poor dog that is smaller then you.’ Toto escaped from the lion and ran back to Dorothy. The lion looked ashamed, ‘That is my problem, I am a coward. No one in the forest is afraid of me. Not even then rabbits.’ The lion looked at them closely, ‘You are new to this forest. What are you doing walking through it?’ ‘We are going to see the wizard so the tin man can get a heart, Dorothy can get back to Kansas and I can get a brain,’ the scarecrow told him. The lion looked thoughtful, ‘Do you think the wizard can give me courage?’ ‘If he can get me back to Kansas, I’m sure he can give you courage,’ Dorothy said. ‘May I join your merry band then?’ ‘Of course!’ Dorothy answered and they were on their way. The next day was not filled with much excitement unless you count when the tin man stepped on a bug and rusted because he was crying. Since he did not have a heart, he was always kind to all creatures. The problem was it took him a while to motion to Dorothy that he needed his oilcan because he could not speak. The next day was horrible. The four had to get across a thunderous river. The scarecrow told the tin man to cut down a tree so they could walk across. After everyone else was across, the scarecrow followed. Halfway across, the tree fell and the scarecrow was stuck in the middle of the river. Dorothy, the lion and the tin man could not get him out, so he told them to continue and he would be fine. After they vanished, Elphaba appeared and helped him out of the water. The scarecrow went back to his friends to help them on their journey. ‘Look!’ Dorothy cried, pointing to a field of poppies. The beautiful flowers surrounded the path they had to take. The four walked slowly through the poppies, looking all around them. As the moved, Dorothy and the lion started to feel tired. ‘Wait,’ the scarecrow thought quickly, ‘poppies have a poisonous scent that make all who smell them all asleep. Run!’ The group ran but Dorothy and the lion were slowing down. The scarecrow and tin man helped Dorothy, but the lion was too heavy. He almost made it to the edge of the field before falling asleep. The scarecrow and tin man got Dorothy out of the field before she was also gone. Continued: Here |
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