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Chapter Two
A TRIP TO THE LAND OF OZ
The
park was almost empty except for Dan, his wife, son, and a few friends. Not many wanted to
be in the park after dark. Mysterious and strange occurrences had been reported. The week
previously a young woman for.had disappeared. The police suspected
foul play. Her own teen-age daughters claimed they saw her just disappear before their
very eyes. The police had questioned them at length, but could prove nothing.
"Hey, I've always wanted to see where that path behind those
trees leads. Anyone else want to come with me and check it out? Should be fun. Nothing
like an adventure to make life worth living." Dan lifted his arm and indicated the
direction, spilling his drink as he did so.
"Sounds like a cool idea, Dad. Count me in." David,
Dan's fourteen year old son fell in behind Dan as he headed in the direction of the trees.
His wife, Betty, sighed and followed along, more to keep an eye on Dan and David rather
than from any sense of adventure. Dan's best friend and fellow employee, Mike, decided to
go along. The rest of the group gathered up their things and headed home. The park gates
would be closing soon anyway and it had been a long, but fun day.
The Path to Nowhere had become a legend. The path started behind
a stand of trees which arched over it, seeming to invite exploration. Late afternoon
merged into evening with the shade of the trees making the gloom even darker.
"Here it is. The Path to Nowhere," Dan boomed in his
deep voice. "I hear it sometimes extends itself and you can hear rushing water just
beyond the path. Last week someone followed the extension never to be seen again. What a
bunch of stuff!" Dan chuckled. The others laughed nervously with him as they all
followed Dan and Dave down the darkening path. "Who knows we may even find that
missing girl if we keep an eye open. She's probably just lost in the woods
somewhere." He stopped, cupped his hands and lit a cigarette.
"But, Dad, the cops, volunteers and dogs combed these woods
every day until just yesterday without any sign of her."
Dan exhaled smoke. "So? Maybe we'll get lucky. Trust your
old Dad on this."
Giggling and whispering to each other the group walked for ten
minutes. The path ended at the bottom of the trunk of a tree big enough to span the whole
of the narrow path.
They all groaned in mock disappointment.
"Wait a minute," Dan shouted holding up his hands then
he pointed. The tree in front of them waved and wobbled, then faded away showing the trail
going on into the distance. The distinctive sound of rushing water could be heard clearly.
The background of trees shimmered like a mirage and the sky and shadows did not match the
scenery and time of day in front of the tree trunk. A sense of foreboding came over
everyone; everyone except Dan.
"Come on," he rumbled as he continued his slightly
unsteady gait down the path. He looked back. Mike hesitated, but Dave ran forward to keep
up with his Dad. Betty rushed forward with an uncanny mother's instinct and grabbed at
David. She pulled him back.
The tree at the end of the path reappeared, sounds of rushing
water disappeared and Dan vanished.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO," Betty screamed.
XXX
Dan stared around him, heart racing. Where was he? This did not
look anything like the path he had been on. He must really be drunk! Betty would be mad
for sure. Dan sighed. What a party! The party in the park had been his idea, of course.
Everyone had a good time at his parties. He was the toastmaster general. Dan chuckled to
himself trying to chalk up his surroundings to a drunken hallucination. As usual, remarks
had been made about his resemblance to Mel Gibson, which he denied, of course, but
secretly enjoyed. Several told any get together he hosted was event to remember. He
dropped his cigarette.
He rubbed his eyes and stared again. He scowled. Pink elephants he
could understand, but this...
XXX
The promise of sunrise began to blanket the sky with glowing
pinks and lavenders that intensified to a brilliant purple. Mist lay everywhere reflecting
the colors of the sky. The white of the moon hung huge and dazzling in the sky. Its.
surface was strangely smooth.Everything was magnified through the great water wall
surrounding and protecting Earth. Venus hung low and bigger than a big apple in the
Southwest. The wall held the atmosphere tight to the earth, keeping the level of oxygen
high and constant. The rainbow mist felt soothing and warm. The air seemed alive with
music to match the colors. It came from all directions. A dun colored serpentine head rose
above the mist blinking large, limped eyes and trumpeted through the hump on top of its'
head. Other horn notes answered from varying distances filling the air with a cacophony of
sound accentuated by hums, clicks and bird song. The very air was alive and rejoicing in
the new day.
As the yellow sun rose, bathing the world with light, the mist
slowly sank by degrees until it disappeared into the ground, revealing a myriad of
creatures scurrying in search of food. They stopped now and then and communed with each
other before hurrying on. Sometimes they crisscrossed a fifty-foot wide path that appeared
to be paved with gold. Its brilliance caused the road to be visible for miles. It cut
through fields of gently waving emerald green grass with a thick forest on the other side.
Ahead of the grassy side a large lake glimmered with streams winding toward a city in the
distance. Jeweled spires and layered roads flashed in rainbow colors in the rays of the
rising sun, contrasting sharply against the dark mountain range behind it.
One of the dun colored singers browsed along the edge of the
road, munching the tender branches and leaves at the tops of the forest trees. Splashes of
color contrasted against the green of the forest as huge birds also hunted food.
Dan tilted his head back and inhaled deeply closing his eyes and
savoring the sensation. Was that honeysuckle he smelled? He must have passed out and this
was a dream; a beautiful dream. He had never felt so good, so alive, so aware of
everything around him. He inhaled again, filling his lungs with the perfumed air that
seemed to awaken every cell in his body. He could not remember a time when he had felt so
good. He eyed the dun colored beast who looked like on of the pictures of dinosaurs he had
seen in an encyclopedia and in that movie, Jurassic Park, but he sensed no threat from it
even though it grazed just a few paces from him and towered over him like a skyscraper.
If this was a dream, he didn't want to wake up; not yet anyway.
If Betty and Davey were here, it would be perfect. What a place! It was so beautiful. He
didn't see any people anywhere. No one else was on the road. Suddenly he felt very much
alone.
He looked carefully around him. None of the animals he saw looked
familiar, but none seemed threatening. One of them looked about cocker spaniel size, with
glistening blue hide and light blue eyes. It stopped in front of him and stood on its hind
legs. The front feet resembled hands, like a squirrel. It held something. It extended its'
hands, making purring sounds as it offered the object to Dan. He reached down and took the
offering, patting the friendly creature on the head. It sat back on its haunches and
seemed to be waiting expectantly. Dan regarded it with amusement. Its pointed muzzle and
cocked head made him thing of the record company logo. "RC. That's a good name for
you, little fella."
Dan studied the object RC had given him. While bright, red and
round as an apple, it felt soft like a plum, but with more weight than either fruit. He
smelled it, then broke its skin with a fingernail. Red juice burst out. He touched his wet
finger to his tongue. He could not identify the taste, but found it delicious. He devoured
the fruit. The sweet juice got all over his fingers, He licked it all off, not wanting to
miss a drop. He looked at RC who was looking quite pleased, his purring now raised to the
pitch of a buzz saw. Dan sat down next to him and held out his hand. Dan laughed and held
the creature as he would a friendly dog, petting the smooth tough hide. RC rumbled happily
at the attention. Dan sat at the edge of the golden road enjoying the moment listening to
the soothing sounds coming from RC. The noises the little creature made seemed to blend in
with the musical sounds around him. Even the cracking and popping of branches breaking off
as the dinosaur munched on them, was soothing. He looked in Dan's direction.
Dan watched warily as the mammoth creature lowered its head for a
closer look. Dan remained motionless as the dinosaur examined him. He felt gusts of breath
as the creature sniffed. RC continued to purr. That was a good sign. Dan slowly reached
out one hand. The creature put his nose hear his hand. Dan patted the big nose gently. The
lids of the big eyes lowered slowly in contentment. Curiosity satisfied, he raised his
head again and went back to the business of eating.
"Let's check this place out, RC," Dan said getting to
his feet. "I want to see what kind of people live in that city."
RC wriggled his shiny blue body and wagged his lizard tail,
looking more than ever like a friendly dog.
Dan studied his surroundings again as he placed his feet in the
middle of the golden road. I must be in Oz and this is the yellow brick road, Dan thought,
amused at the idea.These aren't bricks though, and this looks like the real thing. He
stooped down and scraped part of the road's surface into his hand with his pocketknife. It
felt pliable as pure gold would be. He studied the small marks left by his knife in the
road. He watched in astonishment as the marks filled in like a rapidly healing wound. The
laws of physics were totally different here. Why not? This is Oz and a dream.
Dan rolled the pieces into a ball and put them into one of his
denim shorts pockets. He looked around for RC, but the little creature had disappeared.
Dan glanced down just to make sure he really was himself. Long,
tanned and muscular legs disappeared into a pair of blue and white air soles. He touched
the soft material of his blue polo shirt then touched his face. He seemed to be himself.
To his left the grassy plains merged into a large lake about a
mile up the road. In the distance behind the colorful spires and walls of the city ranged
majestic mountains. The highest one looked flat at the top. To the right of the road grew
not just forest, but thick jungle.
He found it hard to calculate distance here. The clearer air made
everything appear closer. The city looked as if it might be about five miles ahead, but
could be ten or fifteen just as easy.
The scene was the same behind him, jungle on one side of
the road, plains on the other for as far as he could see. The gleaming road disappeared
into the horizon like a glowing ribbon. He had never seen such an intensely blue sky and
without the wisp of a cloud. He could still see the now faint white of the moon. It was
strangely smooth. There were hardly any craters. To the Southwest the planet Venus hung
slightly green tinged in the sky. At least, he thought it was Venus. He wished he had paid
more attention in science class when he was in school. He did not even know which way to
look to find Mars. The stars and planet looked so close. It was eerie. It reminded him of
the surreal paintings on the covers of science fiction books. Maybe he was not even on the
Earth. Where were the people? He'd give anything to see another person, no matter how
alien.
Feeling thirsty, he jogged down the road toward the lake. The
oxygen heavy air filled his lungs and gave wings to his heels and energy to every cell.
Maybe this is Heaven, Dan mused. If it is, does that mean I'm dead? Dan dismissed the
thought.
He was almost even with the lake. Lacy ferns and bushes lined the
shore with a small tree here and there for shade. He could see animals, big and small,
taking their fill of the crystal water. Even the ones who looked like carnivores seemed at
peace with their fellow creatures. Dan wondered if the city ahead was as peaceful. Having
satisfied himself there was no threat, Dan flopped on his belly and sucked in the water in
great gulps. His cigarettes fell into the water. He grabbed and missed. Nuts!
He rose up on his elbows and gazed at his reflection. It was his face
only younger than what he remembered. He was thirty-five and looked almost like a kid. His
eyes were hunter green and the furrows in his brow were gone, the eyes a little puffy and
red, but all in all he looked and felt better than he had in...never mind, he had never
felt this good. If this is Heaven he wanted to stay except; Betty and Dave. He missed
them. He wondered how much they were missing him by now. Betty had the face of an angel
with a temperament to match. Most of his friends had been divorced once or twice by now.
He had the perfect woman.
Something splashed water in his face jarring him back to reality.
"What are you dreaming about?" Blue eyes gazed at him
from a frame of shining blond hair. The pert nose turned up when she smiled. She sat down
on the bank next to him.
Wow. If I wasn't a married man in love with his wife.
"My name is Laura and who might you be?
Dan sat up and studied her momentarily. "MY name is Dan.
Where did you come from? Do you live in that city? What is this place?"
"Whoa. Wait a minute. I was hoping you could tell me,"
Laura said, and laughed. "I'm just glad to find someone to talk to. I was really
getting lonely and scared.
I took my daughters to Baraboo to take them to Circus World
then we decided to go to Devil's Lake and hiked through the woods near there. I went down
this path and all of a sudden I was here. I feel like I'm in a dream or something."
RC watched them from a short distance turning his head from one
side to the other. Laura giggled at the sight. "He's cute. What do you think he is;
some kind of dog or something?"
"I call him RC and he's an 'or something' I guess.
I got here the same way you did. In fact, my wife, son and a
friend were looking for you. The police and dogs and volunteers combed the area where you
were last seen without any luck, of course. Now here I am in the same place so now they
probably think we're dead or something."
"What a horrible thought. I just hope my girls are
with my Mom. I wouldn't want them to be alone.
"Others have disappeared the same way over the years. Before
you, the last reported disappearance was thirty years ago. People just brushed it off as
another unsolved mystery."
Laura hugged her knees and studied her feet."Do you think
we'll ever get back? I'd hate to think I will never see my family again. If the same thing
happened to you, this must be real, ....right?" Laura looked up at Dan. She cleared
her throat and changed the subject.
"The animals are so gentle and friendly here. Did you see
the brontosaurus? I don't think that's the right name, but close enough. He's friendly,
too. He let me pet him. I even went for a ride on his head. Wow, what a view. One of my
daughters just finished a paper on dinosaurs. I wonder what she'd think of this
place?"
So what happened to your husband? You haven't
mentioned him yet."
"He ran off with his girlfriend a year ago. She was fifteen
years younger than me. "
Dan regarded her for a moment. "The guy must be nuts
and besides,you don't look old enough to have daughters in their teens."
Laura laughed. "Thanks. I needed that!" She
leaned back and let the sun bathe her with its warmth. The small trees around the lake
cast shadows on her, making the red polka dots on her dress look like they were moving.
She stretched her sandaled in front of her. "When I looked at my reflection the way
you were doing a while ago, I looked like a kid again. I'm forty and feel like twenty.
"How about you? You said something about a wife and
son. How old is he and what's your wife like?"
"My son is fourteen and my wife is the most beautiful
redhead in Wisconsin. She can't even boil water. I do all the cooking, but she loves me
and thinks I'm the greatest." Dan sighed and patted RC who had returned to his side.
"So, where are you from?"
"Janesville."
"Janesville? That's just ninety miles away. Can't beat
Baraboo, though. Best little town in Wisconsin," Dan grinned.
Laura grimaced as she tapped the top of the water with her
feet. "My girls have been after me forever to take them to Baraboo so they could go
to Circus World and the lake, then when we finally get around to it, this happens."
RC got up to chase a red butterfly at the lake's edge when
suddenly a bright light with swirling green mist spotlighted him. With it came a swishing
sound as if a door had opened and closed. A deep green, scaled hand grabbed at RC.
Dan scooped him up in his arms almost falling in the lake
as he did. The swishing sounded again and the scaled hand disappeared with a slight
popping sound.
Dan and Laura stared. "What was that?" Laura
squealed.
Dan continued to stare at the place where the light had
been. "This is just too weird! It must have been a hallucination. What I need is a
drink and a cigarette."
"I saw it, too," Laura insisted.
"You're probably a hallucination, too. I had too much
to drink. That's what it is. Anyway, I don't know about you, but I'm going to check out
that city down the road. I want to know what kind of people live in a world like
this."
"What about RC?"
"We'll keep him with us. This place suddenly gives me
the creeps. Who knows what goes on in this world? Maybe we'll find out about whatever it
was later, when we know more about this place. Anything can happen in dreams. Let's get
out of here. The answers we're looking for could be in that city."
The city gleamed and glittered like a jewel in the
sunlight.Even though the road was metallic, it never became more than lukewarm to the
touch.
It had been a three hour hike, but neither of them
felt tired.
The air was alive with eagle size dragon flies being chased
by gigantic colorful birds that obligingly gobbled them up in mid-air. They saw no more
dinosaurs, but heard the heavy rustling and roaring in the jungle and felt the slight
tremor of heavy feet even through the surface of the road.
"If those gates are made of pearl, I'll know we're in
Heaven," Laura said.
"Makes me think of the Emerald City in the Wizard of
Oz." Dan said. "Except for that one incident, it's been a great place to spend a
vacation. If my wife and son were here, I wouldn't mind staying. I keep wondering what
they're doing now. I know they probably think I' dead."
Laura sighed and scratched her head thoughtfully. "No
use thinking about that now. I deep feeling we're here for a special reason. We just have
to go with the flow. No choice, right?"
"Yeah, you're right. Let's just check the place
out," Dan rumbled.
These gates are not pearl. Looks like the same gold as the
road," Dan said as he studied the gates for a way to get in. "Just look at this
stuff! It must be worth millions; the walls, too. Is this real gem stone?"
They both looked more closely at the walls. It was marble
overlaid with transparent material of different colors in layers causing the walls to take
on the appearance of ruby, emerald, diamond, amethyst and other precious stones, only
these stones were glowing.
"I don't know what they used to overlay this, but it
feels like acrylic. Whatever it is, it makes the walls absolutely gorgeous." Laura
stepped back for a better look.
Dan stepped back, too, looking for a way in. "How do
we get in?" He studied the gates for a button, a knocker; something. He felt as far
as he could reach for any indentation. His exploring fingers found nothing.
Laura reached to touch the gates with both hands. They both
went over the gates as far as they could reach looking and feeling for anything that might
open the great doors.
Suddenly the gates began rolling back, disappearing into
the walls.
XXX
Dan found himself flying through the air. He landed hard,
face down, scraping his hands as he shielded his face. He could see his reflection in the
road as if it were a mirror. Also reflected was the form of a huge being reaching down for
him. Dan flipped over, feeling a hot flush of anger. Before his thoughts caught up with
common sense, his fists landed on legs as stout and big as tree trunks. He could hear
Laura shouting, "No, it was an accident." Dan just stared.
Big hands helped him to his feet. the man's voice spoke to
him, but he could not understand the words. He could not place the language or the accent.
The man had to be at least twelve feet tall and looked Egyptian, ancient Egyptian. He wore
the short belted skirt and gold trimmed head dress Dan had seen in books and movies. the
face looked strange; not qu9ite human, thought Dan cold not say what made the face look so
different. Laura stood next to him, staring, too. They were drawing a crowd.
"They all look like the Sphinx," Laura said.
"What?"
"Yes. It's the wide set eyes and square faces and look
at their hands and feet."
Dan glanced at the jeweled hands and sandaled feet. There
were too many fingers and toes. Was it six?
"We must look as strange to them as they do to us.
They're staring at us, too." Laura backed up a little.
The crowd that was gathered around them made an opening to
allow someone through; someone of obvious importance.
The figure coming toward them stood a head taller than the
rest of the people. Blond hair caught the light, dazzling in its brightness. He word a
short tunic with gold trim and gold sandals. His face looked more like theirs despite his
size and his hands and feet possessed the normal compliment of fingers and toes.
He stood in front of them inspecting them curiously. they
barely came up to his waist. No wonder Dan had been kicked into the air. He was so far
down, they could not see him. After a few moments the man sat down on the road to see them
better and began directing a staccato speech at them. His voice boomed like thunder.
Dan and Laura exchanged glances. "I'll try to talk to
him," Dan said.
Laura just nodded and stared. She had never seen such a
gorgeous male before.
"My name," Dan said pointing to himself, "is
Dan. What is your name?" Dan spoke the words slowly and carefully.
The man lifted his hand toward the crowd and dismissed them
with a wave. They all turned away, returning to what they had been doing.
"You must be the king or something, right?"
"No, I just govern this city for the prince. My
name is Salamas."
Laura gaped at him. "How do you know our
language?"
"I am one of the sons of God. You would call me an
angel. Angels," he said, "learn fast."
"Now I know I'm dreaming all this. There must have
been more than just alcohol in that last drink I had."
"I didn't have anything to drink and I'm here,
too," Laura said.
Salamas rose to his feet. "I have been expecting both
of you...and one other."
"Hey!"
They all turned in the direction of the shout.
In front of the open gate stood a neatly clad figure
dressed in blue. The sunlight glinted off short blond hair. "Mind if I join
you?"
"He is the other I have been waiting All of you
must be here for the Great Sing."
Chapter 3
ranksch1.htm
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