Oz

   “That’s the thing about this city It only appears every 99 years during the seventh full moon of the year like magic at the top of the valley, overlooking this gentle river.” The old hag pointed in the direction of the hill with a flat area on top. “The clouds come overnight and in the morning at sunrise the city appears like gold for 24 hours till the next daylight and vanishes again for 99 years, it’s the Emerald City from the land of Oz. I met Dorothy once but that was so long ago I don’t at all remember when. She had those red ruby slippers and a pleasant matter about her but she seemed a little PTSD. She didn’t smile too much”, as she rested against the tree smoking her corncob pipe stuffed with flowers. “You know I’m only 149 years old tomorrow, cross my heart I’ll make it, till the city appears in a few days. The moon is rising and you will be very lucky to drink from the fountain of eternal  life, just like I did many years ago. Very few of us  have you know, those of us who live around here never leave, we are bound to the valley forever. You will be able to drink from the fountain of eternal life. A very difficult decision for you to make, your airship crashing years ago, off course, your instruments failing going haywire like that, just like me. Recovering from injuries I decided to stay even though I fell out of the plane with a parachute, it was a no brainer, hardly a scratch. Everlasting life. You were in a Coma for years. Good thing you awakened when you did, oh I said that already” as she drew more of her pipe. “We have about 12 hours till sunrise. The clouds will start to form after Sunset and it will be unable to see anything through this fog as it is thick as pea soup from the river to the top of the hill. Absolutely no sound after dark, the animals are quiet too. Those damn dogs from the Proctor family never stop making noise. Tonight they’ll get their belly full of fog and keep the jowls shut up.Silence” said Ms. A.

       I began to feel the greatest that I have ever felt in all my life and she said I looked like I haven’t aged a day in all those years in a Coma. I was in an electrical storm somewhere near the Kansas triangle when the instruments started to go haywire, I became disoriented, blacked out, with the airplane inverted, that’s all I remember. My name is George Goldenberg from Topeka, a businessman on a flight in my private plane to bid on construction contracts in Denver. The year, I don’t, can’t recall. My mind was flushed nearly clean. He looked down at his reflection in the pool of water, he didn’t recognize the face. “The Wizard of Oz”, that book was sitting on the table next to the bed with a red bookmark inside. Flying monkeys something I wasn’t going to forget, well I did read that part, that’s where the bookmark was. Did I crash the plane by hitting the flying monkeys? It’s all a little hazy. Eternal life, fountain of youth, Emerald City, Yellow brick road? Who knows why I’m here? What kind of Nightmare is this?

The weather started to change the fog and clouds rolled in. I was hustled inside the Proctor's house. The Great Danes stared at me like I was forbidden fruit. The wife who was named Blue offered me a  Camomile herbal tea to take the edge off a busy tomorrow. This was the event of a Century. The Emerald City, eternal life, The Wizard of OZ. A beautiful vegetarian meal was prepared. Fresh picked salad with a yogurt dressing. Pita Pockets stuffed with sweet potatoes, veggies, dill and with harissa dressing.  Gnocchi and cucumber sides with Coleslaw. Yogurt Sorbet for dessert with Apple Streusel crunch. I slept like a dead man. The residents  arrived before dawn, my group led us to the approach to the hill. The sun rose over the hills and the yellow brick road appeared winding up the hill toward the Emerald City. All of us walked hand in hand towards the City blazing gold in all it’s glory.

“I see you made it George” as the old hag put her hand on my shoulder from behind. She was looking younger today, it must be the whole vibe going on from the fog lifting. The energy of City fulminating power rays invigorating the land and it's clans. Trumpets and horns blasted a fanfare as the gates opened towards us welcoming our group. The munchkins and townspeople of OZ cheered, sang, danced, with us as we entered the domain. The Wizard of Oz appeared on the balcony speaking to us from above. He talked about the fountain of youth and the eternal elixir of life. Humanity and Peace that could be only found in Oz. He completed the speech telling the history of Oz and the tale of Dorothy and how The Emerald city  had been forever been changed by it and the newcomers that came. The servers began to bring out the  unending buffet with wine, dancing, singing, toasting, It kept on like that till wee hours before dawn till we ended up at the Fountain of Youth in the Center. Some of Us had been given golden flutes to drink from the waters. The people of OZ stood back and cheered as we drank from the precious waters of the jeweled fountain. A look at the reflection in the waters, I saw a younger livelier me with unblemished skin and beautiful full hair, a hard lean and mean body. It was time to go and sad I was to leave the Emerald City. The old crone had changed into a younger woman. She grasped my hand as we headed down the yellow brick road, looking back at the city fading away in the clouds. “I think you’ll like it here George” as she squeezed my hand softly. I responded with a question I had been holding back all evening long, “What’s your name?”” Amelia” she said, “Amelia Earhardt.”