On Beyond Oz

The puppy drew back the curtain, and there was an odd little imposter man manipulating smoke and mirrors.

The puppy was smarter than the rest.

And the man told them that everything they wanted from him was already waiting inside their own selves. All they had to do was look.

Do you think the Scarecrow and the Tin Man and the Lion and the little girl ever again asked someone else to solve their troubles for them? With that brain and that heart and that courage and that resolve all waiting to be tapped, would they do anything besides figure it out for themselves? Would they ever again trust people behind curtains with smoke and mirror machines? Ever? Again?

Well, being only human (or straw or metal or feline), sure, maybe they did, but now they knew enough to recognize a mistake while they were making it, and when someone proclaimed, “I am the Great and Powerful,” they knew enough to pull back the curtain and say, “No, you’re not, you’re just a fraud, and we can fend for ourselves, thank you.”

Wizards have been sending others to go kill witches for them for years upon years. Meet the new wizards, same as the old wizards. Don’t get fooled again.

I’m my own person, and I approve this message.


illustration © Vickifrance | Dreamstime.com

Published by WarrenBluhm

Wordsmith and podcaster, Warren is a reporter, editor and storyteller who lives near the shores of Green Bay with his wife, two golden retrievers, Dejah and Summer, and Blackberry, an insistent cat. Author of It's Going to Be All Right, Echoes of Freedom Past, Full, Refuse to be Afraid, Gladness is Infectious, 24 flashes, How to Play a Blue Guitar, Myke Phoenix: The Complete Novelettes, A Bridge at Crossroads, The Imaginary Bomb, A Scream of Consciousness, and The Imaginary Revolution.

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