Losing Homes and Meeting Scarecrows
DIMENSION: APOCALYPSE SUN'S
Place: Dominic Closin's home in Liberal, Kansas.
His sister Cheryl never believed him. Dominic usually watched his mouth around her, knowing she couldn't be coerced. If other people knew what he saw, they'd call him a freak. No one saw what he did. Colors, it would be great to see in more colors than blue. Maybe he could pretend he was normal that way. In his eyes though, he couldn't tell between the real world and the world he could see. He could guess that Cheryl could see the car out front, but probably not the woman pacing beside it. She could be real, but chances were she hadn't been. He'd seen her several times before. She was paired with another guy in his thoughts.
He had been quiet once about seeing things, and it worked out for a little while. His doctor and Cheryl both became worried that he was in denial. He knew denying the truth wouldn't work for long, especially as time went by. He began to see more than the characters, he saw his own future. He knew that Cheryl wouldn't be with him much longer.
It was late and his sister had been in bed. He had got up, having a sick feeling in his stomach. He knew what was outside the kitchen window, although he didn't want to believe it. He yanked the curtain back.
It was here.
Cheryl woke up in a start as she heard Dominic yell for her. Outside there was a large boom. She grabbed her robe, slipped on her slippers and grabbed the door handle. “Dominic!”
Dominic was in the kitchen looking out the window.
“Dominic?” Cheryl came closer to him until she looked out the window. Her hand quickly covered her mouth. They were on the outskirts of their small town, but they always had a view of it from the flat land it sat on. There were no houses, no cars, and no people. There wasn't even dirt, but a large swirling cloud the diameter of the town.
“You see?” Dominic ducked his head down. “I wish I didn't see sometimes. I wish I didn’t see!”
Cheryl grabbed her brother, bringing him closer to her. Dominic had been right. The town had been swallowed by some strange portal to another dimension.
***
DIMENSION: APOCALYPSE SUN'S
Place: Field in Liberal, Kansas
Darlene stumbled slightly as she made her way through the cornfield. It was a great Halloween party, but everyone had been drinking. That would be fine, but she was the designated driver for the night. Her friends had not helped things, teasing her that she couldn't have anything, not even a jello shot. Feeling restless and swearing someone else would be the driver next time, she headed to the car.
Darlene lived in the middle of Kansas, and there was nothing going on. All the time. It was a small town, plopped in the middle of nowhere land and 'where the hell is that'. She hugged the arms of her witch outfit as she walked. It had become chillier than she had expected.
“Excuse me?”
Darlene heard a voice around her. She looked around, but saw nothing except an old scarecrow up on its pole.
“Excuse me?”
No way. Darlene crept closer to the scarecrow. Okay, her friends were playing a practical joke. As she neared it even closer, she was startled as a hand shot up and caught the rim of the old hat.
“Oh, hello.” A person smiled brightly. “Could I ask for some assistance?”
“Worst joke ever,” Darlene said to him.
“Joke?” he added. “This is no joke. I need a little help getting down.”
Blonde hair. Cute. Darlene had never seen him before. “Are you new in town?” That might explain it. It couldn’t be a joke, someone had to have strung him up there.
“You could say that?” His answer was also a question as he threw the straw hat onto the ground. He looked around from his spot on the pole. “I have never been here before. Have we been whisked across the desert?”
Desert? “That'd explain it.” Darlene went over closer to the man. “Don't mess with Jayhawkers. There's some here that have nothing to lose.”
“What is a Jayhawker?” The man asked.
“People born in Kansas and basically never escaped. Who are you, man?” Darlene backed up.
“In need of help?”
“That's what people say right before they take someone out,” Darlene disagreed. Maybe she should call Scott or Joe instead. The town she lived in never had anything dangerous, but there were never many strangers either.
“Please, I would never betray you. I am a single scarecrow against a witch!” He pleaded to her.
A witch? Darlene looked at her outfit. “How much have you had to drink? It's a costume.” Darlene moved toward him again, deciding to help him down. He certainly didn't do that to himself, and her friends weren't too far if something went wrong. Looking at the back of the pole, she saw the extent of the cruel joke. His clothing was completely tethered to it. It snuck through the back of his shirt, and through his left pant leg. “That looks painful.”
“Quite, and I'm not used to pain,” he said anxiously. “Please, some assistance?”
Darlene didn't know exactly how to help other than to take his clothes off. That wasn't going to be an option though. She could break the wood, but what if it splintered and hurt him back? Deciding that gravity would be her best bet, she started to push and kick the wood until it tumbled.
She heard a slight sound of distress as it fell to the ground. Grabbing the wooden pole from behind his back, she began to yank it out slowly. She could see that his back was already painfully bruised, red, and scratched from the pole. “This is the cruelest joke ever played. You okay?”
“There is much pain. I am not used to that.” The guy stood up and touched his body. “I survived.” He spun around in a circle slowly, taking in the surroundings. “I have arrived in Kansas.”
“Yeah, welcome.” Darlene gestured to his clothes. “They went all out with the joke, you're dressed in blue.”
“Oh, yes, the Munchkins made me,” he answered. “The Munchkins loved blue. I had moved to green clothes, but I suppose I longed for blue in the end. A simpler time.” He extended his hand. “Scarecrow.”
“Yeah, you were hanging up like one,” Darlene agreed. “Come on, let's head back to the party. We'll find out more about you, and get you home so you can change.”
“I don't know how to go home.” He touched his nose. “I am not used to this face. I miss my painted one. This feels much more dimensional.” He touched his mouth. “My mouth is open and it moves, but I have no more straw inside for it to fall out.” He touched his head. “At least I still have my brain.”
Maybe. Darlene was beginning to expect he was treated badly because he was off his rocker.
“Oh, dear!” He declared. “What shall I do? Home is lost, and I am in Kansas.” He reached out to Darlene, grabbing her shoulders. “Where is Dorothy, my friend? I need my friend right now!”
“Okay, that's it.” Darlene pushed his hands off of her, drawing the line. “I don't know you, so don't think about putting your hands on me, you delirious whack job! What do you think this is, The Wonderful World of Oz or something?”
“Oz! You know of my home?” His delight that she knew the fairytale couldn't be described. The odd fellow even made a sort of jump in the air. “Do you know of my friend, Dorothy?”
Darlene looked around, wondering how she could have been stupid enough to get into this mess. Her friends shouldn't be far. “Hey, some help here?” she shouted out.
“Yes, help please!” The man shouted too. “I am looking for Dorothy!” He gestured around the air. “I have never heard of asking a sky for help, but anything's possible.”
“Look, there is no Dorothy,” Darlene said as she tried to back away. “She's just a fairytale like Cinderella or Snow White.”
“Snow White?” he asked her. “You mean you believe that Dorothy is an imaginary character like the dwarves? The Snow Queen? The Apocalypse Sun?”
Odd. Darlene had heard of all of those, except for Apocalypse Sun. “What's Apocalypse Sun?”
“The most known of all fairytales.” He spoke softer. “Well, what do you know of Dorothy then?”
“Look, Oz is just a fairytale world, and she's some character from a farm in the nineteen thirties or whatever. I forget, a long time ago.”
“Nineteen thirty. What is a nineteen thirty?” He asked her. “And please, call me Scarecrow. What is your name?”
“Nine one one,” Darlene said, guessing he wouldn't get the joke. She called back out to her friends, but there was no sound. “Just hang out right here, I've got to check on my friends.”