Seeing Indigo,
my little Goth Munchkin in the center of a crumbling Yellow Brick Road in my
mind, I knew that I could write DOROTHY MUST DIE. Her body’s tattooed with the
twisted history of Oz. She’s wearing all black leather. And she’s the
definitive proof to Amy Gumm and the reader that we aren’t in Kansas anymore
and that Oz is a lot different than we remember it. Indigo is one of the first
people that Amy meets along her journey. Here’s a little glimpse of Indigo’s
life before she met Amy.
*****
Indigo looked at the dancing girl on
her arm. But it wasn’t just the ink that was moving. She was shaking just a
little. Which wasn’t at all like her.
She hadn’t even flinched a few
months ago when the tattoo artist rested a dozen magical needles on her arm and
let them go. She knew it was magic, but she her curiosity almost outweighed the
searing pain. Watching those needles know exactly where to go, watching them
paint the story of Oz so far on her skin, Indigo hadn’t even shed a tear. Okay,
maybe just the one. But right now, standing in front of her house alongside her
fellow munchkins, she was facing something a lot scarier than needles.
Indigo never knew that pink could be
so creepy. But there Glinda was, proving her wrong in all her glittering,
terrifying, pink glory. Her pink ball gown was swirling in a breeze that seemed
to only be blowing for her. Her pink skin glowed in the unusually hot Oz sun.
And her unnatural smile was wider than ever. Her smile reached for her
eyes. Permasmile forced a smile on your face no matter how you really felt.
Glinda was lining the munchkins up
for a Happiness Opportunity. Since the Happiness decree, “happiness” in Oz
meant something very different. Something that was maybe the opposite of
Happiness.
Dozens and dozens of neighbors and
schoolmates joined the line, which began where Glinda was standing and extended
in front of the main stretch of pastel domed houses. Some joined the line
slowly and reluctantly. Others still believed that Glinda was still Good and
they were smiling and chatting as if everything was fine. Indigo looked at the
disparity between those who believed in Glinda and those who didn’t. Everything
wasn’t fine.
Indigo knew munchkins were known for
their cheerfulness and occasional tendency to burst into song. The cheerfulness
thing wasn’t true for every munchkin, but the singing did happen more often
than Indigo liked to admit. Indigo’s songs were a little bit darker than
everyone else’s. But there had been a lot less singing since Dorothy and Glinda
came to power and Indigo really doubted anyone would be singing today. Indigo
grabbed her best friend Rafe’s hand and pulled him to the very end of the line.
They could still see Glinda but somehow she felt safer further away from that
smile.
Indigo craned her neck and searched
the line for her mom’s familiar apron and her dad’s jaunty little green hat
that he insisted on wearing. She sighed relief at seeing neither. Mom had said
something about errands when Indigo wasn’t applying attention; Maybe whatever
they were doing would keep them away long enough to miss whatever Glinda was
planning.
Beside her, Rafe gave Indigo a look
that said, pull down your sleeve. Another look. Because what if Glinda saw.
Indigo left her leather sleeve where
it was. A small act of defiance. But in Oz the smallest act could be the
difference between life, death, or really, really bad punishment.
Rafe cast another worried look over
her. Indigo did stand out in line. Most munchkins favored colorful costumes in
cottons and silks. And Indigo was wearing head to toe black leather. Glinda
might poof her out of existence based on her outfit alone.
“Your participation means the world
to Princess Dorothy and Queen Ozma, and to the Happiness of our fair land,”
Glinda said curtseying to the munchkins as if she were serving them and not the
other way around. Indigo could see in the faces of some of her neighbors that
it was working. They believed her.
Indigo snorted, and Rafe nudged her.
Glinda swiveled her head in their direction.
Indigo froze for a beat, but Glinda
blinked and turned her 1000 watt smile back to the center of the crowd. Indigo
looked at Rafe’s profile as he pasted on a smile for Glinda. Maybe it was the
fear? Maybe it was the perfection of the slope of Rafe’s nose? But what
happened on their last trip to the tattoo parlor suddenly popped into her head.
Rafe had always gone with her when
she got her tattoos. He had sworn he was just going as a spectator. But in the
end she’d convinced him to get something of his own. Something that meant
something. He got a monkey’s wing on one of his biceps. He said it was because
it was the best looking. But Indigo wanted to think that deep down he believed
in what the Wingless had done, cutting off their wings to be free. Or maybe it
was some other reason. Maybe for Rafe, her childhood friend, it was something
more, and maybe it meant he would follow her anywhere she wanted to go.
Rafe looked like he was going to
bolt when he sat down in the artist’s chair.
“You’ve braver than you think. We
all are.” Indigo told him and kissed him just as the needles went in.
It was just a peck but she was
pretty sure that Rafe never felt those needles—or at least he didn’t mind as
much.
“Now hold each other’s hands and we
will travel together,” Glinda ordered in her lilting voice taking her out of
her memory.
Travel? There was no time to relive
kisses when Glinda wanted to take them somewhere else. Indigo thought about the
rumors she’d heard about Glinda and Dorothy. And about what she’d seen herself.
The road of yellow brick had started to crumble. The trees had stopped talking.
Dorothy and her friends weren’t good anymore. Some of the Winged had become the
Wingless to get away from Dorothy. What did Glinda want munchkins for? They had
no magic. What could she make them do?
“Where?” the word escaped her lips
and Rafe turned in line toward her. Glinda floated up above the crowd to get a
better look. Indigo and Rafe stood perfectly quiet and still for a beat and
Glinda sank down again.
“Where, doesn’t matter my dears,”
Glinda sing-sing-songed. She’d heard Indigo.
How could it now matter? How could
she take a whole village in the middle of the day without telling them where or
why?
“What matters is that we are all
going to be very Happy. And each one of you will play a role in that. All you
have to do is hold hands and I will take care of the rest.”
Indigo looked on in disbelief, as
one by one, Indigo’s neighbors took each other’s hands. As the hand holding
wave got closer to where Indigo stood, a thought seized her and she turned to
Rafe.
“We have to get out of here,” she
whispered to Rafe. They shouldn’t be going anywhere with Glinda. She and
Dorothy were changing Oz in the name of Happiness, but every day everyone was a
little less happy. Indigo had never been the cheerful type. She wasn’t a
hundred percent sure of what happiness was, but she didn’t want to be part of
Glinda and Dorothy’s version of it. And she didn’t want Rafe to be either.
“Rafe,” she said gently this time.
He shook his head.
Mr. Petti-fours who was standing next
to Rafe reached out his hand.
Rafe hesitated and looked back at
Indigo.
“You’re braver than you think,”
Indigo whispered.
Rafe shook his head and took Mr.
Petit-fours’ hand.
“This isn’t the time to brave,” Rafe
said, his eyes pleading as he reached out to her.
If not now, then when?
Indigo didn’t take Rafe’s hand;
instead, she ducked behind him, out of sight, and headed back to the road of
yellow brick.
“You’re braver than you think.” She
whispered again. This time to herself.
