Somewhere Over The Rainbow/Part 1

One night in the Smurf Village, as the Smurflings were settling down in their beds, Empath was reading to them one of Sassette's favorite books The Wizard Of Odds. It was all about a little girl named Dorothy who was taken up in a whirlwind from her village to a fantastical land called the Land of Odds. There Dorothy met up with three beings -- the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsmurf, and the Cowardly Lion -- who joined her on her journey to the Emerald Village, where they met with the great and powerful Wizard of Odds. He gave the four a task to prove their worth -- to destroy the Wicked Witch of the West -- and when they came back with the proof of her destruction, the Wizard awarded the Scarecrow with the gift of brains, the Tin Woodsmurf with the gift of a heart, and the Cowardly Lion with the gift of courage. For Dorothy's reward, however, Glinda the Good Witch showed up because she knew that all the little girl wanted to do was to go home.

"And so with the click of her smurfberry red heels, Dorothy found herself in bed back in her own village, being taken care of by her own aunt and uncle," Empath said. "She was so glad to have returned to her village, even though her aunt and uncle told her that she hadn't gone anywhere, that she told them that there was no place like home. And so, my little Smurflings, that is the end of the story."

"That was a great story, Empath," Sassette said. "Pappy tells it almost the same way as you do."

"Yeah, well, I don't see why it's so important for the story to have a girl Smurf as the hero, especially one who has to rely on the help of a few friends on this journey in the land of Odds," Snappy said.

"You'd probably wish you had a sword or something so that you can smurf that Wicked Witch of the West down to size, Snappy," Slouchy said.

"Is there any law that says that only boy Smurfs can be heroes of any story, Snappy Smurfling?" Sassette asked.

"I smurfonally think there should be...otherwise how can there be a damsel in distress for the hero to rescue?" Snappy answered.

"A good story doesn't need to have exclusively a male character as the hero or even have a 'damsel in distress' that needs to be rescued, Snappy," Empath said. "If a character has the courage to face up with whatever enemies and obstacles the story puts in his or her path to deal with, then the gender of the hero is totally irrelevant. And heroes don't always have to go through their journey alone, if they know that having a company of friends to go along with them helps the heroes accomplish their goals and that of their friends."

"Just think of the things that we smurfed through together as Smurflings," Nat said. "You think either of us would be better off if we didn't have each other to smurf on for help?"

"I still want to be a great lone hero, just like Empath Smurf," Snappy said.

"Honestly, this smurf would rather be just one of the Smurfs like you, Snappy," Empath said. "Being granted with abilities that are greater than those of this smurf's fellow Smurfs hasn't exactly made this smurf's life any happier."

"I want to see this magical world of Odds for myself someday, Empath," Sassette said. "To smurf down the yellow brick road to meet every single character in the story and to see the Emerald Village for myself..."

"You'll never see that land, Sassette, because it's all a fantasy, and besides that Handy's still working on getting the Imaginarium thing smurfing again," Snappy said.

"Perhaps you will get to see this land when Handy does get the Imaginarium functional again, Sassette," Empath said. "For now, the only place we can see this land is in our dreams, which means that it's time for us to go to sleep."

"Thank you for smurfing me that story, Empath," Sassette said as Empath looked at her getting ready for sleep.

Empath kissed Sassette on the forehead. "This smurf is honored to be your storyteller, Sassette, and that of your fellow Smurflings. Rest well...this smurf will see you again in the morning."

"Good night, Empath," all four of them called out as Empath left the Smurflings' playhouse. - And so the four Smurflings had drifted off to sleep, and the night was quiet and peaceful at first. But then suddenly the four Smurflings could feel their playhouse shifting around.

All four them began to wake up. "Hey, what's smurfing on in here?" Nat asked.

"It feels like our house isn't smurfing on the ground," Slouchy said.

Sassette opened a window and saw what happened. "Giggling gooseberries, look outside! Our house is being smurfed by a tornado!"

"A tornado? But that's impossible! How can there be a tornado in the Smurf Village?" Snappy asked.

"I don't know, Snappy, but the only thing it smurfs to be carrying away is us," Nat said as he also looked out a window.

"Yeah, but where is it taking us to?" Slouchy said.

Then suddenly the house started spinning around, and the Smurflings could barely stay standing on their feet as everything went around in circles. Sassette saw that the door to their house suddenly opened, and her three friends ended up flying out of it, crying for help.

"Nat! Snappy! Slouchy!" Sassette exclaimed, seeing her friends disappear with nothing that she can do about it.

She hung onto her bunk bed for dear life as the house continued to spin around, being carried high in the air by the tornado. And then soon enough it came down to the ground until it landed hard, though with the house still intact.

Sassette was curious as to where the playhouse had been carried to. She opened the door and looked outside, and was amazed by what she saw -- an entire village that looked much like her own, except that everything was in rich vibrant colors, more vibrant than anything she had seen Painter do any sort of painting with.

She stepped out the door to see the beauty of this new world when she heard a familiar barking sound. She looked around and saw that it was Puppy -- but somehow Puppy had shrunk until he was less than Smurf-size.

"Puppy! How did you get here? And how did you get like this?" Sassette asked, sounding grateful that the Smurfs' pet was with her in this strange land. She took Puppy into her arms and held him for a bit as he licked her face before dropping him back on the ground again. "Somehow I don't think we're back in the Smurf Village anymore."

Then Sassette saw a bright pink bubble appear from the sky, floating towards her until it landed in front of her, and then it changed into what appeared to be Smurfette wearing a very fancy dress and hat while carrying a star-topped magic wand. "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" the female asked.

"I'm not a witch at all," Sassette replied. "I am Sassette, who comes from the Smurf Village. What is this place that I have smurfed to?"

"This is the magical land of Odds, and I am Glinda the Good Witch," the female answered. "Where you have landed is in the village of Smurfkinland, which was ruled by the Wicked Witch of the East, that very same witch that your house must have killed."

Sassette looked back and saw the striped stocking legs of somebody wearing smurfberry red heels lying underneath where the Smurflings' playhouse had landed. "Oh, my smurfness! I didn't mean to do that!"

"What do you mean, 'you didn't mean to do that'?" another voice broke in which sounded like a female version of Gargamel's house. They turned to see that another female being, this time with green skin and resembling Gargamel, had appeared on the scene from a thick green mist.

"That is her sister, my child, the Wicked Witch of the West," Glinda pointed out.

"I've come here to get the smurfberry red heels that my sister wore, for they have a magical power that only her and I know how to control," the Wicked Witch of the West said as she looked toward the house and saw the legs of the other witch still wearing the heels. But as she approached the legs, the witch saw that both the legs and the heels have disappeared. "The smurfberry red heels...where did they go?"

"They're right here on the young girl's feet, which is where they will stay," Glinda answered.

Sassette looked down and was surprised to find that she was now wearing the smurfberry red heels. "Babbling bluebirds!" she exclaimed.

"Give me those heels right now, you little blue troublemaker," the Wicked Witch of the West demanded. "Their power means nothing to you. Give them back or I'll..."

"Begone, you wicked witch, before another house drops down upon your head," Glinda retorted.

"I'll be returning to my castle, but just you try anything...I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too," the Wicked Witch of the West said, cackling before she disappeared again into the thick green mist.

"I'm afraid that as long as you wear the smurfberry red heels, you'll be in much danger of that wicked witch," Glinda said. "The only way for you to escape her wrath is to head to the Emerald Village and seek help from the great and powerful Wizard of Odds."

"But I can't leave this place yet, Glinda," Sassette said. "My friends...the other Smurflings...they were also carried away by this tornado and they had been smurfed out of our house...I've got to see where they have been smurfed off to."

"If your friends are in this place, I'm sure that you will find them along the path that leads to the Emerald Village...that path that is the yellow smurf road," Glinda said. "That's all you need to follow."

And in the next moment, Glinda transformed back into the pink bubble and floated away, leaving Sassette alone with Puppy, who barked eagerly to get going.

Sassette sighed. "Come on, Puppy. If the only way to find our friends is to follow the yellow smurf road, then we might as well do what Glinda says. I just hope we can find them so that we can also find a way to smurf back home."

And with that, Sassette started on her journey toward the Emerald Village.