He was right. About an hour later, The Wizard, Toto, and I were standing in the basket of a hot air balloon with Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion standing around us on a platform. The entire city of Emerald City was out to send us off, and boy I was excited.

The Wizard was now giving his send off speech to his people who all stared at him and hung on every word.

"Good people of Oz, this is positively the finest exhibition ever to be shown. I, your Wizard par ardua ad alta, am about to embark upon a hazardous and technically unexplainable journey into the outer stratosphere.

To confer, converse, and otherwise hob-nob with my brother Wizards. And I hereby decree that until what time-if any- that I return, the Scarecrow, by virtue of his highly superior brains, shall rule in my stead, assisted by the Tin Man, by virtue of his magnificent heart, and the Lion- by virtue of his courage! Obey them as you would me! And…that's all.! Thank you!"

A man off the side of the platform untied the ropes holding the balloon to the ground. We had only gotten an inch off the ground when Toto, seeing a cat, jumped out of my arms.

"Oh! Come back here, Toto!" I called. "Come back!" I turned to the Wizard, "Oh, don't go without me! I'll be right back!"

I jumped out of the basket and raced to grab Toto. I had snatched him up and ran back to the balloon, but it was already too high for me to reach. "Oh! Come back! Don't go without me! Please come back!" I cried.

"I can't come back! I don't know how it works!" The Wizard yelled down to me before exiting the grounds and floating up to the sky.

I stared at the spot where the balloon faded out of sight and felt the tears gather in my eyes. I was so close to going home to Auntie Em. So close.

"Oh, no I'll never get home!"

Lion put a paw around my shoulder. "Stay with us, then, Dorothy. We all love you. We don't want you to go."

I gave him a weak smile and patted his hand. "Oh, that's very kind of you, but this could never be like Kansas. Auntie Em must have stopped wondering what happened to me by now." I turned to my first friend here in Oz. "Oh, Scarecrow, what am I going to do?"

Scarecrow looked down at me with sad eyes until he turned suddenly to something in the air. "Look! Here's someone who can help you!"

I looked up to see a familiar pink bubble floating towards us. Everyone moved out of it's way as it landed near the platform and Glinda appeared. She smiled sweetly as everyone as she walked over to me.

"Oh, will you help me? Can you help me?" I asked desperately.

"You don't need to be helped any longer," the Good Witch laughed. "You've always had the power to go back to Kansas."

"I have?" I was confused. If I had the power to go home all along, I would have been back home a long time ago.

"Then why didn't you tell her before?" Scarecrow asked.

"Because she wouldn't have believed me. She had to learn it for herself," Glinda smiled.

"What have you learned, Dorothy?" Tin Man asked me gently, but I heard the curiosity in his words.

"Well, I-I think that it-that it wasn't enough just to want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em- and it's that- if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with! Is that right?" I looked at Glinda for a confirmation to my answer.

"That's all it is!" she announced.

"But that's so easy!" Scarecrow pointed out. "I should have thought of it for you."

"I should have felt it in my heart," Tin Man said pointing to his watch.

"No," Glinda said." She had to find it out for herself. Now, those magic slippers will take you home in two seconds!"

"Oh! Toto too?"

"Toto too."

"Oh, now?"

"Whenever you wish."

"Oh, dear- that's too wonderful to be true! Oh, it's going to be so hard to say goodbye." I turned to my friends. "I love you all, too. Goodbye, Tin Man." I hugged him and he started to cry. "Oh, don't cry. You'll rust so dreadfully. Here-here's your oil-can. Goodbye." I placed his can in his open hand.

"Now I know I've got a heart-cause it's breaking," Tin Man cried softly.

I turned to Lion. "Oh, goodbye, Lion. You know, I know it isn't right, but I'm going to miss the way you used to holler for help before you found your courage." I attempted at a joke.

"Well- I would have never've found it if it hadn't been for you," he said quietly.

I turned to Scarecrow and started to cry. Hard.

"I think I'll miss you most of all." I gave him a big hug and squeezed his soft body before letting go and turning to Glinda.

"Are you ready now?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm ready now."

Glinda moved behind me and told me what to do. "Then close your eyes, and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself- 'There is no place like home; there is no place like home; there is no place like home.'"

I started to tap my heels together three times and repeated what the Good Witch told me to. "There is no place like home; there is no place like home; there is no place like home."

As I spoke, I felt myself relax at the thought of finally going home to the people that I loved. I was so excited that I could hardly wait.

So i forgot to mention that the characters (Wizard and Lion) like to make up words. I wrote their lines straight from the movie script so i can't take credit for coming up with their dialog. Sorry if their speech sounds odd to you. I hope you like what i got so far! Almost done with this one! -SagWarrior