Oz

It felt strange to be back in Kansas again. With her eyes shut and her back laying against the soft dirt of her family lawn. Thought she hadn’t yet opened her eyes, Marianne could feel the sun beating down on her and knew it must have been some time around lunch – just the time when the tornado had blown through her childhood home.

Marianne didn’t want to open her eyes, mostly because she knew that it would mean she was back in Kansas – back to her real, ordinary life – but she forced herself to. Popping her eyes open, she tilted her head to the side, finding Louis laying right beside her. He was rubbing his eyes gently, as though he’d just woken up from a deep sleep, and when he felt his eyes on her, he turned his head.

“What happened?” Louis asked, breathless as he pushed himself up on his elbows.

Though she still had distinct memories of Oz filled in her head, she was scared to speak them out loud. She knew how insane she would sound if she talked about their journey to Louis, only to have him crush it all by saying it was just in her head.

“A – a tornado, I guess.” Marianne leaned up on her elbows, same as Louis, and looked out at their destroyed home in front of them. “It – it took everything.”

“No, I – I mean how did we get back here.”

“What?”

“Was it a spell or –” He cut himself off, looking back at Marianne with his eyebrows raised. “Tell me you remember it, too. It couldn’t have been a dream.”

Marianne looked at Louis, her eyes blinking wildly as relief washed over her. Maybe she wasn’t crazy after all. “I remember it, Lou. I remember everything.”

Louis gave a half smile before turning his head forward, his eyes landed on their home but his gaze was somewhere off in the distance.

“It – it’s over. It’s all over.”

Louis kept that same, distant gaze for a long while before Marianne finally broke the silence, knowing they couldn’t stay there forever.

“We should go into town,” Marianne said, standing up and brushing off her dusty dress. “We can see how bad it hit and get some fresh water before mom and dad get home.”

Louis nodded his head blankly before reaching for the keys in his pockets. His eyes scanned the area and he then looked back at Marianne again. “The truck is gone.”

Marianne bit her lip, looking back towards the long road that led into town.

“We can walk,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “We’re pretty good at that, aren’t we?”

Louis chuckled before giving a soft nod of his head, and the two began the long journey back into town. It had been just short of an hour before they reached the iconic cobble streets of downtown, where it seemed most of the shops had been left unharmed.

“I’m gonna get some water,” Louis said, motioning towards the supermarket behind him. “You wanna see if you can find somewhere to check the news?”

Marianne nodded her head gently, and Louis pulled her in for a small hug, catching Marianne completely off guard. He had never been very affectionate with her, but she imagined all the danger had put things in perspective for him.

“Meet back here in 15.”

With that, Marianne and Louis turned their separate ways, her heading straight for the drug store, where she knew there was a television in the back of the store.

She entered the building with a soft ding that announced the arrival of every patron, and began weaving through the aisles of the store she’d been to just a week before, though it seemed so different.

She was walking absent mindedly, her fingers grazing over the boxes of pills and snacks, until her slow gait was stopped by the force of another person running right into her. His hands steadied her with the help of her grabbing onto one of the shelves, and he was apologizing before Marianne even had a chance to figure out what was happening.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, pulling his hands away as he took a step back. “I didn’t see you there.”

A chill ran down Marianne’s spine at the sound of his voice, and she nearly fainted when she looked up at him. It couldn’t be really be him. Marianne knew that was impossible.

“It’s okay,” she said softly, looking into the eyes that were an exact replica of Liam’s. “I should have been paying closer attention.”

He laughed at her, and it was the exact same laugh she had heard back in that distant land. Just looking at him made her eyes swell up, but she knew she’d look insane if she started crying.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” the boy said, holding his hand out to her. Funny, Marianne thought, because she felt like she had seen him a thousand times before. “I’m Liam. My family just moved onto the farm off Mulburry.”

Marianne smiled at him, shaking his hand gently before pulling it back. “I know the place. My brother and I used to play around in the woods at the end of the property. Sorry I – uh – I’m Marianne.”

The boy, whose name was far too familiar, smiled at her. “That’s a beautiful name.”

“Thank you,” Marianne said quietly, kicking herself for not carrying the conversation more easily.

“You know, we’ve got no trespassing signs up now. Don’t think I won’t get out my shotgun if I see you and your brother out back again. I may have a weakness for beautiful girls, but that doesn’t mean I won’t protect my land if I need to,” Liam said with a wink, causing Marianne to blush, which she was sure he noticed. When Marianne didn’t say anything else, Liam continued. “Do you need help with your shopping? I won’t shoot you, I swear.”

Liam smiled a big smile and Marianne couldn’t help but smile with him.

“I actually – have you seen the news? I just wanted to check how bad the damage was.”

“Damage?”

“Yeah,” Marianne said softly, nodding her head. “From – from the tornado.”

“What tornado?” Liam asked, tilting his head to the side. He leaned against his elbow against the shelf, causing him to move just a little bit closer to Marianne.

“It – it went through our property. Destroyed everything.”

“Really?” Liam said, a look of shock on his face. “That’s awful. I – I don’t know what to say.” He bit his lip as he looked at her. “It must have been an isolated thing. I haven’t heard anything about it.”

Marianne’s eyebrows furrowed, even more confused than before. “It’s okay. We’ve got insurance. It’ll just be cleaning the place up that’s the hard part.”

Liam was reaching into his pocket almost immediately, and he pulled out his phone. “What’s your number? I’ll text you so you have mine.” He looked up at Marianne and quickly blushed himself, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. That was very forward, wasn’t it? Just – if you need anything, me and my family would be happy to help.”

“It’s fine, really,” Marianne said quickly before taking the phone from Liam’s hand and typing her number into it. “I appreciate it. Thank you, really.” Liam smiled at her and her grin widened. “I think I should find Louis now, though. I think he’s probably looking for me.”

Liam nodded his head, smiling back at her. “Text me if you need anything. Really, anything. And it was a pleasure to meet you.”

Marianne’s breath was gone the moment he walked away, and she walked doe eyed out of the drug store, walking to meet Louis only by muscle memory. It was pure luck that she hadn’t run into anyone else, and she would have run into Louis if he hadn’t spoken.

“You too?” He said, a small chuckle in his voice.

“What?” Marianne asked, floating back down to earth to look at her brother.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost. I’m guessing you saw Liam, too.”

“You – ”

“Saw Cecily? Yeah.” He pressed his lips together, looking at Marianne with his eyebrows pushed together. “She was the same but – but different somehow.”

Marianne nodded her head. Her gaze shifted to the ground before she looked back up at Louis. “What do you think this means?”

Louis chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. “I guess it means we still get our happily ever after.”