At this point in the story, Abriana Thomas (whom the inhabitants of Oz think is a good sorceress), Diana (her best friend from the 21st century who came along to overcome her lack of confidence), Dorothy, and Toto have just escaped from the castle dungeon of the Wicked Witch of the West. A Winkie guard had just been talked into helping them get to the well where the Wicked Witch had thrown Abriana's magic token. After stumbling out into the castle courtyard, they all came face to face with three nasty Winkie guards. Oh ... and in the book by L. Frank Baum about the original Dorothy, Mr. Baum gave her silver slippers, and not ruby slippers. That was something the movie changed from the book.

Abriana stepped out in front of the three charging guards. "Wait one dinky-darny minute. May I remind you that you cannot hurt Dorothy because of her silver shoes?"      One guard pointed a spear at Dorothy's right foot, clothed only with a white stocking. "She only has one shoe. And after one day, the witch says we can kill her and take the other."      "That's in the Witch's Code of Oz," said a second Winkie, "section six, paragraph eighteen, item number thirty-six."      The girls' Winkie guard rammed the blunt end of his spear on the ground and saluted. "Sirs, I was taking them to the Witch of the West, who requested they be fetched to her private chambers … for a little private torture, mind you."      "Well," one of the guards said. "That's a horse of a different color."      Abriana threw up her hands and she shook her head. "In this Oz, unlike the movie, they always talk about the horse of a different color, but you never see it."      "You should have told us of the Witch's request to begin with," another guard said. "We will relieve you then, and you may go back and guard the jail cell fitting of your rank."      The friendly Winkie shook his head. "But the witch requested me to accompany them-"

          The biggest of the three guards thrust the butt of his spear into the ribs of the friendly Winkie. "I said I'd take it from here. I'm the Captain of the Guard."

     Diana stepped forward. "For once I will display some confidence," she muttered loud enough for Abriana to hear. Then she looked up at the three menacing guards. "I insist the jail cell guard take us. It is the wish of the Wicked Witch."

     Another guard hit Diana in the stomach with the butt of his spear. Abriana and Dorothy sprang to Diana's side.

     "It was a brave move," Abriana said. "A bold showing of confidence. Please don't let this little setback keep you from trying it again."

     Diana coughed and looked into Abriana's face. "No. I'll never quit." She sprang to her feet and lunged toward the guard who had hit her. "I will never give up … never surrender!" Then she stomped down on the guard's toe.

     He backed away hopping on one foot, and the friendly Winkie whacked him over the head with his spear, snapping the weapon in two. The struck guard fell over and passed out.

     Abriana pointed to the unconscious guard. "You see, hitting each other over the head works for them. Why not for us?"

     Diana rubbed the pain in her side. "Because they're the storybook characters?"

     The friendly guard snatched up the unconscious guard's spear and battled the other two. "Quick," he said. "Go to the well and do what you must. I will hold them off."

     The guards continued to battle as the girls sprinted to the well. When they reached it, Dorothy set Toto down. He immediately dashed back to the bad guards barking to distract them.

     "Look at that," Abriana said, pointing at the fighting guards. "It's just like that western movie, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral."

     "Except," added Diana, "it's more like the Spearfight at the W.W. Courtyard … where WW stands for Wicked Witch." They both laughed as Dorothy scratched her head looking bewildered by it all.

     Abriana threw out her arms on either side. "Quick, help me off with my dress."

     "Whatever for?" Dorothy said.

     Abriana pointed to the round well. "I can't climb down with this thing on. I've got to be able to see my feet."

     Diana and Dorothy started undoing Abriana's dress.

     "But what about the men fighting over there?" Diana said. "Are you willing to strip in front of them?"

     "Hey … I've got shorts and a T-Shirt on underneath," Abriana said.

     Stripping off the dress and petticoats, she climbed on the well wall and hung one leg over the open space.

     Dorothy pointed to Abriana's purple shorts. "That certainly is strange. I've never known drawers to be any color but white."

     "That's because they're shorts," Abriana said, and she started down the well by placing her foot on a shelf created by protruding bricks about five feet down. As she stood on the extremely narrow ledge, she peeked over the well wall at her friends. "Wish me luck."

     Bending her knees trying to squat down to reach the ledge with her hands didn't work, because her knees plowed into the wall. By swinging her right foot around while holding onto the top, she managed to turn and face outward; and when she stooped down, her knees bent away from the wall.

     However, when her hands made contact with the ledge, she could not figure out how to lower her feet to the next ledge. To do that, she needed to turn around again, but her knees would not allow such a movement.

     "Dash my dinky-darny knees!" she swore. Abriana's mind racked itself for a solution as the girls cheered her on from above. Reaching out to her left, she found a crag in the wall and swung herself around grabbing onto it with both hands. Her feet came off the ledge, and she dangled facing the brick wall. The girls above squealed probably thinking she was about to fall.

     Keeping hold of the crag with her right hand, she reached to the left and found the ledge. Then she transferred her other hand and dangled facing the wall, while searching for another ledge below with her toes.

     Abriana planted them and turned around, much in the same manner as when she had before, she bent as low as she could. Then she found another crag to her left and repeated the same sequence which resulted in her standing on the third ledge.

     Repeating the process a few more times found Abriana halfway down, about twenty feet above the water level. Then she heard screams from above. Looking up, she saw three faces staring down at her. Dorothy's on one side, Diana's on the other, and the Wicked Witch's in the middle; and she had hold of the ears of the other two girls yanking on them.

     "Oh, ho!" said the witch. "What a lovely day it is today? Doing a little shallow sea diving I see … and in your drawers, too. You naughty, naughty girl."

     "They're shorts," Abriana shot back.

     The witch banged the two girls' heads together and they dropped back out of sight. Then the Witch disappeared for a few seconds before returning in plain view again.

     "You must be a little thirsty by now, and a well is definitely a place where you can get drinking water. Looks like all you need is a cup." Then a large object eased into view and hovered over the witch's head. "Here is a drinking cup for you when you reach the bottom. Drink well, and quench all of your thirst. Get it? Drink well! "

     As the object sped toward Abriana, she barely could make it out to be a bucket. There was no time to swing freely to one side, so she shielded her head with one arm, but the bucket crashed through it and boinked her on the head. Losing her balance, she let go of the wall and felt herself falling through free space. Then a splash sounded followed by a great pain all along the front of her body where it had hit flat on the water's surface.

     As her consciousness faded and her struggle for air failed, she could hear faint rolls of laughter through the thickness of the water above her.

      Is this it? Is this how I will come to an end … drowning in a storybook land? Oh, well, if that's what's to happen, then so be it.