The Forest Monster of Oz Part 8

"Nor have I got them now," explained Ozma. "But I have made myself appear to you as you would have me appear. Because I am a Fairy, I can make myself look any way I please. But underneath, I am still the same little girl I have always been." The wings vanished again.

"But how can this be?" shuddered the marshmallow man.

"It is really very simple," explained Ozma. "When I first took the throne of Oz, I had the same blonde hair that you see me with now. But I might decide one day to be a brunette." Her hair suddenly changed color as she spoke. "Or even a redhead." Again, the child's hair changed color. "Why, if I had a mind to, I could even make it green!" Again, her hair color changed. "You know, I think I might want to try being a brunette once in a while. Just for a change, you know. And if ever I must meet with dignitaries from another country--especially one of those narrow-minded mortal lands, I think I might want to appear to them as an adult. But, of course, I like being youthful, so I will not really age.

I will just make myself appear that way on occasion when the situation calls for it."

The marshmallow man fell to his marshmallow knees. "Forgive me, your Highness!" he said. "You really are a Fairy! I most humbly apologize for my mistake. But you must admit, you really did look like a mere human child. How was I to know?"

"I don't think it should have mattered," said Elephant. "Do you really imagine that it is ever proper to feed any sentient being to a crocodile? Even a regular mortal child?"

"You are a wild animal," spoke the marshmallow man. "You should know better than anyone that such is the way of survival. We do not want the crocodiles to eat us, but we know that they must eat. I doubt that they would be satisfied with tofu or falafel burgers, either. These crocodiles are carnivorous, and they require fresh meat in order to survive. Would you have them become extinct?"

"He has a point," said Hootsey. "We really can't blame the crocodiles for their metabolisms. But we can't allow them to eat our Queen, either!"

"Oh, no," said the marshmallow man. "Now that I know who she is, I have no intention of feeding her to the crocodiles any more."

"Nor any of my companions," said Ozma in a tone of voice that would not tolerate any argument. "But you do have a legitimate problem. You are citizens of Oz, and therefore my subjects. I will not allow any of my subjects to be threatened by any carnivorous crocodiles."

"Then the crocodiles will not be able to survive," said Lisa sadly.

"But nothing can actually die anywhere in Oz," said Nibbles.

"Then they will grow horribly uncomfortable if they can't eat what Nature dictates they should," said Lisa. "I, for one, would rather die than have a constant emptiness in my tummy or lack of energy due to malnutrition."

"Indeed," agreed Elephant. "To go hungry is a terrible fate. Isn't there some alternative?"

"Nothing short of allowing the crocodiles to eat you," replied the marshmallow man.

"Then all is lost," sighed Hootsey. "Our benevolent ruler will have to decide who will be the recipient of her benevolence. It will have to be a choice between the carnivorous crocodiles or their natural source of food. One of the two must suffer."

"How sad," said Lisa. "I had always heard that rulers and queens had a tough job, but I had always doubted it. On the surface, it looks like queens get to live in beautiful palaces with servants who meet all of their needs. And they are allowed to go to bed any time they like, or eat chocolate ice cream for breakfast if they wish. But now I begin to understand why their lives are so difficult. I sure wouldn't want to have to make a decision like that. Basically, you'll be condemning an entire race to extinction--just like the dodo bird or the winkledejimpker!"

"Couldn't we use criminals and thieves to feed to the crocodiles?"

suggested Nibbles.

"I will not allow even them to be tortured this way," said Ozma. "Even a thief deserves a chance to make up for his past misbehaving."

"Then what can we do?" asked the marshmallow man.

"Hey!" said Elephant, suddenly having an idea. "There is a grove of trees that grows near the Lunechien Forest. Some of the trees have fruits growing on them. Others have seed pods or alarm clocks or other such normal things that one always expects to find growing on trees. But I think there are also a couple of ham and sausage trees there. I'll bet they would suffice for the crocodiles. Then they wouldn't have to eat any living creatures in order to satisfy their natural cravings."

"A grand idea!" said the marshmallow man. "I have never heard of such odd trees as those, but I'm sure the crocodiles will be thrilled to learn that they no longer have to be hated and feared by their fellow beings."

"Of course," said Lisa. "No one wants to be feared. And if they are now able to get their meat without any stalking or struggling, they might need some other form of exercise to keep from growing fat or sluggish. I think we should organize some group activities that will allow the crocodiles and owls to interact together as friends."

"And maybe Pinky and I could arrange a similar thing for us elephants to get together with them."

"I think the mice would be a little too scared," shuddered Nibbles.

"Not after I have one of those ham trees transplanted in their marsh,"

said Ozma. She turned to the marshmallow man. "Would you be willing to take charge of that?"

"Of course," he replied. "It will also make my own people live in greater comfort to know that the crocodiles will never be hungry for them again. But ... er, just out of curiosity, are there any marshmallow trees around? Just to be on the safe side, you know."

They all laughed.

CHAPTER 10

ALL ABOUT THE GILLIGOGGS AND THE DROFFS

The Droffs and the Gilligoggs had never understood each other. They were a different people, really. For example, the Droffs were s.h.a.ggy-looking creatures with forms that resembled the Wooly Mammoth. They had short squat legs like tree trunks; short squat little bodies with arms to match, and heads that were too large for their bodies with eyes that were buried beneath long straggly s.h.a.ggy fur. Their voices had a deep gruff sound not unlike a cave man might have sounded, and their words came out in a torrent of grunts that did not vary in tone and that did not exactly follow the rules of grammar. For example: "Who you?" "What you name?" "How got you this place?" "Why you here for?" etc. Whereas the Gilligoggs were quite elegant--even sophisticated--compared to the Droffs. They were tall and slender, with long delicate fingers that they waved expressively as they talked. They also had long hair but it was as soft and sweet smelling as the Droffs' hair was coa.r.s.e and pungent.

Their faces were feminine looking (even the males) with long curling eyelashes, delicately chiseled features, full lips, etc. The only perceptible difference between the males and females was that the males'

voices were a little deeper, and they were a little taller.

Anyway, as you can imagine, two peoples that were so different had very little love for one another. Why this should be I do not know, except that people with different appearances seem to distrust each other, even when there has been no physical aggression between them. Neither group would willingly mix with the other either socially or even live in the other's neighborhood. Each race pretty much kept to itself.

I suppose that in a way, the Gilligoggs looked down on the Droffs. They considered them somehow inferior to themselves. The Droffs were well aware of this and were deeply resentful. Now if you or I were to try to a.n.a.lyze the exact reason for this, we might fall short of our goal. We could say that the Gilligoggs were far more intelligent because their speech was more sophisticated. But if you took the trouble to get to know a Droff, you would find that, in spite of their crude manner of speech, they are, as a whole, equally as intelligent as the Gilligoggs, except that they express their intelligence in a different way. Another argument might be that the Droffs were not nearly so sweet smelling in comparison. Now, this may be true in one way, but in actual fact, the Droffs had just as high a standard of personal hygiene as the Gilligoggs. It was just that the Gilligoggs' olfactory senses were sensitive to the natural scent of the Droffs (just as the Droffs'

olfactory senses were equally sensitive to the natural scent of the Gilligoggs). And while neither group found the other offensive in this way, they could detect a difference, albeit on a subconscious level.

Another argument might be that the Droffs had lower social standards than the Gilligoggs. This argument, too, has to fall by the wayside. For reasons that we will not go into here, the Droffs had had difficulty in keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak. Due to circ.u.mstances beyond their control, they had not done quite as well on a socioeconomic scale.

So there you have it. And this was the situation that Elephant and his pals were confronted with after their excursion with the Marshmallow people. As they continued on their way to the home of the Saber-Toothed Light-Bulbs, they hardly expected yet another interruption. But it happened all the same. A particularly tall and attractive Gilligogg woman who looked to be about sixteen approached them. She had dark hair that glistened in the sunlight in a particularly gorgeous manner which reminded Lisa of fine silk.

"Greetings," said Ozma to the young lady. Even though she was not anxious to be interrupted again, she was always polite to her people.

She knew that, in order to be a good ruler for the land of Oz, she should be aware of the individual needs of all of the Ozites.

"Good morrow," came the reply. The lady's voice was like music.

Beautiful music such as is usually reserved only for the Fairies, angels or G.o.ds. So in awe of this lovely lady were our adventurers that only Ozma found her voice which, though beautiful in its own youthful manner, did not hold a candle to that of this Gilligogg lady.

"I am Ozma, the Queen of Oz," said the little girl. "My friends and I are on our way to enlist the help of some people who live beyond your territory. I hope you won't mind if we pa.s.s through your lovely country."

"You are the Queen," said the lady. "I am only a princess. Far be it from me to tell you what you can or can not do." She seemed disinterested as she spoke. "My name is Dianna, and my father is the ruler of the Gilligoggs." If this young lady felt any doubt that Ozma was indeed a queen, she did not let on. Indeed, she seemed unconcerned as to the ident.i.ty of her queen. "But I shall tell you that the Gilligoggs are the only people in this region. We are all that is here.

Well, unless you count the Droffs. But you could not be looking for the Droffs. They are so far beneath your station."

"Oh, no," sighed Tweaty. "I think we are about to get stuck in the middle of another time-consuming battle like the Stinkfoot and Sniffer war! This will not be a good thing for any of the Lunechien Forest denizens. Why, for all we know, that Forest Monster may already have destroyed all of our friends and neighbors back home!"

"There is no war here," said Dianna matter-of-factly. "We Gilligoggs are above such barbarous practices. Why, if I had to fight, I might break a fingernail. But we do wish that the Droffs would go away. So long as they are about, the property value on our homes must surely be going way down."

[Ill.u.s.tration Ozma and a Droff]

"My my!" said Elephant. "Are these Droffs some sort of frightful monsters, like the Kalidahs?"

"They are worse," said Dianna with a most elegant and sophisticated shudder. "They look like... Well, actually they look a lot like you, only they are all hairy and vulgar. You, at least, are not covered with all that coa.r.s.e fur. Still, I wonder if you might be related to them."

She took a nail file from her pocket and looked at her hands in an uninterested manner.

"So then, they are elephants?" asked Nibbles.