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The guards are pounding at the door as you speak the words of flight from the Grimmerie.
There is a rush of power as the magic surges through you, like a door blown off its hinges by the wind. You want to fly. You want to leave this place.
You want the one thing you have always wanted since you were a child: to escape.
You open your eyes and see Glinda, looking at you, bright and ever-golden as always.
Well, where are your wings?
You have none.
But you felt it. Somehow, the magic coursed through you and went somewhere . You look around frantically, trying to locate what was given wings, what was given the power of flight. You thought you saw the broom jump and your cloak rustle with magic and perhaps, that is where the magic went to.
But there is nothing.
And then the soldiers come. They take Glinda, your shining best friend and you tell them to let her go because she is good and you are the wicked one. It’s not her they want.
You whisper a final farewell to Glinda, take one final look at her, committing her eyes and her warm smile to memory because this is most likely the last time you will ever see her.
And then you jump.
The glass shatters and you fall.
There will be no flight, there will be no escape.
The wind is screaming in your ear as you stare at the glass of the gleaming emerald tower. Unbidden, you stare into it and you see yourself, the child you were, the child that you still are .
Still looking for a friend. Still not wanting to be alone.
I’m sorry , you whisper to her, to yourself.
You have always been alone throughout your life and it only makes sense, as you fall, that you will be alone in death.
Elphie!
You look up, through tears, horror and happiness and see Glinda falling above you.
Because of your cloak and your frock, you’re falling slower and she’s suddenly beside you, also plummeting upside-down to her fool death.
What are you doing?!, you ask.
Well, Elphie, I couldn’t let you have all the fun, she says, smiling and bright, and somehow manages to toss her hair while upside down .
You feel it. Stronger than magic, better than magic. The truth, bone-deep and steel-certain:
You are no longer alone.
You look past her and into the glass panes again and you whisper to her, to your child self: for the first time, we are loved.
It swells within you, the surety that someone has seen past your green skin and calls you home.
And suddenly, you know.
The broom is not needed. The cloak is not needed. All you ever needed was Glinda.
Well, Elphie, this breeze is very refreshing but I really don’t want to ruin my hair by falling on my head, Glinda says and you cannot help but burst into laughter.
Elphie, I’m serious! Where are your wings?!
You lunge for her and grab her hands, smiling as the magic courses through the both of you. You grip her fingers tight and say:
Here.
The circle completes, the magic answers and then.
With her, you fly.