Monday, June 18, 2018

This Week's Oz Short Stories

No, that's not a typo, I actually read two stories this week—or rather, two second parts of the same first part I read last week. Yes, I decided to start off the 1994 edition of Oziana with the two winning ending's to last issue's contest to provide an ending for Eric Shanower's story "The Silver Jug". As you may recall, Glinda's maid Amanda has a somewhat flighty and impetuous nature which is affecting her work, so Glinda gave her a sealed silver jug to care for while Glinda was in the Emerald City for three days. The first ending is by Margaret Berg, and in it Amanda leaves the jug on a table in a sunny room. The sun heat up the silver and melted the wax, causing it to pop open when Amanda knocked it over while dusting! All kinds of trumpet and bell flowers fall out, creating a terrible din. But with help from one of the other maids, Amanda gets it all put back together and the jug sealed. When Glinda returns, she hears the whole story, and decides that Amanda would fit in better working for the Tin Woodman, so Amanda becomes Nick Chopper's new housekeeper.

The second ending is by Fred Otto, and involves Amanda's curiosity leading her to the Great Book of Records, only to discover that the Book has stopped! It turns out, however, that the entries are now appearing in the silver jug, so when Amanda opens the jug, sentences start appearing in the Book again! With the Book giving away the fact that she opened the jug, Amanda and another friend try to set things right. Some clever thinking and a little word play take care of things, and Amanda gets to keep her job, but with her friend Maxine mentoring her.

Both endings are clever and very Ozzy, and I'm glad that, in both cases, Amanda not only showed initiative in taking care of her own problems, she also found the right people to help her.

No comments: