This Week's Oz Short Story

This week's story, the second from The Lost Tales of Oz, is "The Witch's Mother of Oz" by Paul Dana, who continues his tradition of telling stories about the Yookoohoos. The bulk of this story takes place during the final chapters of The Marvelous Land of Oz. It seems Ramana, a Yookoohoo, has been long estranged from her daughter, Bina, a Yookoohoo who could only change her own form, not that of anything else. As a child, Bina lashed out and did horrible things to others as a result of her affliction, and was eventually exiled. Having heard news about recent events in the Emerald City, Ramana wonders if the witch, Mombi, might be Bina, as that was a form she used to take. Ramana goes to the Emerald City to investigate, and finds that Mombi is indeed her daughter, and offers Bina a small amount of aid. Dana wrote this to explain Mombi's rapid transformations after Glinda discovers her as a transformed rose, and it all hangs together very well. It also makes for an interesting origin story for Mombi.