The Seemingly Impossible Task

Our story continues….


Poor Ojo

Ojo and Scraps decide they will seek out all the ingredients for the antidote to the Liquid of Petrifaction whilst Dr Pipt begins the six year task of making the new batch of the Powder of Life.  Scraps recites in verse form (Ojo gave her a good dose of poesy when he was adding her brains) what they must search for.

Here’s a job for a boy with brains:

A drop of oil form a live man’s veins;

A six leaved clover; three nice hairs

From a Woozy’s tail, the book declares

Are needed for the magic spell,

And water from a pitch dark well.

The yellow wing of butterfly

To find must Ojo also try,

And if he gets them without harm

Doc Pipt will make the magic charm;

But if her doesn’t get ‘em, Unc

Will always stand a marble chunk.

 

After this outburst Dr Pipt remarks, “Poor Margolotte must have given you the quality of poesy by mistake. And if that is true, I didn’t make a very good article when I prepared it or else you got an overdose or an underdose.”

the Glass cat

And so they set off, Ojo the Unlucky, Scraps the Patchwork Girl and Bungle the haughty glass cat with pink brains (“You can see ‘em work”)

the Woozy with three hairs in his tail

 

Throughout their journey they meet many wonderful, magical, mystical creatures such as the Woozy(something Baum does exceedingly well) and we learn many lessons along the way.

 

The three lessons I always take away with me from this book are:

1. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

2. Kindness breeds reform

3. There is no excuse for cruelty

 

Stay tuned for the lessons!