King of the Forest

My friend Lion and I go way back to my first few days in Oz. Back then he wasn't as brave as he is now, but the Wizard of Oz helped him out with that. I actually want to tell you about the way he became the King of the Forest.

This is how we got to the forest. We had been traveling a very long way through Oz. After landing in Oz, we followed the yellow brick road and found Scarecrow along the way. We walked a little further to help out the Tin Man (he had been rusted). Then we met Lion. After this, we all headed down the yellow brick road again, because the wizard I mentioned earlier was supposed to get Dorothy and me back to Uncle Henry and Aunt Em in Kansas. On the way, we had the most delightful nap in a field of strange-smelling flowers. We also met some mice that I would have liked to chase, but Dorothy wouldn't let me. I suppose that's just as well, though, because I might have lost her if I wandered too far away. After that, some Monkeys stole us away to a big castle where Dorothy had to do chores for a mean witch (she smelled even funnier than the white witch). We left when Dorothy poured some water on her head. Then, after we rounded our company up, we kept travelling until we reached the wizard. He tried to trick Dorothy, but I smelled him out to discover that he was really just a small man. He went off in a balloon and left us, though, and Dorothy was very sad. Then we traveled through a place where everything was glass. I even got to bark at a glass dog. I think I actually busted a glass duck on the way, but no one noticed. Don't tell Dorothy. That is when we came to the forest.

We were actually kind of afraid of the forest, but the Lion told us he was brave now. As we walked deeper into the forest, all the animals gathered in one place. Lion went up to those in the group who spoke the most to ask what was going on. They told him that there was a spider! It was not just any spider, though, but a large and formidable one. This was very alarming. I am not particularly afraid of spiders, but Dorothy always makes the worst noise when she sees one. I take this as a sign that she does not care for them. Even worse, this spider was eating all the animals, even the elephants, and everyone was afraid for their lives. The Lion was not scared, though. He let them know that he would handle it if they would only make him their king. They gladly consented, and the Lion went to kick the spider to the curb. I would have gone with him, naturally, but I figured I wouldn't take the spotlight from him. Besides, Dorothy needed some protection as well. He couldn't have been gone more than four runs around in a circle before he came back saying the spider was dead. Imagine that! The animals gladly made him their king, and we could not have been happier for him. He did decide to help us finish our journey. The rest of the trip we got to have a king by our side.

That's really all there is to that story. I have one more to tell, so please move on to the story of Glinda and Home.

Author's Note: This is the part of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that goes beyond what you have seen in the movie. The team actually went through a few more adventures that are pretty fun to read if you have the time. If I were you, I would start on page 219 of the book. For this story, the Lion really did all the things Toto mentions. He felt brave even though the wizard only gave him a placebo to drink. Courage was really in him all along, of course. This is a characteristic that one comes by due to experience, not by magic. Anyways, the book does not spend too much time on this story, but Baum instead just briefly mentions why the Lion became the king of the forest. If you want to know how the Lion killed the spider, he actually caught it while it was sleeping and took its head off. That is a lot of action for just a few pages! You can find this on page 241. Toto didn't really get to be much a part of the exciting part, but he didn't really want to anyway. He did want to showcase his pal's new bravery, however, so this is how the story came to be in this collection. Again, this story is based off of the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum (see links in author's note).