Lost in Oz: Temple of the Deadly Desert

By Joshua Patrick Dudley

Joshua, Tamara, Laura and Tommy have spent the past two years battling their destiny in the Land of Oz. Their presence has permanently altered the magical land beyond repair and their prophecy is still unfulfilled. The teens have made it safely home to New Hampshire, that is, except Joshua, who is lying in a coma, and another member of the team who has perished in the same tornado outbreak that once brought them to Oz.

The group must again travel together to the Land of Oz and once and for all find a way to derail or fulfill their prophecy. They must unlock the secrets of the Temple of the Deadly Desert, and find a way to cross the lethal sands surrounding it.

Will the teens fulfill their prophecy? Does the Temple of the Deadly Desert exist? Can they bring a fallen friend back to life? All these questions and more will be answered in the third and final installment of the Lost in Oz trilogy: Temple of the Deadly Desert.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780359373529

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Lost in Oz: Temple of the Deadly Desert

Lost in Oz: Temple of the Deadly Desert

by Joshua Patrick Dudley

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Copyright

Lost in Oz: Temple of the Deadly Desert

Copyright © 2018 by Joshua Patrick Dudley

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Edited by Laurel A. Levesque

Cover art by Joshua Patrick Dudley

First Edition: June 2011

Second Edition: November 2018

ISBN  978-0-359-37352-9

Published by JDuDs Productions

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Chapter 1: After the Storm

Ever since Joshua Dudley was born, he had dreamt of visiting faraway lands filled with magic, mayhem, and mystery. In his dreams, he was always in some position of power, crucial to the history of whatever mystical land he currently mentally inhabited. Sometimes he was a legendary hero and his name was shouted along every country-side in honor and respect. There were times, however, when his name was hissed in the night in the darkest regions and stories were told of the evil deeds he’d committed. In other parts of other realms, his name was never spoken, because no one knew who he was or what purpose he served.

Joshua’s dreams had never seemed more like reality than they had for the last two months. His coma, a trauma caused after the severe tornado outbreak, had taken him on a trip to his favorite fantasy universe of all, the Land of Oz. The only problem was, this time he couldn’t find a way out.

At least Oz was not a lonely place for Joshua to be, despite the numerous vicious creatures constantly attacking him and the fact that he was without his usual group of friends, there were friendly, familiar faces all around. During the first month of his coma he had many conversations with Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of Oz, whom he’d known since his first journey to Oz. Scraps was a wild personality and didn’t think before speaking. She was too concerned with having fun and being happy. Joshua was constantly surprised to hear a rag doll carry-on for so long about nothing. He spent most of his time staring at her many brightly colored patches. Though he had known her for a while, Joshua would never get used to the fact that she was a living inanimate object.

Scraps was frequently joined by the Scarecrow, to whom she was now married. He hadn’t been up to much since returning the Wizard’s thrown to its rightful owner, Princess Ozma. Jack Pumpkinhead was also a frequent companion and he considered Joshua one of his closest friends. Joshua and Jack spent much time discussing his prophecy in great depth, but their conversations never seemed to develop much before Jack’s seeds would go bad and his head would need replacing. After Joshua grew tired of his Oz friends’ zany antics, he opted to spend more time with Princess Ozma of Oz.

I feel like Oz is still not right, Princess. Joshua began their conversation one morning while having tea with Princess Ozma and many of her stuffed friends. The princess had a fondness for the plush animals and frequently toted them around with her. Today they were seated at a large table in the middle of Emerald City’s largest garden. Foliage and plant life surrounded them in a maze on all sides, with red roses being most abundant. Around the table sat a giant stuffed bear directly across from Ozma, a pig after that, then a creature that looked like a cross between a chicken and a toad, and seated directly next to Joshua was a massive, pink dragon, whose tongue was hanging out of the left side of its mouth. You are quite correct to assume that Oz is still not on the proper historical path, my good friend. Ozma’s smile made Joshua’s heart pound in his chest, he felt close to her and safe by her side. Have you noticed I’m aging? she wondered as she picked up her favorite teddy bear from his seat at the head of the table and gently caressed its faux fur. She locked gazes with the teddy bear’s buttons before picking up her cup of tea and offering it to him. After pretending he had said no, she offered the cup to her own lips and graciously accepted.

Noticed? How could I not? You look to be right around my age, eighteen. Joshua replied with a satisfied expression. The Princess was everything Joshua would look for in a female companion and now that she was maturing, Joshua could barely keep his eyes off of her. She was stunning, not like anyone Joshua had ever seen or met.

Changing the subject back to more important matters, Joshua shook the fantasy of dating Ozma from his mind. Everything else feels different too. How was I able to be with Scraps and Jack? If the Candle of Truth really turned back time, why am I still affecting the history of Oz? There’s no way they could be here yet! They were only sent back in time to help me.

That same phrase had echoed through Joshua’s mind for the last two months and he had begun to grow quite tired of it. He felt constrained by it, but at the same time felt obligated to deal with it. Something was holding him back and he didn’t know what it was. Nor did he understand how he would be able to overcome the many obstacles that he knew Oz had in store for him.

So many times, he had wished that he could predict the future and even more times he had wished he could change the past. Knowing that neither of those options would ever amount to anything, Joshua had begun trying to keep his mind focused, which was an insurmountable goal in his current state. He remembered what it felt like to be organized and remembered how proud he was of his ability to multi-task. He no longer possessed those qualities and felt like his mind was being controlled by an unknown outsider. He had no perception of what was real and couldn’t distinguish truth from deception. He did truly believe that he was still in Oz, but he could find no way to fully comprehend how it was possible.

He remembered defeating his father, the Dark Wizard, by joining forces with his twin sister, Tamara.  The two worked side-by-side trying to convince their father that it was no use to be evil or to destroy Oz. Their efforts were worthless against the blackness of the magic that pumped through their father’s veins. There was only one other option in their minds; to completely erase history. Using the Candle of Truth, an ancient Munchkin artifact, they managed to reverse time and send themselves back to where they started. He remembered the same tornado attack for the second time, and the vicious vortexes that hunted him and his friends. He simply couldn’t remember what happened between the tornadoes and Oz, or why his friends weren’t with him.

He longed to hear his sister’s voice echo down one of the many corridors of the Emerald City where Ozma was graciously allowing him to stay, or even to hear her call to him from down one of the several yellow brick roads that now existed in Oz. It was now almost impossible to find your way around Munchkin Country or down a path that leads directly to the Emerald City gates. Joshua and his comrades had altered Oz to the point that it was almost completely reinvented, yet somehow still familiar.

If the Land of Oz and the stories of Oz are now the way they are because of me, what must my world be like? Joshua asked Princess Ozma for the three hundredth time.

I’m sorry Joshua, I do not know, was Ozma’s two-hundred and ninety-ninth time repeating her first answer.

• • •

The morning news had never seemed so depressing or surprising to the residents of New Hampshire. All across the state people were talking about the outbreak of tornadoes that had recently destroyed a large part of Manchester, the largest city in the New England state. The atmosphere in the north eastern part of the country would usually prevent such a disaster from occurring, especially in such abundance. Yet over two dozen twisters had been reported in one record breaking night. News spread quickly through New Hampshire and then into neighboring states, Massachusetts, and Maine. From there, news outlets from all over the country began covering the story. The strangest part of all was not the number of tornadoes or that fact that they were in New England. No, that strangest part indeed was that there was only one life lost in the terrible trauma. Many were injured, none severely, but young Tommy Murphy wasn’t as lucky.

Tommy was caught in the center of the storm, multiple vortexes viciously surrounding him. When the tornadoes finally struck, his friends were all sucked from the car in different directions. Joshua went straight into the air, Tamara to the left and Laura disappeared before Tommy was able to see which way she went. Tommy struggled to free himself from his seat belt, but it was no use. It was stuck in place. He was stuck in place.

He searched frantically all over the car for another way to remove the seatbelt from his waist, pulling at it and trying to unbuckle it, but it was no use. After searching for what seemed to Tommy like hours, he discovered a Swiss-Army knife laying on the opposite side of the back floor. He remembered the knife well, it had been in Laura’s backpack and they all used it countless times on their first journey through Oz.

Tommy tried to slip free from the shoulder restraint by pulling it away from his chest, but instead of freeing himself he locked the seatbelt a bit tighter. Letting out a gasp Tommy winced and grabbed at the waistband which was continuing to tighten around his hips. He felt his skin split open and the thick fabric of the seatbelt cut into him. He tried with all his might to stand up inside the car and break free from his restraints, but he couldn’t. The belt only grew tighter and tighter.

Leaning across the seats, Tommy struggled to reach the knife which seemed to be only millimeters away from his fingers. Just as his middle finger connected with the plastic shell of the multi-use tool, the winds ripped the roof off the car and sucked the knife into the air. As Tommy watched the blade ascend into the heavens, he realized his only means of escape had disappeared with the contraption. Just as he was starting to feel sorry for himself, he heard a strange clink inside the engine of the car, then a few seconds later another, then another. Just as it crossed Tommy’s mind that this could be a big issue he heard the loudest clink of them all and the car erupted into flames, swirling around deep inside the heart of a tornado.

• • •

The next morning Tamara awoke in her own bed and for a moment and couldn’t put two and two together. She wasn’t sure how she had made it back home from Oz or when she had done so. Shaking the blackness from her eyes, she sat up in bed and pulled her long, red hair back away from her face. She noticed a patch of dried blood on her wrist which set her brain into motion. She remembered receiving the wound after plummeting from the sky, from the inside of tornado.

Then she remembered Oz, the Candle of Truth and how she had returned to New Hampshire at exactly the wrong moment. She remembered the tornadoes tearing the car apart, again, and sending her hurtling through space. She was passed between multiple tornadoes as if performing in some sort of balle-t, gracefully dancing with each of the swirling monsters. The final tornado was not as kind as the previous ones and once it grabbed hold of her it spun her furiously. Her body could barely withstand the pressure and she thought she heard someone calling to her from inside the vortex. Not just calling for her but yelling at her. Maybe even threatening her. She tried with all her might to listen, but the winds were too strong, and she could not hear. Finally, she heard clearly through the wind, a deep booming voice screamed wrong combination, you failed before she was dropped. As if the tornado had thrown her off the top of the world’s tallest building, Tamara soared toward eminent death.  She tried to use the magical abilities she had acquired in Oz on their past trip, but it was no use, they were gone. She hit the ground hard and was knocked unconscious. Now, somehow, she was in her bed.

Feeling a bit more oriented than she had only moments earlier, but still uneasy, Tamara rose onto her trembling feet and looked around her. Her bright yellow bedroom seemed to be exactly the same as she had left it, but yet completely opposite. The colors and items found in the room were still the same, but in opposite placement, as if she was looking through a mirrored reflection. Instead of a red carpet and white ceiling, she had a white carpet and a red ceiling. She gently touched the handle of the jewelry box that her grandmother had given to her before she passed away, inspecting it to see if it had changed. It hadn’t. It was the only item in her bedroom that seemed to be exactly the same. There was an inscription on the bottom that Tamara had memorized years ago, but still she turned it over to read it. To my dearest Tamara, when all you have is trouble and questions, this box will bring happiness and answers. With all my love, Grammy. This made Tamara think and for a moment she forgot about Oz.

She remembered visiting her grandmother and spending the night in the spare bedroom with Josh. They would take turns hopping back and forth, from twin size bed to twin size bed until their grandmother would come in and settle them down. Remembering how her Grammy would cradle them both in her arms as she read them classic tales like Alice in Wonderland and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Tamara thought how nice it