The Great Wishy Woz

At the sixty-six-story Great Library of Human Wisdom, a librarian offers Manny far more than the single philosophy book he needs. He loads the mannequin with a fifty-two-volume encyclopedia of all human knowledge, promising that its size will impress the Woz. Manny feels smarter simply by carrying the enormous burden, though it hurts his back and he has not learned anything from it.

Metal Guy enters the Great Shopping Mall of Pleasure seeking a Valentine's card. A game-show host tells him that love means doing whatever makes him feel good. He climbs into a giant whirlpool even though metal should stay out of water, then receives a six-foot card. The pleasure soon leaves his joints rusting and barely able to move.

At the dark Great Temple of Enlightenment, a guru teaches that true light comes from within, while admitting the building is dark because its electric bill has not been paid. She refuses Mystic Mountain Lion a candle but gives him a powerful flamethrower called the Eternal Flame of Enlightenment. He treats the weapon as the inner strength he has sought.

Time is nearly gone when the Fairy Oddmother points out that the Great Mapmaker has been standing nearby. Dotty buys a compass whose needle points in every direction at once. The mapmaker praises its ability to lead her anywhere she wants, but that makes it useless for finding the one true way home.

The group returns to the Woz with the heavy books, huge card, flamethrower, and broken compass. Instead of granting their requests, he tells them to come back the next day. Nono slips behind a curtain, and Dotty follows. There she finds an ordinary man named Melvin Nerfwiddle operating the giant face, voice, and special effects. The all-knowing Woz is a fraud.

Although his promises are exposed, Dotty's companions prepare to follow the Big Fat Road again because its pleasant lie has kept them hopeful. A yellow brick wall blocks their way, and the Wicked and Mean and Generally Not Very Nice Woman appears. She declares that everyone in Little Land, including the Woz and all the people they have met, belongs to her and can never escape.

When the travelers call for help, the villain reveals that she is also the Fairy Oddmother. Every piece of guidance she gave Dotty was designed to keep her trapped. Dotty remembers the forbidden fisherman and blows his whistle. The wicked woman cannot endure its sound; she shrinks until Dotty can send her fleeing from Little Land.

Now that everything the false fairy said has proved wrong, Dotty realizes that the Wee Skinny Gate may be her true way home. Manny refuses to go because his volumes will not fit. Metal Guy fears damaging his card, and Mystic Mountain Lion believes his flamethrower has already given him everything he needs. The friends sadly part, and Dotty enters the narrow way with Nono alone.

The fisherman waits along the path. He knows Dotty's name, her father's broken promise, the imaginary house beneath the maple trees, and the tornado that has injured her. He offers to lead her home, but the route goes directly into another terrifying storm. Dotty turns back at first because she dislikes his way, yet he promises to remain with her and leaves the choice in her hands.

Realizing that he alone knows home, Dotty decides to follow. A tornado sweeps over them, and the fisherman tells her not to fear but to hold on to him. As the storm closes around her, Dotty finally recognizes who he is and hears his promise that he will always be with her.

Dotty awakens at Aunt Bea's farmhouse. A broken window frame struck her during the real tornado, and she has been unconscious all day. Aunt Bea feared she had lost her, but Dotty is safe. Her adventure has not restored the family future she imagined, yet it has given her a different promise: the mysterious I Am speaks truth, loves her, and remains with her through painful reality. Instead of waiting for a dream to make everything easy, Dotty rests in the faithful love she has found.