All characters, places, etc. are owned by Muriel Fahrion and Lyman Frank Baum.

Written for retro-mania.

Toto's tale: The true story

Chapter one: An encounter with a strange police officer

Those last days had been berry weird, thought Strawberry Shortcake who was cooking another cake for her friends on her kitchen. "I've been transported, with my house and my dog, by a tornado, to a strange city named Oz where I had had to find a wizard, in fact a little boy, to get a way to come back at Strawberry Land. On top of that, a wicked witch pursued me because the beautiful shoes the lovely Berrykins offered me were hers. I can understand she was angry. The soonest had I found my home back than Princess Glinda needed my help one more time, because the Berrykins had wasted their only resources, the Gem Berries, and those they hadn't spoiled had been destroyed by the witch. Those last days had been berry, berry weird..."

Just at this moment, someone knocked the door.

-Who is it? Strawberry asked. "Is that you, Apple Dumpling? Lemon Meringue? Who is it?"

But she knew it wasn't Apple Dumpling or Lemon Meringue. The knocking was harsh, rude, and severe; it wasn't the friendly knocking of a good friend. She hesitated. She could hardly see her "visitor" through the window, but, considering what she could see, he was an adult. Any of her friends was an adult.

The visitor knocked again, impatiently.

-After all, Strawberry thought, "Anyone has bad intentions in Strawberry Land. He must be a lost traveller."

She opened the door. And she immediately knew she shouldn't have done that.

Her visitor wasn't a lost traveller in need. He was tall, very tall, and thin. He was wearing a kind of old-fashioned police uniform, dimmed by the years, and a large black hat on his head, which covered his face. He was holding a black suitcase on his right hand. He didn't really seem to be well-intentioned.

-You are Strawberry Shortcake, aren't you? The strange police officer asked with a sepulchral voice.

Terrified, Strawberry Shortcake nodded. She felt she couldn't lie to this man. Anybody could.

-I'm the member 2003 of the Literary Squad and I'm here to inform you you've done four misdemeanours last week, he said quickly.

-Wh-what? No! It must be a mistake!

-We never do mistakes.

The officer took a file and a book in his suitcase.

-First misdemeanour: Go in a book without asking the permission to the Literary Squad. Second misdemeanour: Go in a book without inform the Literary Squad. Third misdemeanour: Change all the characters of the book, by delete ones and add new ones. Fourth misdemeanour: Hide scenes from the original work.

-Stop! Strawberry shouted "I never meant to offense anybody. And what's this Literary Squad?"

-The Literary Squad, the officer explained, "is a very peculiar police. We're here to make sure every author, as unknown as he could be, is fully respected after his death. Each time you make mistake, on purpose or not, by quoting, adapting, or rewriting one work, we find you. And we condemn you."

He glanced at Strawberry Shortcake.

-Maybe you weren't ill-intentioned. Maybe you thought it was just a book written in the early 20th century, and your mistakes wouldn't matter. But they matter. And you-yes, you-betrayed an author. It's why we are here.

He showed her the book he had on his suitcase. It was one of the first edition of The Wizard of Oz, by Lyman Frank Baum.

-I'm berry sorry, Strawberry apologized. "I don't know this man, and I really didn't want to offense him. I'll never do that again. Would you like a cup of tea or a slice of cake?"

-Apologizes aren't sufficient and can't replace a sentence. And you tried to bribe me. That put the number of your misdemeanours to five.

Strawberry Shortcake sighed.

-I only wanted to be nice with you. Okay. What will be my sentence?

-Ordinarily, we only asked the guilty to... consider again the scene he had modified. With you... it will be different. You made so many mistakes... We really don't have the choice. I'm sorry.

But he didn't look sorry.

-You, Strawberry Shortcake, will live again the book.

-What do you mean?

-I mean YOU will come back once again to Oz as Dorothy, YOU will have to reached again the Emerald City with the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow, YOU will have to defeat the wicked witch and YOU will have to find the Wizard to be send back home. In brief, you'll have to do all Dorothy did in the book, exactly what she did, nothing more and nothing less, and if you carry on making mistakes, you'll start again until everything would be perfect, and only after, I'll let you come back home. Okay?

-I don't have the choice, Strawberry muttered.

-Of course you haven't. Let's go.

Pupcake started to bark. He saw the tornado. But he noticed something else. They weren't in Strawberry land anymore. They were now in the garden of a small farm.

-Now, you are in Kansas, with your uncle and your aunt, explained the officer.

-I have any, Strawberry answered. "And I don't know where is the Kansas."

-Nonsense. In one minute, the farm will fly off to Oz. You'd better entered the house now.

Strawberry obeyed. Her clothes too had changed; she was now wearing an old-fashioned dress, and her shoes had disappeared.

And then the tornado blew off the house, with Strawberry Shortcake, Pupcake, and –unfortunately? - Member 2003, the police officer.

To be continued...