#63 The Three Little Pigs And The Cowardly Lion.

Essie has been thinking a lot about courage. One thing on her mind is the tale of the Three Little Pigs, especially the picture of the brick house with bright pink piggies safely inside: the wolf foiled.  The grey wolf is sweaty, red tongue hanging out of his sharp toothed snouty mouth with an exasperated look on his face.  That last little pig outsmarted him. Drat.  Essie was always glad to see that sturdy red brick house with the skinny chimney: no one could fit through that. Not even Santa. It was safe and cozy in there with those cute fat little pigs. Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin! Yay Piggies!

 She is also thinking of The Cowardly Lion with his droopy eyes and curly-q’s framing his puffy cat face. The motley crew on the Yellow Brick Road making the journey to Oz to find what is missing: a way home, a heart, knowledge and courage. When she was young the scariest scene was when they all finally made it to Oz's castle in Emerald City, and were whimpering down that last forever mile to his throne. Quivering, bolstering each other along to get them there. Finally.  His glowing ghostly head threatening by huffing and puffing, blustering. All their hopes and dreams relied on him.

And of course, The Wizard of Oz was just the travelling magician hiding behind the curtain.

Essie is trying out courage. Should she be the wolf? Oz? The piggy? The Cowardly Lion? All of the above? Sometimes she is the wolf and nobody likes her because her teeth are so sharp and they think she just wants to eat them up. Except maybe she is projecting her fear and anger and they aren’t characters in a child’s story and are cool with her being a wolf, and don’t perceive her as predatory at all. It’s all in her mind. Kind of like the guys in Oz looking for something outside themselves more powerful than a locomotive. Faster than a speeding bullet. Able to jump tall buildings in a single bound. Oh darn, it’s hard not to end up in some superhero’s lap again and again!

So, the courage thing is hard for her because sometimes going out on a limb is like building a straw house and the wolf will definitely blow it down. And sometimes she is the wolf.  Wait! Essie stops herself AGAIN. “My life is not a fable.” Oh dear.

Going back to that forever walk down the aisle to Oz.  The Lion is with his pals. His pals are with him. This, Essie thinks, takes the most courage of all. To stick with the group that for better and for worse is on your side.  When the Lion protects Dorothy and surprises himself with the realization that he had courage all along, and he could not have done it without his friends pointing it out to him.  The Great And Mighty Oz, the little man behind the curtain, was probably trying to help, too.

Essie is going to still work on courage because it is deceptive at times. But she knows it is there and is keeping her eye out for it. To Oz? To Oz!