nothing there," Telly said emphatically. "At least, not an
airport ..." He suddenly stopped in his tracks. "I can't believe what
I'm seeing!" he shouted incredulously as the sight of a huge airport
(the size of L.A. International) loomed up ahead.

"SEE! I told you so!" shouted Graham with obvious delight as he ran
forward. "Home sweet home, here I come!"

"Not so fast!" warned Telly. "Not so fast! It has to be a trick. Maybe
the Wicked Witch has created an illusion and ... and it's really her
castle...."

But Graham was already out of earshot. Before him loomed a giant 747
glistening in the sun, its huge jet engines screaming with impatience
for full power to be applied, and the passenger door was open at the top
of the stairs with a smiling flight attendant beckoning Graham aboard.
"Hurry up!" she called. "We're ready to take off, and you're running
late."

Graham scurried up the stairs as fast as his little legs would carry
him.... The flight attendant checked his name off a list, and the door
closed quickly, leaving Graham with no time to say goodbye to Telly, who
was at that moment looking up at the plane forlornly as it taxied
forward toward the runway. Meanwhile, Graham was being bundled into his
seat and buckled into his seatbelt by the pretty flight attendant. It
was only then that he remembered that he had not purchased a ticket, nor
had he had a chance to say goodbye to Telly. He was seated alone by the
window and quickly looked out to see if he could catch a glimpse of his
friend. But it was too late; the plane was already at the end of the
runway and several feet into the air with the countryside whizzing past
and getting smaller and smaller as the plane quickly ascended.

The captain's voice came over the intercom loud and clear. "Good
morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. We have
departed Oz International Airport and will be cruising at twenty
thousand feet. We should be arriving at our destination in about three
hours. You may remove your seatbelts and make yourselves comfortable.
Refreshments will be served shortly, and you may watch our in-flight
movie if you wish."

Graham looked around to see who else was sharing his flight. He was
astonished to see that there were no other passengers at all. Now he
began to get frightened. Why would a great big airplane take off with no
passengers except himself? And who was that captain addressing when he
said "ladies and gentlemen"?