Week 4 Story: Rama, Sita, and Oz

A long time ago, there was a young boy named Rama. He was strong, brave and all the people in his village loved him. Although he was young, everyone already knew he would grow up to rule the land because of his bravery and strength. His best friend was a girl named Sita. She was the most beautiful girl in all the village and everyone knew that she would one day rule the land beside him. The two grew up together and over the years, became completely inseparable.

Many years later, it was finally time for Rama and Sita to be married and begin their life as king and queen. There was one person, though, that was jealous of the perfect life that Rama and Sita had. She was witch from a far away land who had been banished to the village that they lived. She was once the ruler of her kingdom but she was sent away by a good witch who did not want her wickedness around. Even in this new land though, the witch still had her powers. She now thought it was the perfect time to get rid of Rama and Sita for good so she could become the ruler of this new land.

One night, she went into their room while they slept, and with a wave of her wand, POOF! they vanished. She smiled a wicked smile and prepared to take over her new kingdom.

The next morning, Rama and Sita awoke startled. "Where are we?" cried Sita.

"I don't know," said Rama. "Remain calm and we will try to find our way back home."

After walking for some time, Rama and Sita came across a sign. The sign read "Welcome to OZ". As they looked around, they saw strange creatures and heard shaking in the trees. Frightened, they ran until they stumbled upon a village. In the village, there were many people, small houses, and colorful shops. They felt safe in this village.

"Where are we?" Sita asked one of the villagers.

"Why, you're in OZ!" He replied. "I believe you were sent here by a witch that we banished recently.. I'm sorry about that. We will try our best to get you home!"

After many days, Rama and Sita fell in love with the village. They decided to get married there and the villagers gave them a house of their own. Rama and Sita began to show the villagers how to get food and make bigger houses, and the villagers were very happy.

However, there was another problem beginning. The witch from their former village had a sister, and her sister was not very happy about the new guests.

"How can these strange people come and give the townspeople such hope. They may have banished my sister but I am still here, and I still rule this land!"

In the village, the sky began to turn black. The villagers ran to there houses and Rama and Sita were very afraid. Then, the witch came from the clouds, laughing a wicked laugh. The smoke covered the whole village until Rama could no longer see. By the time it cleared, he noticed that Sita was gone.

Wicked Witch

"What happened? Who was that woman?" Rama cried.

"It was the wicked witch! She has stolen your wife because she does not like to see happiness in the village!" Someone replied.

"We must get her back! What can we do? Will you fight with me?" He asked them.

"It's hopeless. Her sister was easy, but she is much to powerful to overcome. She has an army that is much larger than us!" A villager replied.

It was then that Rama remembered the creatures and the shaking trees he heard in the forest. He immediately thought of a plan. He ran to the trees and shouted at them.

"Who are you creatures! Why do you live your lives hidden in the trees?" It was then that one creature came down from the tree. Rama realized it was a winged monkey.

"We were forced to stay in the trees by the witch. She banished us from the skies or else we will be killed." the monkey replied.

"I think it is time we got rid of this witch!" Shouted Rama.

The monkeys in the trees began to shake them violently as they followed Rama. Rama ran toward the witches tower with a fleet of flying monkeys behind him, even the villagers joined him. Their numbers were great compared to the witch's. The monkeys tore through the tower and found Sita, and brought her back to the village. They then went back and demolished the witch's entire tower and left no one alive, not even the witch.

"Thank you." Said Rama. "All you needed was courage to overtake this villain. You will be rewarded!"

Sita and Rama decided that Oz was a perfect home for them. They sent the monkeys to their old village to kill the other wicked witch and take all the treasures they wanted. They remained in Oz to rule and to help the villagers build and get food. Rama and Sita lived happily ever after in the land of Oz.

Author's Note: This was a retelling of Ramayana, an epic poem from India about Rama and Sita. Rama was banished from his town because of a jealous wife of his fathers, and Sita was stolen by a demon. An ape God then helped to retrieve Sita with an army of monkeys. This story made me think of the monkeys from the Wizard of Oz, so I decided to combine the two stories. I had yet to do a combination of two different stories so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

Ramayana as found in Mackenzie's Indian Myth and Legend