vovat | World of Light

I wrote this story for an Oz fiction contest. The instructions were to write a flash fiction of 600 or more words, and the term made me think of the character Flash who appears briefly in The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. This didn't win the contest, but I think it's good enough to share.

FLASH AND TWILIGHT IN OZ
By Nathan M. DeHoff

“Where in the luminous spectrum am I?” asked the Light Elf.
“You’re in my castle,” said the woman with the high peaked hat, stiff pigtails, and a patch over one eye. “I’ve summoned you here for an important purpose.”
“And why should I do you a favor? You didn’t even ask before calling me here, and I can easily escape with my blinding flashes.”
“That’s why I’ve insulated the summoning circle with rubber, so your lightning won’t work,” said the woman, as she grabbed the lightning bolt and barrel of gunpowder that the Elf held in his hands.
“Well, what is it you want?”
“I need you to make my castle bright all the time. I lose valuable time with all the darkness at night.”
“You want me to light up a castle? Seems like the Demon of Electricity would have been a better choice for that.”
“Look, I don’t have access to the Master Key, all right? I know you’re Flash, Prince of the Light Elves, and what I ask is well within your power. If you refuse, I’ll never return your accessories here.”
“And what’s wrong with using candles?”
“The servants are far too slow at relighting them when they go out. I’ve tried to throw all the stragglers in the dungeon, but then the ones that are left just work slower. Besides, my candle supplier is indisposed right now,” explained the woman, not mentioning that she had recently transformed him into an inanimate shape.
The woman, who was none other than the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, forced Flash to set up a perpetual lighting system for her castle, with some help from a Winkie smith named Crombert who did the necessary wiring. Soon, the castle was always lit, which was irritating to the servants who needed to sleep. A family of bats, who had thought a witch’s castle was an appropriate place to live, left in disgust when they realized the time when they were generally awake never seemed to arrive. This continued for some time, only to change when a brown bird who had flown into the castle upon seeing all the lights at night spotted the Elf in his prison.
“Are you the one who’s causing this castle to light up so much? It’s very distracting,” said the bird.
“Yes, but not by choice. A wicked witch imprisoned me here. If only my brother knew, he’d be in to rescue me in a jiffy. I suppose you don’t want to sing when it’s this bright around?”
“While I am a nightingale, only the males of my species sing.”
“And what’s your name? Florence?”
“No, it’s Luscinia. Why Florence?”
“Oh, I suppose you wouldn’t get the reference, living in an isolated land as you do.”
“I don’t always live here in Oz, you know. I’ve spent time in Ev and Mo. But anyway, where does your brother live?”
“In the Palace of Light, but I don’t know how to get there from here. Maybe another fairy or elemental would know.”
Based on this information, Luscinia flew to the home of the first elemental fairy she could think of, the Nome King. Known as Roquat of the Rocks, he put on a charming act with strangers, but was known to have a terrible temper. Once she had explained that she was a female bird, Roquat, fearing that she might lay eggs, immediately showed her a mining tunnel that led to an island in a shimmering sea, where the Palace of Light stood. Successfully flying past several winged snakes with rays emitting from their mouths, even knocking one out of the sky with her beak, she entered a window that led into a surprisingly dark room. An Elf who looked a lot like Flash, but had a darker complexion and wore a black cloak, was playing a cello.
“Why, hello, nightingale. Did you want to sing a duet?” asked the Elf.
“I don’t sing,” explained Luscinia. “Are you Flash’s brother?”
“Yes, I’m Prince Twilight. What trouble has my brother gotten into this time?”
The nightingale explained the situation, and Twilight promptly blinked out, holding the bird on his hand. He had soon appeared at the yellow castle of the Wicked Witch, where he faced its despicable owner without fear.
“Let my brother go, or I’ll shroud your castle in perpetual darkness,” threatened the Prince.
“No! Not that! Here, take your bright brother. I’ll figure out something else.”
The Witch freed Flash, and the two Elves agreed that Luscinia had shown great bravery in her recent deeds, and promptly made her a Knightingale in the service of the Kingdom of Light Elves. And Crombert, who managed to escape from the castle during the chaos, went on to use his knowledge to establish an electrical system in the palace of the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City.

THE END