I Thought My Life Was Over
A witch and an American Indian threatened me on the same day.
I was about to see the mean, green-faced, evil hag I’d seen in the movie. If the witch scared the pee-pee out of me on television, what would she do to me in real life?
The Wicked Witch of the West terrified me as my family watched “The Wizard of Oz” on TV. Later that night, I probably needed one of my parents to sleep in my room with me. They would not have planned an in-person trip to see her if they had understood how terrified I was of the witch!
The Land of Oz
On this particular vacation, we spent one day in Boone and Blowing Rock, North Carolina. The first stop was a small amusement park called The Land of Oz, a theme park based on the book series by L. Frank Baum in Boone, NC.
To say I was a terrified toddler (even though I was around six or seven) was an understatement. I’m not sure my parents understood how scared I was. I was okay with Dorothy and her three amigos, but I never wanted to see the Wicked Witch of the West.
We arrived at the park that morning, parked our car, and boarded the shuttle bus that would take us up the mountain to the park. I was so nervous that I lost my breakfast in the bus aisle, right there in front of God and everybody. Did I mention I was scared?
We made it to the gate, got our tickets, and started following the yellow brick road around the park. At each stop along the road, there was a (movie-type) set where a character from the movie came out and spoke to us or sang a song.
There was minimal interaction between the character and the park attendees, which made me feel better.
When we got to the Witch's House, I was relieved that the witch did not look like the one on TV! I could only compare it to a smaller version of HR Puff & Stuff. She had a puppet-like head and a mouth (that didn’t move), so I relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the park.
I’ve seen pictures of the park after it shut down in the mid-70s and re-opened in the 80s. The witch in the promo pictures was more like the one in the movie, with green face paint. At six or seven, I would have had a problem with her!
Tweetsie Railroad
The next stop was Tweetsie Railroad, a western theme park in Blowing Rock, NC. I didn’t throw up on the way to this park. I knew the main attraction was just a train. Why would anyone be afraid of a train? I eventually found a way!
We entered the park and got on the train. The train cars we sat in were more like open trolleys. I thought we were taking a simple train ride, but I wasn’t expecting any drama! The train took us through different movie sets, where we met cowboys and saw other scenes from the Old West.
During one of the stops, we were “attacked!” Native Americans kept us from moving and began boarding the train. The term Native Americans was not used during this era. As one Brave boarded our train car, I was (of course) terrified.
He stepped next to my mother and me and held up his (fake) tomahawk to scare me. It worked. I whimpered and clung to my mother. I saw my mom reach up and pinch him on the arm. He smiled and left us alone.
I thought, dang, my mom just took her life in her own hands and pinched that person! He could have hurt her! My parents kept telling me these were just actors and this was all a show. My mom pinching that Native American (or that caucasian portraying a Native American) settled me down.
I have no recollection of anything else that happened that day. I was scared during our time at the Land of Oz until I realized the Witch wouldn’t hurt me. I was fine, then scared, then fine again, when I realized that the Native Americans were not going to hurt me.
I was an only child with a big imagination. I had to see things for myself before deciding to settle down. As I grew older, I realized my parents would never intentionally put me in danger. Yet, I still reserved the right to freak out over any unintentional danger.
I’m much older and a little wiser now. I still have these immature tendencies to get worked up over something I dread or when something unexpected happens.
The difference in me now is that I can talk myself down from the emotional ledge. I do not need anyone else fighting my proverbial mental battles for me.