diff --git a/oz_ch01_payload.json b/oz_ch01_payload.json new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b9fd82a --- /dev/null +++ b/oz_ch01_payload.json @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +{"book": "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz\nby L. Frank Baum (1900), re-set in 2026\n\nChapter I\nThe Tornado\n\nDorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer\u2019s wife. Their house was small, for it had been a hunting cabin once, hauled in on a flatbed and set on blocks where the old house had stood. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking stove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no attic at all, and no cellar\u2014except a small hole dug in the ground, called a storm shelter, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a steel hatch in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.\n\nWhen Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house\u2019s siding had been white, but the sun chalked it and the wind scoured it, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.\n\nWhen Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child\u2019s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy\u2019s merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.\n\nUncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.\n\nIt was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.\n\nToday, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than usual. The county\u2019s weather alert had buzzed on Aunt Em\u2019s phone an hour before and been silenced; out here they trusted the sky more than the phone. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.\n\nFrom the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.\n\nSuddenly Uncle Henry stood up.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a tornado coming, Em,\u201d he called to his wife. \u201cI\u2019ll go look after the stock.\u201d Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.\n\nAunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of the danger close at hand.\n\n\u201cQuick, Dorothy!\u201d she screamed. \u201cRun for the shelter!\u201d\n\nToto jumped out of Dorothy\u2019s arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, hauled up the steel hatch in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt. When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.\n\nThen a strange thing happened.\n\nThe house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.\n\nThe north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the tornado. In the middle of a tornado the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the tornado; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.\n\nIt was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.\n\nToto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there, barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.\n\nOnce Toto got too near the open hatch, and fell in; and at first the little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward closing the hatch so that no more accidents could happen.\n\nHour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her.\n\nIn spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.", "screenplay": "Title: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz \u2014 Chapter One: The Tornado\nCredit: from the 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, re-set in 2026\nAuthor: adaptation by Scooter Willis (this chapter simulated by the assistant at the adapter's request, 2026-09-21)\nPeriod: Kansas, 2026\nDay: the day of the tornado\nNarrator: yes\nNotes: Every narrated sentence is the adapted text of Chapter One, in order; the three spoken lines are the chapter's only dialogue. Dorothy, Toto, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry look as W. W. Denslow drew them in 1900 - nothing from the 1939 film.\n\n===\n\nEXT. THE FARMHOUSE, KANSAS - DAY\n\nA small house that was once a hunting cabin, set on blocks in the middle of a flat gray prairie that runs to the sky on every side. Nothing else. DOROTHY, nine, dark hair in two braids, a blue-and-white checked dress and boots, stands in the doorway with TOTO, a small black long-haired terrier, in her arms.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nDorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer\u2019s wife.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nTheir house was small, for it had been a hunting cabin once, hauled in on a flatbed and set on blocks where the old house had stood.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nThere were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room;\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nand this room contained a rusty looking stove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nUncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nThere was no attic at all,\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nand no cellar\u2014except a small hole dug in the ground, called a storm shelter, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nIt was reached by a steel hatch in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.\n\nDorothy in the doorway, looking out at the great gray prairie; the baked, cracked plowed land; the burnt gray grass; the chalked white siding.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nWhen Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nNot a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nThe sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nEven the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nOnce the house\u2019s siding had been white, but the sun chalked it and the wind scoured it, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.\n\nAUNT EM, thin and gaunt, gray-eyed, at the sink inside the one room. She does not laugh.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nWhen Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nThey had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nShe was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nWhen Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child\u2019s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy\u2019s merry voice reached her ears;\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nand she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.\n\nUNCLE HENRY, long gray beard, rough boots, at work by the sheds, silent.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nUncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nHe was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.\n\nDorothy and Toto playing in the dust by the house; Toto's small black eyes, his funny wee nose; Dorothy laughing.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nIt was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nToto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nToto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.\n\nEXT. THE DOORSTEP - LATE AFTERNOON\n\nThe sky grayer than usual. Uncle Henry sits on the doorstep, a dark phone in his hand, looking up. Dorothy in the door with Toto in her arms, looking up too. Through the door, Aunt Em washing the dishes.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nToday, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than usual.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nThe county\u2019s weather alert had buzzed on Aunt Em\u2019s phone an hour before and been silenced; out here they trusted the sky more than the phone.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nDorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.\n\nThe long grass bows in waves toward them from the north. Then a whistling from the south, and ripples in the grass from that side too.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nFrom the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nThere now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nSuddenly Uncle Henry stood up.\n\nUncle Henry stands up.\n\nEXT./INT. THE FARMHOUSE - THE STORM\n\nUNCLE HENRY\nThere\u2019s a tornado coming, Em. I\u2019ll go look after the stock.\n\nHe runs toward the sheds where the cows and horses are kept.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nThen he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.\n\nAunt Em drops the dish and comes to the door. One look at the sky.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nAunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of the danger close at hand.\n\nAUNT EM\nQuick, Dorothy! Run for the shelter!\n\nToto leaps from Dorothy's arms and hides under the bed. Dorothy goes after him. Aunt Em hauls up the steel hatch in the floor and climbs down the ladder into the dark. Dorothy catches Toto; halfway across the room the wind shrieks, the house shakes, and she sits down hard on the floor.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nToto jumped out of Dorothy\u2019s arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nAunt Em, badly frightened, hauled up the steel hatch in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nDorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nWhen she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind,\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nand the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.\n\nINT. THE HOUSE, IN THE AIR\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nThen a strange thing happened.\n\nThe house whirls, and rises. Dorothy on the floor, Toto beside her, the room tilting slowly.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nThe house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nThe north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the tornado.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nIn the middle of a tornado the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher,\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nuntil it was at the very top of the tornado; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.\n\nDark. Wind. The house rocks gently, like a cradle.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nIt was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nAfter the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.\n\nToto runs about the room barking. Dorothy sits quite still on the floor.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nToto did not like it.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nHe ran about the room, now here, now there, barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.\n\nINT. THE HOUSE, IN THE AIR - NIGHT\n\nToto too near the open hatch - and in. Dorothy's face. Then one black ear sticking up through the hole, held by the air. She creeps to the hole, catches the ear, drags him in, and closes the hatch.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nOnce Toto got too near the open hatch, and fell in; and at first the little girl thought she had lost him.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nBut soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he could not fall.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nShe crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward closing the hatch so that no more accidents could happen.\n\nHours. Dorothy alone on the swaying floor, the wind shrieking. At last she crawls to her bed and lies down; Toto lies down beside her.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nHour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nAt first she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again;\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nbut as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nAt last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her.\n\nHer eyes close.\n\nNARRATOR (V.O.)\nIn spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.\n"} \ No newline at end of file