In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, are inside her house in Kansas when it is blown away by a cyclone. Dorothy has no conception of time or distance as the house is whirled through the air, positioned in the cyclone’s center. Although the agitated Toto almost falls out through a trapdoor, Dorothy catches him and neither of them is harmed during the journey.

When the house comes down, Dorothy realizes she had fallen asleep, for she wakes up with the impact. The house remains intact rather than shattering upon landing as Dorothy had worried it might do. Through the window, she can see a bright, sunny day. As Dorothy emerges from the house with Toto right behind her, she first sees the “wonderful sights” of the beautiful countryside around them.

There were lovely patches of greensward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes.

A group of four short people come rushing up to her. The three men and one woman are about her height. They are obviously not just adults but quite elderly: the men have beards and the woman’s face is very wrinkled. Dorothy soon learns that they are Munchkins. The woman addresses her as “Sorceress,” and they welcome her to their land. She expresses her gratitude to the girl “for having killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and for setting our people free from bondage.”

Dorothy is incredulous and upset, maintaining that she has never killed anyone. The woman then clarifies that it was actually the house that killed the witch. She points to two feet in silver shoes that are sticking out from under the corner of the house.