Show and Tell -- Description

This excerpt is from Wicked, which has a lot of description because the story has to undo our memories of The Wizard of Oz from Dorothy's perspective.

"A mile above Oz, the Witch balanced on the wind's forward edge, as if she were a green fleck of the land itself, flung up and sent wheeling away by the turbulent air. White and purple summer thunderheads mounded around her. Below the Yellow Brick Road looped back up on itself, like a relaxed noose. Though the winter storms and the crowbars of agitators had torn up the road, still it led, relentlessly, to the Emerald City. The Witch could see the companions trudging along, maneuvering around the buckled sections, skirting trenches, skipping when the way was clear. They seemed oblivious of their fate. But it was not up to the Witch to enlighten them."

I liked this excerpt because it gives you a bit of your expected description of the Yellow Brick Road but it also introduces you immediately to the differences between this story and that of The Wizard of Oz. I also feel as if I am watching with the Witch as Dorothy, et al. walk the twisting Road.