Why won't you hate me?
Note: Takes place after the Epilogue in the Tree Tongue universe.
Summary: That was the question the Once-ler had been wanting to ask her for a long time…..
They say you can't keep up with the fast paced world as you get older and though some may not accept that so well, for Norma Wiggins, she always thought the whole 'fast pace' thing was overrated anyways.
She hummed a pleasant tune in her head as she sat on the front porch of her house, watching the world function through the flow of time. This was one of the things she wanted to do in her golden years; to just relax, unwind and appreciate the world's beautiful features. Granted before, she couldn't bring herself to do that; as pleasant as Thneedville seemed to be, it wasn't the world she knew.
How could you appreciate natural beauty when none of it was….well….natural?
Norma carried her focus down to their front lawn; hers as well as others have had the plastic shell smashed up and the stiff soil beneath it broken up. She was looking forward to the day she stepped outside her house and see blades of grass finally growing.
She didn't stir when she heard the door gently open behind her, but then she suddenly saw a pair of hands hold a cup of hot tea on a saucer out to her.
She giggled as she gladly accepted the tea, "Such a gentleman."
The Once-ler smiled down at her before he meekly asked, "May I….?"
"Of course dear."
With that, the Once-ler gently planted himself on the front porch right beside her. They sat in complete silence for several minutes; though Norma continued to sight see, out of the corner of her eye she could see the Once-ler fidgeting to himself. She knew something was plaguing his mind and he struggled to tell her whatever it was.
Thankfully Norma was an extremely patient woman when she needed to be.
She decided maybe some light conversation might help, "I can't wait to see real grass grow again; it will be exciting to see Ted experience the softness of grass for the first time, even Helen as well." It was true, by the time Helen was brought into the world, the grass was grickle and dead; pollution had taken its long hold on the environment by then.
The Once-ler took a deep steady breath, "Y..yeah….."
"Are you able to stay for dinner? I know Ted will be excited to see you when he gets home from school. I know you don't have to eat anymore and believe me, with the gelatin food we eat I envy you, but it'll be nice to have you at the table with us tonight….."
"Why...?"
The silence returned for a moment. Norma looked at him gently, "Why what?" She frowned when the Once-ler hunched forward; elbows rested on his knees as he covered his pain filled eyes with his laced-together hands. "Once-ler?"
The Once-ler took another deep breath, "Why won't you hate me?"
This took Norma off guard for a moment, "Why in the world would I hate you?"
She jumped when the Once-ler snapped, "Because I've given you every reason to!" He quickly covered his mouth; he didn't mean to snap like that, especially to Norma, but he was so confused that he was frustrated.
He swiftly got to his feet and began to pace around, "I've completely ruined your life! I've chopped down all the trees you loved so much! My shutting down my factory financially crippled your lifestyle! I've ruined you're parent's marriage! And I caused you to grow up in a hopeless polluted world!" He ran a hand through his red hair, "I've given you so many reasons to hate me! Why won't you hate me?!"
While the Once-ler took a moment to catch his breath, he was looking into Norma's eyes. She had such an unreadable expression on her face that he couldn't figure out what she was thinking; did he open up old wounds and she's trying to keep herself from breaking down? Did memories of the past caused suspended anger to seep to the surface?
'TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE THINKING?' Once-ler screamed in his mind.
Norma, after a few minutes of silence, finally smiled sadly to him, "Do you want me to hate you?"
Every muscle that the Once-ler tensed up during his vent all relaxed; his shoulders drooped, "W-what?"
Norma repeated patiently, "Do you want me to hate you?"
It was definitely a response Once-ler didn't expect; was she giving him a choice to be hated? He was officially confused, "Well….N-no…..I don't…but….."
"Then why would you ask me to do so?"
Emotion was hitting Once-ler hard on the chest. He looked away shamefully, "Because I deserve it."
Once-ler could hear Norma let out a heavy sigh, "It saddens me that after you've taken the leap in redemption and helped make everything right, you still believe that you have to be hated and pushed away."
Silence filled the air for a moment.
Norma spoke again, "Tell me Once-ler, what makes pollution bad?"
Once-ler turned to her, "I…I don't understand what that has to do with what we're talking about."
Norma smiled at him, "I know where I'm going with this. Please tell me what makes pollution bad?"
Once-ler sighed, "Well…..it makes everyone miserable, it hurts your health over time…..and if nothing is done to get rid of it, it'll continue to loom and consume everything."
"Just like hatred."
Once-ler stared at her; he watched as tears began to form in Norma's eyes.
"No, I don't hate you and I never will. You want to know why I won't hate you? Because it won't fix anything. Hatred changes people; I've seen it happen in my town, especially to my parents. No, I don't blame you for what happened to my parent's marriage; their relationship was never strong to begin with, if it was they would have found a way through the financial troubles that followed the shutdown of your Thneed company, but unfortunately when things got tight, the first thing they did was turn on each other with hatred. It affects others around you; when you express hatred, you make others miserable, sometimes even making them fall to hatred."
Norma wiped a trailed tear off her cheek with her sleeve, "But the biggest thing that hatred offers is that it leaves you with no space to grow. Just like smog, hatred looms around you, unable to see anything beyond it and if you choose to let it, you'll never see the great things that could lie ahead of you."
Once-ler numbly stood there, soaking in all her words. He honestly didn't know what to say after all that.
Norma continued; the sobbing subsided and was replaced with her sweet smile, "Like when I met you for the first time, when I first discovered who you were I almost fell to hatred; I could've just as easily….but I didn't. I fought through the smog and searched for you again."
Norma realized that all this time she held her long empty cup of tea all this time and gently set it to the ground beside her, "I soon discovered that though you may have been the cause of many problems all those years ago, you're also a man who desperately wanted to make things right again. If I recall, you tried to make things right…but look what the hatred created by O'Hare has done to the people in town, they chased you away and created a dark and bleak future for you."
Norma patted the empty spot on the porch next to her, urging the Once-ler to sit back down, which he slowly did. She smiled up at him, "That's why I won't hate you Once-ler, and if you still want me to…..well that's too bad, cause you're not getting it."
Once-ler smiled with such huge relief. Finally all the concerns he had for any negative feelings Norma might be holding back were put to rest. And more importantly, the words of wisdom she spoke and the confirmed response made him feel…..free.
"Thank you," he finally spoke, "For everything."
"Just promise me you won't ask me that question ever again."
"I won't."
"Good." Norma got up on her feet, "Well, I've decided that you are staying for dinner; you've been working pretty hard in the valley and you could use a relaxing night."
The Once-ler chuckled to himself as he got up and followed her inside; he never had any intention of declining the offer in the first place, it's always nice to sit down with those who treat him more like family than his actual family did.
THE END.