Disclaimer - I don't own The Lorax. Copyright to Dr Seuss and Illuminations Entertainment

Prologue: How Bad Can I Possibly Be?

I strode down the hallway past my mom's desk, the paintings of the Truffula trees, the blown-up image of myself and, most importantly, the 'Thneeds Sold' counter, which had reached well over 5 million and was still scrolling through the numbers at top speed. I pulled out my watch without stopping, checked the time - 6:30pm - and put it away again. There was nothing left to do today, no meetings, no inspections, nothing. I could relax for the rest of the night. Brett and Chet stood waiting and opened the doors to my office. We didn't speak a word to each other, we didn't make eye contact. That's the way it was. Back when we first started out, we had all worked together, actually acting like brothers for the first time in years. But it was my company, and they were just workers. It had been five long years since this whole thing started, and in that time, they'd become less of a family and more of a business team. I walked straight past them and into my office, hearing them close the door behind me, but I didn't turn to look. I never did. I took off my glasses and tossed them onto the desk as I fell back onto the tall chair. I paused for a second then pulled my chair in and rested my elbows on the desk, rubbing my hands together as I admired the Thneedville model in front of me. My invention had become so popular, and the citizens of Greenville held so much admiration for me that the town had been renamed and remodelled, and I practically ran the place. With a childish smile, I reached out to touch one of the buildings.

"So how are things?"

I started and my eyes widened for a moment. I know that voice… I looked up to see the Lorax sitting on the railing of the balcony, his back to me. I turned my chair towards him and scowled. "What are you doing here?" He ignored the question and spun round to face me, looking back at me with sad eyes.

"Happy yet? You fill that hole deep down inside you?" He furrowed his bushy eyebrows, "Or do you still need more?"

"Look. If you've got a problem with what I'm doing, why haven't you used your, quote-unquote, 'powers' to stop me?"

"I told you," he said after a pause, and I stood from my chair to walk over to him, "… That's not how it works."

"Right, I forgot," I pointed an accusing finger at him; "You're a fraud. I need you to get out. Now." He only jumped down from the railing and shot me an equally accusing glare.

"Why?" he took a step forward, looking at me questioningly, "Do I make you uncomfortable? Remind you of the promises you made?" I clenched my fists. "The man you used to be?"

That was it.

"Y'know what?" I stood between him and the door back into the office, "You can just shut your mustache!" I jabbed my finger in his face again and marched towards him, sending him staggering backwards down the staircase, and I followed him. "I have done nothing illegal, I have my rights, and I intend to keep on biggering and biggering and turning more Truffula trees into thneeds," I crouched down, but still towered over him threateningly. He tripped on the last step, falling on his back, and I leaned towards him, "And nothing is going to stop me!"

But then something in the edge of my vision caught my eye, and obviously caught his, too. I could see a look of realisation on his face that I knew he could see on mine. We both looked up to see a lone Truffula still standing amongst a forest of stumps, and the ax-hacker was edging closer to it. I had a split second to think to myself When did it get like this…? before the front ax pulled back for a moment then swung and cut right through the tree trunk in one swift motion. My breath hitched and my heart thudded against my chest. The tree seemed to fall in slow motion and a light cloud of dust floated out as it hit the ground, and the ax-hacker backed up and moved on, ready to return to the factory.

"Well, that's it."

I was still crouched beside the Lorax as he spoke.

"The very last one."

My menacing glare softened to a faint frown.

"That may stop ya."

My mouth dropped open and my eyes widened as the situation dawned on me. That was the last Truffula tree. They were gone. And it was all my fault. I had mangaed to wipe out the whole forest in just five short years. I slowly stood up and looked around; not a single tree was left. Not one tuft. Nothing.

"I-I…!" I turned around, wanting to apologize, but the Lorax had gone. I stood alone outside the factory, listening to the whirring and grinding of the machines echoing around the barren valley. I felt tears burning in my eyes but I screwed them shut and rubbed the tears away with a gloved hand and bit my lip. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a minute. I stood there for what seemed like hours until I heard the sound of an engine and wheels on the ground. I looked back to where the tree had fallen. It had long since been collected by the factory workers and dragged away, but the ax-hacker remained, rolling along the ground at its slow, crawling pace. But that wasn't what I heard driving towards me. I knew what it was, and I didn't bother to look. The RV stopped in front of me and my mom rolled the window down.

"Son," I looked up at her, a saddened, guilty expression on my face, "You have let me down." I wasn't exactly shocked by this remark, she'd always been that way, but it didn't exactly help the regret I was feeling at that moment. "Brett!" I flinched at her sudden change in tone and looked past her at my brothers sitting beside her, "You are now my favorite child," she said sweetly. I saw Brett perk up, looking surprised and a little confused, and Chet glanced at him. I looked at the twins desperately but neither of them noticed. Then Mom drove off, leaving me behind. Alone. The wheels stirred up dust and I waved it away, watching my family disappear into the distance.

I heard small footsteps behind me and turned to see the Lorax standing on a circle of rocks I hadn't seen before. After him came the bar-ba-loots, swomee swans and humming fish, and they gathered together faithfully behind their guardian. Fearing the worst, I took a step back. "Hey, look, I don't want any trouble…"

"And you won't get any," the Lorax replied, "Not from them." The animals swarmed past me, descending the hill, looking dejected and lost. "Thanks to you and your hackin' and smoggin' and gluppin', they can't live here anymore," the Lorax continued. I was listening, but my eyes were on the animals. A few swans were missing feathers, some of the fish were caked in black sludge, and bar-ba-loot pups buried their faces into the fur of their parents as they were carried away. "So I'm sendin' them off," I glanced at him, then back at the trail of animals. "Hopefully they'll find a better place out there somewhere." Then I spotted an all-too familiar face in the crowd.

"Melvin…?" The mule lifted his head at the sound of his name, looked at me, flattened his ears, and then snorted, dropping his head again. I ran over to him, reaching out a hand just as he picked up his pace. "Melvin…!" I looked around and saw a certain little pup walking alone. "Hey, Pipsqueek…!" I bent down. He stopped and looked up at me with big, sorrowful eyes. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a marshmallow, holding it out to him, but he didn't take it, "Hey…" I gave him a small smile and raised my hand, but his ears only drooped and he continued on, following the others. I turned back to the Lorax, who was still perched on the circle of rocks. I reached up and removed my hat, looking from it to him. I moved to come closer to him, opening my mouth to speak but no words came. There was nothing I could say or do to change what I'd already done. I watched in silence as he reached behind him, gripping his fur in one hand, and lifted himself into the sky, floating towards a single small break in the clouds of smog my factory had created. I now moved towards the rocks the Lorax had left and saw some thing carved into the largest one. A word.

UNLESS.