A loud commotion outside startled sixteen-year-old Once-ler from his thoughts, currently directed at the notepad he was scribbling in as he leaned against the wall below the window, his long legs sprawled out in front of him. His blue eyes lingered on the paper a few moments longer, resisting the urge to cringe when he heard his mother yelling something on the front porch.
Whatever the problem was, Brett and Chet already took it upon themselves to run for the front door, tripping over one another in the process of fighting over who'd get through the doorway first.
Tactfully, Oncie flipped around, letting the pages of the pad close on the one he'd been doodling on. He then got on his knees to prop his elbows on the window sill, peering out into the sunny day that lit up the open area around their home.
That was when he noticed the source of the 'problem'.
Uncle Ubb was pulling on a rope. The rope was tied around the neck of a ruffled and stubborn mule that was kicking and rearing, aiming each blow with its hooves at the short man of whom it towered over in comparison.
Eyes round, the Once-ler threw the notepad onto the coffee table beside the sofa and swung around the corner to face the front door. He wrenched it open, and was met with his mother's screaming voice and the mule's angry whinnies.
"...And as if we need another wild animal on our property, Ubb!" screeched Mama Once-ler, her fists clenched at her sides in a very un-ladylike manner. "Take that thing back to wherever you found it!"
Ubb frowned at her, unwisely dropping his guard for a few moments beside the mule. "We need another mule for the wagon. How're we s'posed to get to town?"
"Well, our Oncie has experience with pullin' the weight," she cracked in response, seeming fully aware that her son was beside her though deciding to make the insensitive remark regardless. "'M'sure he won't mind bein' hitched up to the front."
The Once-ler's shoulders sagged, just the slightest bit disinterested now as the others - all apart from Ubb - laughed around him. Brett slapped the back of his head, and his fedora flew off to land in the hands he quite suddenly threw out to catch and make sure it didn't blow away. At that same moment, the mule released a snort and turned around on the spot, punting Ubb in the backside with its hindlegs. Brett and Chet watched, mouths agape, while their mother didn't look at all very fazed to watch Ubb get comically thrown several feet into the air. Aunt Grizelda stuck her head outside, snorted with dry amusement as usual, and leaned against the door frame as she watched. Oncie was fixing his hat when this happened, but when he lifted the brim up from covering his eyes, he couldn't help but stare himself in astonishment.
"Oncie, go help your uncle," his mother snapped. "Then help him take that creature back where he found it."
The Once-ler nodded, observing the oddity of the way the mule was acting; Instead of bolting off as he thought it would, the small equine stood tall, looking - if Oncie wasn't mistaken - increasingly pleased with itself for what it just did.
"Ugh... Give your uncle a hand, Once," Ubb groaned, weakly picking himself up from the ground.
Grimacing, the Once-ler reached down, but was nearly yanked down himself as his uncle clamped onto him for support. "Uh. Where did you get the mule?" he asked, standing straight again when Uncle Ubb was upright.
"Auction," Ubb replied brightly, grabbing hold of the halter rapped around the mule's snout (to which he got another snort in response). "No one else bidded, so he was all mine."
"Uh-huh," Once-ler mumbled. "And... Do you have any idea why no one else bidded?" He had a funny thought as to why exactly no one wanted the small-but-deadly animal. In question, the very mule gave him a death glare after he said that, as though it could understand every word of their conversation.
"No," Ubb replied, a smile on his face and still as bright as could be. Then, swiftly, he grabbed hold of the Once-ler's vest and yanked him down to his level once again, eliciting a gasp from the tall boy. "Look... I'm keepin' this mule. You need to help me hide him."
Oncie was surprised, in all truth; It wasn't often that a member of his family let him in on a secret that was only for the teller of the secret and himself. Brett and Chet didn't even know about this one!
Naturally, he grinned enthusiastically at his short uncle. "Oh. Alright!" He turned in a full circle before his eyes finally rested on the small barn house several feet behind their home, vacant, for they recently had no living creatures in there. "Well, it's the obvious choice, but Mom never goes in there."
"Great," Ubb nodded, a smirk on his face as he began walking in that direction, tugging on the rope.
"I could lead him," Oncie offered. "You just focus on getting to that barn."
"Right," Ubb smoothly said, pointing both fingers at his nephew in a "you've got my back, I've got yours" sort of way. Though the Once-ler knew this alliance would only last so long before he was treated like dirt again. In this case, he decided to savor every second of it.
The mule seemed a little calmer now that someone different (and a bit more tolerable, for that matter) was leading him. The Once-ler smiled at him, but the mule didn't return any gesture that Oncie knew of to express happiness or appreciation.
They approached the double barn doors, and Ubb strode forward to try pushing them open himself, though the Once-ler knew his efforts were fruitless. Nonchalant, he handed the rope back to his uncle and opened the doors himself without much struggle. Ubb didn't thank him. He merely grunted his acknowledgement before pulling the mule into the shadows of the small, rickety building.
"Should've brought a lantern," he muttered.
Oncie nodded, despite knowing he couldn't be seen in the darkness. All he could know for sure was that the air was musty, and the floor was covered with hay; every time he or Ubb took a step, a rustling sound was heard. But he could tell the mule's hooves pierced right through it to the wooden floor beneath the hay, because all he could hear were clopping noises for the short steps the animal took.
A small silence filled the room, and the Once-ler didn't even hear his uncle's movement anymore. What could he be doing?
"Uncle Ubb?"
"Mm?"
His mind now made up, Oncie felt around until his hand brushed the furry shoulder of the mule. "I'll come around early tomorrow with a lantern and some oats, before breakfast." With this, he pat the equine, though he didn't receive a snort in the face this time.
"Good," Ubb grunted. "Now let's go. And remember: Not a word of this to your mother."
"At least not yet," Oncie replied.
It was around four in the morning when the Once-ler got up the next day. They had lied to his mother, telling her they'd gotten rid of the mule. Now all he had to do was be quiet; Mama Once-ler was a light sleeper.
He closed his bedroom door behind him after getting dressed. Then he walked down the hall, into the living room. They didn't have an upstairs. With little hesitation, the teenager slunked into the kitchen, first heading to the pantry to pick up the cloth bag of oats. Why they weren't in the barn in the first place, he hadn't a clue. He always deemed it a trick that Brett or Chet (or, quite possibly, the two of them together) pulled to conjure up more confusion and chaos than there already was in the household.
He lugged it out and shut the pantry door behind him, placing it down on the floor with a heavy breath. Then, for good measure, he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the counter. He picked the bag back up and managed to juggle both as he grabbed hold of the mechanical lantern on the small table beside the door, set down there for handy use.
He rounded the house and walked across the large field of tall, yellow grass. Birds were chirping, and the air was crisp. He had to place the lantern and bag down to lurch the door open again. When he did, he heard a startled snort from inside the barn.
"Well," the Once-ler droned, gathering together all his stuff once again to walk in. "Sorry for the wait. I can't say you'll like this place very much."
After closing the doors, he flicked the lantern on, squinting until he spotted the furry mule standing a few feet in front of him. "There you are."
The creature narrowed his eyes at the human, immediate distrust in them.
"Hey," Oncie blurted, holding his hands out in front of him. "I've come with a peace offering."
At those words, the mule lifted his head and pricked his long ears, clearly curious.
"Hungry?" With a flourish, he kicked the bag of oats on its side, shining the lantern's light on it in particular. He suddenly heard hooves crossing the short space between him and the equine, and just as quick, he saw the animal craning his neck down to eat without question.
The Once-ler smiled and sat down beside the bag, setting the lantern next to him. The mule didn't look up at him anymore, and Oncie began to ponder on the last time the equine ate something. Or something good, anyway. No doubt, the oats were rather stale, but this mule didn't seem to care.
"So... Where did you come from?" Oncie asked, somehow getting the false idea that the hungry animal would respond.
On the contrary to the word "false", the mule stiffened and lifted his head. The Once-ler could've sworn he saw sadness in those dull, brown eyes.
Could that have possibly been a touchy subject of some kind? How touchy could you get when it came to a mule?
"Do you have a name?"
No response. After a shake of his head, the equine went back to his dine on the oats, looking just the slightest bit irked now by the young human sitting beside him.
"Well, you need one, then," Oncie stated happily, leaning back on his hands. "Hmm..."
Another awkward silence filled the room. But just as quickly as it started, it ended nearly twice as fast. The mule lifted his head, eyeing the apple on the Once-ler's lap, and stepped over the bag of half eaten oats to reach it. Oncie was knocked from his thought process when he felt the furry creature's large head pushing his own backwards, until his hands slipped and he was lying on his back with the wild animal standing over him.
With little thought, the mule picked the apple up with his teeth and started chewing it with that signature, solemnly bored expression on his face that could be easily expected of his species to wear.
Or maybe it was just him.
Oncie chuckled out of nerves and reached up, patting the equine on the nose. "I'm Once-ler. Once for short, and... Oncie for... humilliation...?"
The mule tilted his head inquiringly, still not ceasing to move from standing over the tall human. At the current moment, that said human's only fear was that the heavy animal would try sitting on him.
"I don't know; It's what my mom calls me."
The mule made an idle head movement as his only acknowledgement in listening to the Once-ler. Then he stepped away to let the human sit up again, right after slapping him in the face with his tail first.
Oncie grinned. "...You remind me of Kelvin."
The mule stopped in his tracks. He looked up at the Once-ler questioningly, one ear up while the other was down.
"Kelvin," Oncie repeated. "The mule we used to have, before..." He bit back the lump that was rising in his throat; It had actually been forming from the very moment he saw this new mule eating the food he had brought him, but now it seemed as though it had built up to its brim. "Well, uh.. We rode into town, and... Kelvin got hit by one of those fancy cars that all the rich people have." Oncie swallowed back the lump as best as he could. "The whole wagon tipped. I broke my wrist in the fall, but I didn't really care after..." He leaned back on his hands again, a frown reaching his face. "It was, eh... pretty tragic."
In all truth, all the Once-ler could remember was tears. He'd been sobbing for hours after the accident, with his wrist done up in a cheap, homemade sling. He'd've been a cripple for the rest of his life if it meant he could bring Kelvin back. But on the contrary, his wrist healed, and the last time he remembered patting Kelvin on the head would be the last time he ever patted Kelvin. Ever.
Noticing the pained expression on his young face, the mule that he was in the company of at the present moment came close again. Oncie started in mild surprise when the small equine rested his muzzle over his shoulder in a comforting gesture, and he reached up with a shaky hand again to pat the mule's neck this time. He weakly smiled. "Thanks."
Heaving a sigh, he stood up, holding the animal's back for support. "You still need a name, though." He thought about it for a moment, and suddenly, an idea that sounded somewhat ridiculous but oddly fitting came to mind. "Melvin?"
The little mule looked up at him with the same dull expression from before, rolling his eyes in a "it'll do" sort of way.
"I mean it," Oncie said with a grin, rapping one arm around the mule's neck. "It's like you two are brothers, or something." He shrugged fondly. "And whenever I see you, I'll think of him."
Snort.
The Once-ler laughed and patted Melvin's back. "And you." He looked to the gap underneath the double doors, noticing the morning light shining in from outside. "I ought to be going, Mel."
Melvin strutted past him, shoving him in a "oh, I get a nickname now?" sort of way. Whatever the way, it knocked the tall boy aside.
"My mom doesn't know about you yet," he quickly informed the mule, running ahead to stand in the way of the door; he assumed Melvin wanted to go outside again, instead of sticking around in the shadows. "Just wait a little while longer. I promise you'll be outside by afternoon." He was considering saying night instead, but he had a feeling he'd receive a kick for that.
The mule's glare could easily equal a kick.
"I'll see you in a few hours," the Once-ler promised, turning around and heading out, closing the doors behind him with a stressed groan in his want to hurry.
With his back against said doors, he smiled to himself; Maybe he wasn't human, and maybe he was a little angsty from time to time, but Melvin's company was genuine and real. Unlike some others...
Oncie began his trek back home, not at all looking forward to the arguement that would take place after his mother found out Uncle Ubb had gone behind her back, and the Once-ler had gone out of his own way to help him do it.
No matter, really.
In all honesty, Oncie didn't care if Ubb refused to take care of the new arrival. He'd do it himself, just as he did for Kelvin.
AN: Yay! Look at me! Shirking my writing responsibilities to multi-chaptered stories and writing a oneshot for a completey different fandom! But, c'mon, really; Recently, I've been obsessed with The Lorax. Preferably with the character of the Once-ler. He's just so... I don't know. I can't currently think of a good word to describe him. But I love him. ^_^ So, in all my efforts to contribute to the fandom, I've wrote a short story on how he and his trusty mule, Melvin, met.
This was my first story to upload to Deviantart, also. So if you see this story on there, don't think anyone stole it. My username on there is CadyD16.
So, review, if you please! :3 I'm planning on writing a sequel, depending on how much people care for this. It might just be added as another chapter, but I'm not sure yet...