A Day in Villville
Chapter 1: Beanpoles and Peaches
Back in a tree filled town of Villville, before Once-ler ever thought up a thneed or met Ellen Peach and their lives spiraled down the drain, the Beanpoles lived at the end of the street next to no one it would seem but they didn't really care. Correction, Elysia didn't really care she had other neighbors she spent time gossiping about. Sometimes, she wished that she had people right next door to spy on or that she could hate for no apparent reason. Sure people used to live in that house through the years but Elysia's hate chased them away. Some people couldn't take a little back stabbing she supposed but because there were no neighbors next door she spent her days just being a bitch in her own home which she highly enjoyed. Elysia's family… not so much
Bradley started his day the same way every morning. He would wake up, take a shower, get dressed and then go wake up little Once-ler to help him with the chores. Now, in most families it might've seemed odd that a father would wake up his son so they could do chores together but Bradley did it for a few reasons: First, he thought it would be a nice bonding experience for him and Once-ler. Second, he was afraid of his wife and he didn't want to upset her so he did all the cooking and cleaning and sometimes needed the help. Unfortunately, since the day he met Elysia she controlled his life .Chose what he wore. Who he was friends with. EVERYTHING! Most of the time he wished he had never met her and could just run away but if he did that he would have to leave his boys behind. Brett and Chett would be ok because they had their mother's mean streak but Once-ler was a different story. Leaving him behind with this family was like leaving a monkey with chimpanzees you just didn't do it.
When Bradley got to Once-ler's room he nudged Once-ler awake. "Hey, Once… come on, Slugger time to get up." said Bradley.
The 7 year old groaned a little but then rolled over and got out of bed. "Morning, dad." said Once-ler looking at his father. The two of them then headed down to the kitchen; when they got there Elysia was sitting at the dining table with her arms crossed "Is there something you need to tell me, Bradley?" she asked the moment he entered.
"Good morning, Elysia. You're up early." said Bradley a little concerned.
"Good morning, mom." Once-ler chimed after
"Well…" Elysia said ignoring their greetings. "Answer the question"
"I'm not sure I understand, dear." said Bradley
"Then go over to the window and tell me what you see outside" said Elysia
Bradley did what he was told and went over to the window and noticed a moving truck in front of the house next door.
"What is the point of having a husband who works for the mayor if when we get new neighbors I'm the last to know!" screamed Elysia
"Mayor Vill never mentioned new people moving to town." said Bradley
"You are completely useless! Just get breakfast ready. " said Elysia dismissing him.
Bradley took Once-ler by the hand and walked into the kitchen with him.
"Mom is mean. " Once-ler said as they entered the kitchen
"Now, Once, I don't want you to say things like that about your mother. She loves us very much… in her own way. " said Bradley
"But if she loves us so much why is she always yelling at us? She never yells at Brett and Chett." Once-ler points out.
"I know but sometimes people yell when they love someone because they are trying to get them to do what is best for them. I don't want you to ever think your mother doesn't love us ok?" Bradley coaxed his son encouragingly.
"Ok. " said Once-ler nodding.
The rest of that morning went by pretty quickly. The family had breakfast which consisted mostly of Elysia talking about the new neighbors. She found out they were called the Peaches she even saw the family ,all blue eyed blonde haired people,a man, a woman, and a little girl. Brett and Chett evilly smirked when they heard this. They loved picking on people especially girls. They never caused to much damage because they were what their parents called "special". So evil plans were just a pipe dream to them.
After breakfast the boys got ready for school and Bradley went out on the curb with them to wait for the bus. It showed up pretty quickly. The doors opened and let the boys in "Hello, Brad." said the bus driver.
"Hey, Jim." Bradley responded "Keep my boys safe now."
"Always do" said Jim who closed the door and drove off.
Bradley looked next door and saw the Peaches get ready for their day. They seemed like a nice happy family and as he walked to his car and got in he was so engrossed in imagining having a family like that he didn't notice when he backed up into a fire hydrant. He then got out to see the damage. The Peach car stopped close by and Jerry Peach got out. "Hey, are you all right?" asked Jerry.
"I am. I'm not sure about the car." said Bradley
"Where are you going?" asked Jerry
"City hall." said Bradley
"My family is heading in that direction. How about a lift?" asked Jerry
"Thank you." said Bradley as he walked over to the car.
"I'm Jerry Peach… this is my wife Sarah and our daughter Ellen." Jerry introduced.
"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Bradley… Bradley Beanpole. Thank you so much for this." said Bradley.
"Not a problem." said Jerry.
Bradley was liking the Peaches more and more as they drove downtown. He had a feeling that Elysia would not like them too much though. She didn't really like people which bothered Bradley quite a bit. Villville was filled with a lot of nice decent people that he wasn't allowed to talk to because they weren't rich or classy enough. Finally, they reached city hall and Bradley got out and walked into the building and the Peaches drove off but as they did a knot formed in the pit and Bradley's stomach. Something, was going to happen today. Something bad.
Later at the local school, Ellen was sitting outside of the principal's office waiting for her mother. The principal came out first. "Hello, Ellen. I'm Mrs. Applegreen the principle here at Vill school. I'll show you to your class room. " said Mrs. Applegreen taking Ellen by the hand and taking her to her classroom. Sarah followed close behind. " Mrs. Peach, Ellen will be just fine. We'll take it from here."
Sarah nodded and turned to go. As she walked down the hall Elysia stomped in as if she owned the place. She stopped when she saw Sarah. " You're Mrs. Peach." she stated
"Yes, I'm Sarah Peach. And you are?" asked Sarah
Elysia glared at her as if she was insulted by the question "I'm Elysia Beanpole… your new neighbor."
"It's very nice to meet you." said Sarah
"Did your moron of a husband forget your children's lunches too?" she asked
"No. My husband just dropped me and my daughter off here. It's her first day after all. Besides, I'm usually the one that gets her ready."said Sarah
"Too stupid to do it himself, is he?" asked Elysia
"My husband is not stupid. He could get Ellen ready if he wanted to. Sometimes, he does. We trade off. This is my week to get her ready. Next week, is his week but I don't believe how my family is run is any business of yours." Sarah pointed out.
"And I suppose it's fair that you are getting involved in mine." said Elysia.
"I beg your pardon?" said Sarah
"I saw my husband get into your family's car." said Elysia.
"We were giving him a ride. It's called being neighborly." said Sarah.
" Then let me give you some advice, away from my family if you know what's good for you. That goes for your husband and your daughter too." said Elysia.
" What did I do to piss you off? I've just met you." said Sarah
" O, you haven't pissed me off. In fact, I'm very excited to have you in the neighborhood." said Elysia "Welcome to, Villville." and with that Elysia continued to walk down the hall and Sarah walked home very confused.
"MOMMY! MOMMY!" screamed Ellen as she entered the house covered in orange paint.
"Ellen! What happened!" said Sarah
"I hate school!" Ellen burst into tears
"Who did this to you?" asked Sarah very concerned
"Brett and Chett Beanpole. I hate them and I hate school… I'm never going back." said Ellen
"I don't blame you for not wanting to go back but you have to face up to bullies like them. If you run from them they win. But in this case, I think we should just talk to their parents. " said Sarah "You go upstairs and get cleaned up. I'm gonna go over and talk to them."
Sarah marched to the house next door very angry. She banged on the door as hard as she could and she was ready to yell at the person who opened it when she noticed it was a little boy. She took a deep breath and said "Hello, you must be Brett." said Sarah
"No." said Once-ler
"Chett then." said Sarah
"No." said Once-ler
"Then who are you?" asked Sarah.
"I'm Once-ler, their brother, but if Brett and Chett did something then you might want to see my mom. Come on in." said Once-ler
"I'm your next door neighbor Mrs. Peach. It's very nice to meet you, Once-ler." said Sarah as she entered.
"Mom, Mrs. Peach is here to see you." said Once-ler as he showed Mrs. Peach into the living room.
" Elysia, your sons owe my daughter an apology. They threw orange paint all over her." said Sarah "You know as well as I do that that is unacceptable."
"You're right. I'm sorry my boys are "special" they can't control their actions as well as other children. They were just playing with her I'm sure. I'll talk to…" said Elysia.
Just then the phone rang and Elysia picked it up "What… that doesn't make any… what do you mean he never came back from his lunch meeting? Did you talk to, Phil… The mayor you, moron… Phil Vill! This is no time to ask me why I'm on a first name basis with the mayor ,Malcolm! My husband is missing!… ok, who was this lunch meeting with?… What do you mean you can't tell me… I'm already mad!… with who?… I see… Thank you, Malcolm." said Elysia. "Where's your husband?"
" Still a work… why?" asked Sarah
"Because, I think your husband kidnapped mine." said Elysia
"That's ridiculous! Jerry has never done anything wrong in his life!" said Sarah.
"Well, then how do you explain the fact that Jerry was the last person to be seen with Bradley. They had a lunch date together this afternoon and no one has seen either of them since."
"That doesn't prove anything. Maybe your husband kidnapped mine. We know just as much about your family as you know about ours." Sarah pointed out.
"Well, if your husband did anything be warned that I won't take it lightly." Elysia threatened.
Thus started the feud between the Beanpoles and the Peaches.