Chapter 1 To Those About To Rock We Salute You
Wonka considered the row of shiny silver discs that were before him with great effort. Today's choosing would be difficult. He was in need of great release and his choice would determine how the rest of the day would go.
25 years ago Willy Wonka closed his factory. Forever. Well, not really forever. But it was a long long time. Now he needed his inspiration and waited patiently for it to arrive. The day the factory doors closed, for what the entire world and Wonka himself believed to be the last time, the world lost more than delectable treats. It lost that "thing", that indefinable thing that Wonka's creations added to the world.
The shiny discs still before him were each labeled in a unique way. Not one of them bore words or letters of any kind. Simply shapes in various color combinations. One, his favorite, had fluorescent pink and yellow diagonal lines across its surface. Another was marked with a thick black circle with a green dot in the center, the one next to that one had a red and orange arrows emanating from the center and pointing in willy nilly directions till each one ended at the very edge of the disc. He needed no words to discern the contents. His mind and heart had memorized each one.
It was about the same time that the factory closed that his next great invention came to him. Eatable tape! Not the kind of tape that you close packages with, but the sort that are contained in 8-track tapes! That would really shake the world……being able to eat your favorite music……although the concept was great, in practice the product left several Oompa Loompas with one horrible side effect……their favorite song playing within their bodies forever. It only played inside your body so you were the only one to hear it. Several of those Oompa Loompas are now confined to a special room in the basement, for their own safety.
Wonka tried this again when cassette tapes were all the rage and again the product left a few more Oompa Loompas in the safe room. Years passed and he let this idea go. For now. Wonka knew that when the technology of the world caught up with him that his idea would come to fruition.
Now the shiny discs were all calling to him. Pick me! They called. No, Pick ME! ME ME ME MEMEMEMEMEME! Wonka hated when this happened. No inspiration today. He closed his eyes and let himself sink into the soft arm chair that he currently occupied. It was quite the comfy chair, despite the fact that he used it at his work desk. He leaned forward, placed his elbows on the edge of the desk and allowed his right hand to descend toward the disc holder.
Suddenly, his gloved hand reached out and touched a disc. Wonka's eyes were tightly closed, so much so that he appeared to have aged severely due to the wrinkles that formed around his eyes. He hated this method of selection. If he were to receive the release he desires, no, that's not quite right,…..the release he needs to get on with his day then this was the only way and he knew it.
Slowly a glove clad index finger felt the smooth thin edge of the disc. He rolled the disc forward with his fingers, with eyes still clenched shut, until it was completely free from its holder. Then, and only then would he open his eyes and see which choice the music gods had made for him
