He shook at the advancing being coming upon him. It was rather gruesome, but had some sort of class or elegance to it. It wore a crisp green pinstripe suit and slim slacks over it's slimy, scaly, and repulsive green skin. A pair of sparkly blue sunglasses over it's eyes, and somehow a bright green light could pierce its way out of the blue lenses. A wide, sharp-toothed grin plastered the towering monsters face, reveling at the sight of the man, shivering on the ground before him.
Soon he was less than a centimeter from the freckled face, bringing a terrible odor of oil and smog up the mans nose. The monster flicked his snake-like tongue out, laughing at the other squirming uncomfortably and trying to avoid the appendage. The green monster roughly grabbed the man by the chin, cutting into skin with his claws and letting a few drops of blood spill out.
"Ssssssilly Onccccccie, you sssssshould know by now, no matter how well you breed, ssssssomehow there'll be greed~"
It all seemed too easy. . .
A rock, no bigger than a baseball, suddenly collided with the creatures head. He flinched and glared at the direction in which it came from, hissing and disappearing into a fog of smog. Of course HE had to show up, when would that old coot realize and accept the inevitable fate for the young, naïve boy?
Once-ler watched the creature slither off, exactly like a snake, standing up and dusting himself off as his savior walked over to him.
"Sorry, he was saying all these things and. . . I tried to fight him off. I really did."
He didn't make eye contact, ashamed at being pulled in by the personification of Greed again, and being saved by the older man again.
Faded blue eyes gazed at the young man, a hand disappearing into his coat and pulling out a handkerchief, holding it out for the boy to take.
"I know you did. Greed is just a very tempting being."
He took the cloth and pressed it to his chin to stop the bleeding, finally looking at the other.
"Yeah I know, it's just- he says how he can make things better, make my Thneed popular and wanted, get me all the money I'll ever need, finally earn back Ma's love, and I know you say how I shouldn't trust him but-"
He stopped and sighed, having gotten worked up by the unknown promises and temptation. He opened his mouth, voice quavering,
" . . . It' getting harder to say no. . . It's so hard. . . All I want is for things to be better."
He hung his head, his hand dropping from his chin, the red-spotted cloth slipping from his hand and falling to the ground.
He bit his lip and willed down the tears, how stupid was he, getting so upset like this?
But. . . it hurt. It hurt SO much, going into town everyday to sell his invention, only to be attacked with fruit, barely having enough money to buy all his needs, it had especially hurt when his mother first turned a cold shoulder to him, everything just HURT so bad, and all he wanted was for everything to be okay again, like back when he had been a kid.
He sniffed and reached up to rub at the back of his neck, feeling pathetic for crying like this infront of the older man.
"You need to fight it though, your strong and can fight him off. All you need to do is realize that strength!"
The elder turned to look around at the desolate landscape, taking in the bleakness, the smog, the glop, the neverending darkness and stumps, and most of all, the one word that haunted his life.
"This is my kingdom come. I made this mess and I have to live in it. But you. . . "
He looked back at the other, lifting the mans head up, cupping his cheeks as he looked him square in the eye.
"Your eyes, they shine so bright. . . I want to save that light."
The younger looked at him quietly, before reaching his own hand up to cover the one on his cheek.
"I can't escape this now."
He gripped it tighter as a single tear slipped out from his eyes.
" . . . Unless you show me how."
-End-