Title: The Lorax: Banana Season- Chapter 1
Characters: Once-Ler, Pipsqueak, Janna (OC), the Lorax (briefly)
Rating: G
Word count: 1,691
Summary: AU (alternate universe). The Lorax decides he might not be able to convince the Once-Ler to stop cutting down the trees on his own so he leaves briefly to find another human willing to help. It sounded like a good plan.

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I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
And I'd like to say a few words if you please.
Regarding the story that you're about to read,
It actually happened; just take it from me.

But there's more to this story than what's on the page.
If you'll give us a moment, while we set the stage.

Was I crazy? Yes. Yes I was. That doesn't mean I'm stupid, though. I know an opportunity for something awesome when I see one. At least… I think I do.

An orange and yellow furry peanut-shaped creature coming up to me saying he needed my help because I was the first sensible person he found; I think that's a pretty good opportunity of awesomeness. Well, it'll at least be interesting.

I was just coming home from the library when the 'peanut' asked for my help. He was a short fellow – about 1.5-2 feet tall and had a huge yellow mustache that I swear took up half his body-weight (an exaggeration, but still, it was huge!) and he introduced himself as the Lorax who speaks for the trees. Not the trees from my city though – just the ones from his home land. I had no idea what he needed help with, but it couldn't have been too big of a deal for such a little guy. I was also a little hung up on exactly what this funny creature was and how he could talk.

I took him home and, with me still wearing the backpack I took to the library, he directed me to my backyard. Once there the Lorax took my hand and – I am not kidding – picked himself up by the seat of his pants. I had no idea what was going on but the Lorax was floating and I was hovering off the ground after him. I gripped his hand tighter as soon as my feet left the grass and together we started to float up toward a hole in the clouds, which had mysteriously gathered when the Lorax first showed up. I will forever deny that a girly scream had come out of my mouth.

There was a flash of light when we reached the clouds and then a loud crack, like thunder, and I guess I lost consciousness.

I woke up, but I didn't open my eyes right away. Instead I tried to judge where I was by what I could feel and hear.

I was lying on something soft with tiny rocks digging into my back. There was also the faint smell of grass, so naturally I figured that I was lying on some grass. I couldn't hear any cars or people or any noises from civilization, so I guess I wasn't near a city. Instead I heard… humming?

My eyes opened and I slowly sat up. I noticed my orange backpack lying next to my feet and the Lorax was nowhere to be seen. Figures. I didn't know the guy very well, but this was definitely a little annoying.

I curled my legs up underneath myself and pulled my backpack closer before looking around for the humming noise that I was hearing. I then caught sight of the trees.

Oh my goodness, the trees are fluffy! No joke, the trees were giant balls of fluff on top of what looked like white aspen tree trunks. The fluff varied between different warm pastel colors like pink, yellow, and orange. They were so pretty and I found myself wanting to climb up to the top just to bury my face in it. But I wasn't a good climber so I had to just settle with admiring them.

Looking around further I learned where the humming appeared to be coming from. There were three orange fish standing (yes, standing) on a rock and they were humming. Well, two of them were humming. One was switching between whistling and making little harmonizing 'ba' and 'na' noises. They were all staring at me with their big eyes and had large grins on their faces, making me smile back at them.

Then with one last beautiful note they all leapt into the nearby pond and swam away happily.

I smiled wider and started to stand up. "That was sweet. Weird… but sweet."

I swung my backpack over my shoulder and started to look around again. The Lorax said that he needed my help, but he didn't specify with what. There weren't any obvious indicators about what was troubling him. The sky was blue, there was no smoke or fire, there was birdsong now that the fish had gone away, and the air smelled wonderful. All that I could really see were the trees and a short stump beside the spot where I had landed. Oh.

"'Speaks for the trees'," I repeated to myself. "Right…" I obviously should've questioned things before agreeing to help the little fur-ball.

I stepped over to the stump and leaned down to examine it. It was obviously cut down by an axe and it looked really fresh, so it couldn't have happened too long ago. Maybe about a day or so ago? There was a ring of rocks around it in what appeared to be some sort of shrine-like formation. I didn't know who did it, but it was a nice gesture.

"Baroo?"

I jumped at the small squeaky noise, but relaxed when I looked to my side and saw a small brown bear-creature. Again, this thing had big eyes, but it also had a large head and chubby-looking cheeks that were covered in brown fur like the rest of its body, excepting a patch on its chest which was a light tan. It stared up at me in anxious curiosity and made the noise again.

"Baroo?"

I smiled at it. "Aw… aren't you just the cutest thing in the world?" I carefully reached my hand out and let the bear sniff it before it grabbed my hand and put it on its furry head. I experimentally rubbed my thumb over a patch of fur, but then I got a little bolder and simply started petting the thing. "What happened here buddy?" I asked gesturing toward the stump. "Did someone cut down this tree?"

It opened its eyes and with a squeak nodded.

"Oh, poor thing," I said softly, grabbing the bear under its arms and pulling in for a hug. "It'll be okay." It grabbed the sleeves of my jacket and adorably nuzzled its head into my shoulder. "I'm gonna find this meanie pants and then I'm gonna punch him in the nose just for –"

I was suddenly startled again though when somebody's voice unexpectedly cut through the peaceful air.

"Whoa, who are you?"

I turned with the bear in my arms and looked at the strange man who had just appeared. I was a little surprised at who I saw. He was a tall man, like, six-foot-five or something, and he was really skinny. He wore some dark grey pants with darker, wide horizontal stripes and had on a white button-up shirt. Over that was a dark grey vest and on top of his black hair was a grey fedora. But despite all the grey that this guy wore, he didn't seem to be the depressed sort. He had really wide, blue eyes that were looking at me in genuine confusion with his slightly pouty lips hung open a little.

I tried to grin at him. "My name is Janna," I told him. "I'm, uh… here to hug a bear."

He was still staring at me, but he seemed to be a little less confused. "Once-Ler," he said, not smiling back.

Now I was confused. "What's a Once-Ler?"

He frowned at me. "It's my name. Once-Ler," he said gesturing to himself. I noticed that his frown made the pout in it more prominent and I thought that it was kind of cute.

I smiled again. "Oh, okay. Sorry." I set the bear I was holding back onto the grass and stood to look at Once-Ler, putting my hands behind my back. The bear made a noise and trotted over to the tall man, jumping a little excitedly.

Once-Ler's face beamed as he reached down to pat the little guy on the head. "Hey, Pipsqueak!" he greeted. "What're you up to? Do you know who this lady is?" The bear simply shook its head and looked at him with a wide smile.

I snorted. "Pipsqueak?" I asked with a grin. "Was that all you could come up with?"

The Once-Ler pouted again. "I think it's a perfectly fine name," he huffed. "But I didn't come up with it. And I don't think you should be picking at other people's names. What kind of name is 'Janna' anyway? It sounds like 'banana'. You don't look like a fruit."

I shrugged. "I'll take that as a compliment then. Thank you."

He now looked stunned, which was kind of funny. "What? I didn't mean that – arg!" he finally growled, running a hand over his face. "Okay, fine – your name's Janna. What are you doing here?"

I shrugged again. "Just passing through," I told him. "Thought I'd stop and hug your… bear, Pipsqueak."

"He's not mine," Once-Ler said automatically. "And he's a Barbaloot, not a bear."

"And what about you?" I went on. "What is someone like you doing out in the middle of nowhere? What business do you have here yourself?"

"I have plenty of business, thank you!" Once-Ler suddenly grinned. It was a wide grin that I swear took up half of his entire face. "Do you want me to show you?" he asked. His voice sounded like he was trying to hold back a large amount of excitement, and I also thought I heard him squeak with happiness.

I looked at Pipsqueak, but he only returned with a blank gaze in his huge eyes. I sighed and turned back to Once-Ler. "Okay, sure. Why not?"

This time, the Once-Ler did squeal with glee and he lunged forward to grab my wrist before he began to pull me after him through the forest of fluffy trees.

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A/N:

Yes, there are already so many of these floating around, and I'm just adding to the pile. Enjoy!

Reviews are love for the Once-LER, and anyone who has seen the movie would know that this guy needs as much of it as he can get.

See with cover art on DeviantART under VampiricYoshi at .com/art/The-Lorax-Banana-Season-Chapter-1-295908866