The blue had not faded from her skin, not even a year after the events in the factory.
It had not faded from her hair, or her nails, even her eyes had not returned to their natural green.
Her mother had taken her to the doctor as soon as they got off the plane, but the doctor would not believe their story, and could not do anything about it.
Scarlett, her mother, had sent countless letters to Mr. Wonka, asking at first then begging him to put it right, all of them were unanswered, and her champion daughter turned to a curiosity.
When Violet woke that morning, she pulled the covers off of her, and off the bed, pulling on a robe from the floor.
"Violet!" She could hear her mother call. Violet rolled her eyes, and traipsed down the hall, past the trophy-room door, which had been kept closed for the past year, and into the kitchen, where her mother was making breakfast.
"Honey, there's a letter for you…" Scarlett said as she pulled pop-tarts from the toaster.
"And your father finally sent that cheque" She opened the fridge and took out the carton of orange juice.
"Who sends letters?" Violet saw the envelope on the table, her mother had not opened it, but there was something strange about the letter.
Violet sat down and pulled it over to her, and ripped open the envelope with her blue hands. Out fell a purple piece of paper.
Violet flicked open the paper, revealing small, cursive writing, and read aloud.
"Dear Violet Beauregarde, exactly one year ago, you were invited to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory" Violet said, and realised her hands were shaking, her mother pushed a plate over to Violet, and sat down next to her.
"I can say that the events of that day were rather unfortunate, and so, I offer you a week in the factory, to finish the tour you started. I have to say I was disappointed with you, having stolen Wonka's Magic Chewing Gum and disregarding my warnings. I offer you here a second chance, mainly at Charlie's request. The factory gates will be open for you at 10:00 sharp on the 5th of February. (Signed) Willy Wonka"
Scarlett gave a snort. "He doesn't want to write back to me all those times, and now he invites you back to the factory?" She shook her head in disbelief.
"You're not going back there, honey"
Violet wasn't listening, she was reading a small postscript by Charlie.
"I know some of you would not want to come to the factory again, but I want everyone to be there, so I beg you to please come. Willy and I are going to pay for plane tickets, so please come"
Violet rolled her eyes. That little shrimp wanted her back in the factory? She bit her lip. Ordinarily, she would have gone for chewing gum, but her mother had taken it straight out of her mouth when they left the factory, and she often wished she had it, so that she could chew all her problems away.
The factory had been so magical, maybe Wonka would make sure that they were safe this time…
Violet shook the idea from her head, causing her purple bob to swish from side to side, but still, she might be able to see Mike again, and even though Augustus hadn't said much he was nice enough to her.
"I want to go, Mom" Violet decided.
Scarlett Beauregarde sighed. "You don't know what you're talking about. One time in that factory is more than enough, besides, that Wonka man is so creepy"
Violet's poptart crunched as she bit into it. "Charlie says that Wonka's paying for the plane tickets" She said. She could see her mother think about it, behind her heavily eye-shadowed eyes.
"When is it" She said, Violet could tell that her mother had already given in. Violet looked back down at the letter that was still in her hand. "The fifth"
"I'll…" Her mother began. "I'll think about it. In the meantime, you have school. Come on, get ready" She leaned over and brushed her daughter's face quickly with her lips, got up, and disappeared to the bathroom.
Violet finished her pop-tart, went back to her room and got dressed into a black puffer jacket and track pants. She brushed her teeth and grabbed her bag from the peg next to the door.
"Bye Mom!" She yelled behind her, and opened the door and heard the school bus.
Her day at school made her even more resolute to go to the factory. She needed a break from Atlanta.
At school they called her "Violet Blueberrigarde" which wasn't particularly creative, but it stung nonetheless. The only benefit that came from her blue-berry incident was that it had made her incredibly flexible, and so she had made it to the top in her grade for Gymnastics, but it was a small light in an otherwise dark, dark room.
That night over dinner, Scarlett Beauregarde announced that they could go. Violet smiled, surprised at how happy she was considering what happened last time, and hugged her mother tightly.
She went to bed happy that night, looking forward to the factory, as she had done a year ago.
Violet had to suffer only a few days before her flight, very early the next morning. She and her mother had packed the day before, so that they only had to wake up early and haul their luggage into the airport shuttle.
The drive to the airport was long and boring, it was too early for either of them to feel like talking, so Scarlett sat next to Violet, using her phone, and Violet was left to gaze out of the window. The shuttle driver had blinked when he saw a blue girl and her mother step into his van, and every now and then Violet would see him look in the rear-view mirror at her, frowning. She tried not to notice.
When they got to the airport, more staring eyes followed her to check-in, and to security checks. At first, the airport security thought that the blue of her skin was some way of smuggling something, and she had to be checked several times before they cleared her.
While they were waiting for their boarding call, Violet and her Mother wandered around the terminal. Twice, they came across Wonka Stores, and Violet laughed at her picture that was framed on the wall, under a gold plaque that said "Golden Ticket Winners". Her skin was normal in the photograph, but the woman behind the register knew who Violet was. She looked in fascination at Violet's hair and skin, asking questions without waiting for an answer before Scarlett ushered her daughter out of the store, where she was getting unwanted attention.
It had been on the news that Violet Beauregarde was blue, but that didn't stop people from pointing and staring. It was at times like this when Violet liked to tell herself that Mike Teavee was worse off than her, over eight feet tall and as thin a napkin. He must have been getting a lot of stares in Colorado.
"That's our flight" Scarlett said, she closed the magazine she was reading, and grabbed her hand-bag from the seat next to her. She got up, and Violet followed closely behind.
