Chapter 1
Thneedville. A city they say that was PLASTIC and FAKE. And the citizens of Thneedville LIKED IT that way! Until recently, when young Ted Wiggins, brought to the small town a very special thing.
The last truffula seed. But that was over three years ago. Now the small town couldn't have been in better off shape. The air was clean, the grass was growing green and tall, and little truffula trees grew all around, even as far out as to the lerkim where The Once-ler lived.
O'Hare hadn't come back to town since the day he was rocketed out, and all the manufactured trees
were being replaced with the baby sprouts. They grew remarkably fast so they wouldn't be babies for much longer.
But this is all besides the point. Everyone loves a good little background check, but...the REAL STORY is what pulls you in. And in this case...our story starts off on a clear spring night. It was close to midnight, that The Lorax had sneaked into town.
'What was he doing there?' you may ask. Well it's not hard to explain.
To the first truffula tree planted he went. His short stubby legs carried himself to the center of town with something in his hand, a determined expression on his face.
To the now grown tall truffula tree he went, standing in front of it and slowly smiling as he looked up at it. He stole a few glances around himself. He suddenly jabbed something into the trunk of the tree, wincing a little as he did. He patted the trunk with a sad sigh as he did. What he jabbed into the tree...was a sap collector. A little vial was attached to the end to catch the sap.
You see, you may we wondering WHY The Lorax was here, and why he jabbed the poor young truffula tree. It's a simple answer actually. To get sap. Why he had to get the sap, that's another story.
You see, the sap was special. It was a special kind of sap that did a number of special things. And The Lorax had a plan to use it on a special certain person. To whom it was for, one could guess. As to what is could do, anyone's guess was as good as a small child's.
The vial had finally filled with sap and The Lorax pulled out the sap collector, patting the tree again and quickly hurrying off out the gates of the city. What a strange little forest guardian he is. Why...I say we follow him? What do you think?
At the tall lerkim that morning, Once-ler was already up and about tending to the tiny truffula sprouts. The old hermit smiled brightly as he watered the little things, pleased with how much they had already grown. But a small frown of confusion spread across his face under his bushy and grey mustache as he turned his head to look over at the front door. He stared at it for a moment and rolled his eyes with a small laugh. One of the reasons why The Once-ler was outside SO EARLY in the morning was because of the furry meatloaf. The Lorax had kicked him out of the house for an hour or two, or as the speaker for the trees put it; "Go and check up on the truffulas, Beanpole! I'll make ya some breakfast!"
The idea of The Lorax making breakfast almost scared Once-ler a little. Especially since the old man was sternly given an excuse to be kicked out of the house and stay outside while he cooked. What in the world was that little creature UP TO..?
It wasn't long after these thoughts plagued the old mans mind did the furry meatloaf himself call out for Once-ler, claiming that breakfast was ready with an all too cheery voice.
"What in the WORLD is he UP TO...?" The Once-ler pondered to himself again as he smiled a little and made his way to the door of the lerkim and let himself inside. "So what did ya make?" He asked The Lorax as he peered into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
The Lorax turned around from the stove and grinned as he held a plate of pancakes in his hand.
"Pancakes!" He proclaimed with a laugh afterwards, walking down the step stool that he used to get to the stove and over to Once-ler.
"You made PANCAKES? YOU? Mr.The-Lorax-cooks-nothing-for-nobody?" Once-ler said playfully and teasingly poked at the forest guardian's belly before taking the plate in his hands. "You didn't have to make pancakes for me, you know that's my specialty."
The Lorax shrugged his shoulders with a smile and nod, placing his hands behind his back. "Yeah," He said. "I know. I just wanted you to try it my way. See if you like it!"
The Once-ler slowly set the plate down on the table and picked up his fork, cutting at the fluffy pancakes and was about to take a bite...
"Okay, what's with the look?"
The Lorax who had been watching Once-ler closely quickly shook his head with a laugh, waving a hand. "What look?! Beanpole your eyes must be going on you."
The old man rose an eyebrow, pursing his lips a little as he leaned down towards The Lorax's face. He pointed at the plate of pancakes. "Mustache, what did you put in this? Because the fact your watching me as closely as you are is...oh how do I put it...?" The Once-ler's brows knit together in a sarcastic expression as he let his hand drop onto his lap. "Suspicious."
"Pssh-!" The Lorax waved a hand again and smiled up at Once-ler. "I didn't put ANYTHING in it Beanpole! It's just mama Lorax's recipe so I wanna know if you like it!"
"Mama Lorax's recipe, huh..?" Once-ler asked with a roll of his eyes and smiled as he sat up straight again and grabbed ahold of his fork again and took a bite of the pancakes. He instantly grimaced and shut his eyes tightly as he stiffly swallowed and gagged.
The pancakes tasted bitter...almost SOUR!
The old man quickly grabbed the cup of orange juice, which he thanked silently to the big man upstairs that it was there, and quickly chugged it down. Once-ler heavily sighed as he set the glass down on the table. "Wh-Why do they taste SOUR..?"
The Lorax frowned, crossing his arms. "What? You don't like Mama Lorax's recipe?"
Once-ler leaned against his legs as he scooted himself back in his chair a little and held up a hand slightly while tilting it side to side. "Well, it's just not particularly my TASTE really BUT...I'm pretty sure it was the best there was!" He lied. Alright, let's face the facts; it was TERRIBLE.
The Lorax's frown deepened. He suddenly let out a loud sigh, closing his eyes and turning away. "You know Beanpole, you're lying hasn't gotten ANY BETTER." The guardian of the forest stated flatly.
"Really?" Once-ler asked with a wince and squinted an eye. He laughed a little as he rose up to his feet and placed his hands on his hips with a small shrug and smiled with empathy. "Well, I tried."
The Lorax smiled. "I know. "
The Once-ler smiled down at his small and furry friend before he made his way over towards the steps. The old man suddenly let out a small groan as he heavily leaned against the wall, rubbing the temples on his head slowly.
The Lorax looked back at him, furrowing a brow slowly but a smile slowly spreading on his lips. "Hey, Beanpole? Are you feeling alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, yeah..." The old man said waved a hand with a nod and slowly stood up again. "I'm fine―" He cut himself off as he doubled over quickly and illy groaned again, crossing his arms over his stomach as he heavily leaned against the wall again for support.
The Lorax walked over to Once-ler and looked up at him, furrowing a brow of concern. "Umm...are you sure?" He asked again. "You're not looking too hot. "
Once-ler groaned yet again and shook his head, a pained expression crossing his face as he felt his stomach slowly twist in an aching knot. "Ugh, what was IN those pancakes..?!" He questioned as he quickly looked down at the orange and fuzzy creature briefly before doubling over in pain again.
It was THEN that The Lorax saw the sign he was hoping for. The hermit's silver and white hair turned slightly darker, turning into a darker shade of grey.
The Lorax's eyes couldn't help but widen a little. "It shouldn't be long now..." He muttered ever so quietly to himself.
Once-ler let out a groggy sigh as he began to heavily trudge up the steps, leaning against the wall as he did. "I think I need to lie down for a bit..."
The Lorax nodded, chuckling quietly and closing his eyes. "Sure thing Beanpole. I'll make some more pancakes for you for later then."
"NO―Ah...no, that isn't necessary..." Once-ler's voice rang. He laughed nervously. "Thanks anyway, mustache..."
"Anytime Beanpole. "
The Lorax waited until the footsteps faded away, ever so slowly scooting over towards the table. He hopped up on the chair and couldn't help but smile to himself in pride with a nod as he stared down at the pancakes. "I did good." He praised himself with another nod, glancing around the room. "I did good..."
In the city of Thneedville, later on that afternoon Audrey, now eighteen years old and Ted, fifteen, headed over to the park as they chatted. Audrey laughed a little and crossed her arms, a smile spreading on her face. "I still can't believe you started ANOTHER food fight."
Ted shrugged his shoulders with a smile, looking back up at Audrey after he did. "What can I say? There was food, and I felt like throwing it. "
Audrey rolled her eyes with a sigh and looked back down at Ted with a faint and playful smirk. "Wow, in ninth grade and you're STILL trying to win my heart?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ted shoved his hands into his pockets as he glanced away with another shrug. "Can't hurt to try right?"
That earned a giggle from the red head beauty, closing her eyes and covering her hand with her mouth. "True, true..." She said. "I'll give you credit for THAT."
Ted look up at Audrey and beamed as he smiled widely. He puckered his lips and closed his eyes, leaning up towards Audrey.
Audrey looked down at the young boy, shaking her head with a smile as she ruffled his brown hair before walking up towards the towering truffula tree. "You need a haircut." She laughed.
Ted opened his eyes and immediately pouted, looking at Audrey as she walked off. He snapped his fingers, with a sigh and a smile. "So close."
"Hey Ted!"
Audrey knelt down next to the truffula tree and placed a hand on it's trunk gently with a frown. "Come check this out!"
Ted frowned slightly, quickly trotting up to Audrey and kneeling down next to her. "What's wrong?" He asked Audrey with a glance to the truffula tree.
"Something punctured the trunk..." Audrey said with worry as she pointed to the fresh puncture hole that was on the trunk of the truffula tree. She rubbed her chin a little with thought as she leaned in a little closer. "It looks like someone harvested some of the sap from the truffula..." Audrey remarked thoughtfully.
Ted frowned a little with thought, tracing his finger around the hole in the trunk of the first re-planted truffula tree. "Why would someone take sap from a truffula tree..?" He asked. "I didn't think sap could be used for anything significant other than making a mess..."
"Well, sap CAN be used for a multitude of things," Audrey explained. "It can be used as a super glue sorta, sometimes made for hairspray back when there were a bunch of trees around, the list can go on." She frowned deeply as she slowly rose up to her feet and crossed her arms while tapping her foot. "But still...we don't use sap for hairspray anymore and OBVIOUSLY not for glue...so why anyone would take the sap and not the tuffs at least is a VERY good question..."
Ted shrugged, slapping his knees and looking at Audrey. "Maybe someone's trying to make a uh...THNEED out of sap..?" He suggested as he squinted an eye.
Audrey began to laugh at Ted's guess, closing her eyes and shaking her head as she ran a hand through her long red hair slowly and sighed. "Good one Ted! You're jokes are getting better!" She said with a pat on the young boy's back, not realizing that Ted was serious.
"Uh yeah...thanks Audrey but I was being serious..." He said, standing up slowly and looking down at her. "What if someone's trying to do something like that?"
Audrey blinked. "Oh...uh well..." She thought for a moment. "That'd be...a bit difficult to use though wouldn't it? And besides, the only one who knows HOW to make a Thneed is The Once-ler, right?"
Ted laugh, nodding and waving a hand as he turned to face outside of town, his expression showing slight strain as he tried to think over the possibilities. "Heh...yeah..." He finally said. "Yeah he's the only one..."
Audrey stared at Ted for a while and then looked out at the gaping hole in the town walls that was created three years earlier and pointed to it as she looked back at Ted slowly. "You think that The Once-ler has anything to do with this...?" She asked.
Ted waved a hand down to look back at her, laughing with a smile. "No, no! No way. He's too old now as it is to probably get here and then go back. Besides, there are other truffula trees growing in the valley again. Why come all the way out here right..?" He proposed to Audrey, smiling with a shrug.
"Good point," Audrey agreed with a small nod. She patted Ted's shoulder gently and motioned forward as they began to walk down the sidewalk again. "Now, how about we head over to the library so I can help you with your RESEARCH PAPER!" She suggested in a cheery tone.
Ted grinned and nodded, clicking his tongue and pointing his fingers to Audrey with a playful laugh. "Or you can do it for me...?"
"Ted..."
"Alright alright." Ted said with roll of his eyes, shoving his hands into his pocket.
"Uuuugh..."
On the next morning, or afternoon rather, was when Once-ler had woken up and managed to crawl out of bed. His head felt like it was being pounded with a bat, thumping terribly. But however, The Once-ler was too dazed and groggy to even REALIZE what had happened to him just yet...
He wandered over to the dresser and leaned against it, slowly looking up at his reflection in the mirror to see if he looked just as miserable as he felt.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
Once-ler quickly stumbled backwards, his blue eyes wide. Ever so slowly and trembling, he made his way back over to the dresser and peered at his reflection again. His jaw hit the floor and he screamed again, and then a third time at the sound of his voice. He was...he was...
YOUNG...
The Once-ler's hair was no longer silver but was now back to it's dark raven color it was so many years ago, there was no oversized mustache crossing his face and the wrinkles and dark spots on him were long gone! His voice was back to it's youthful tone and it didn't sound like a cat getting run over by a truck anymore!
Now you must be asking yourself why Once-ler wasn't happy. Why it was he wasn't leaping with joy that he had his youth back and such, right? Well to be frank;
Once-ler was too spooked to be HAPPY or ANYTHING of the sort at that moment!
"I'm dreaming," Once-ler declared as he ran his gloved hands over his eyes quickly and through his raven hair. "I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming...Okay I'm NOT DREAMING!" He finally said with wide eyes and panic rising up in his voice while shaking his head.
There was suddenly a deep voiced laughing, the sound of someone slapping the wall being heard. Once-ler swiftly turned around to see The Lorax standing in the doorway of his room, bent over laughing.
He stared at the forest guardian for a long time, not moving a muscle. Almost out of nowhere, Once-ler made a quick lunge for The Lorax and grabbed him. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He asked while giving The Lorax a quick shake and held him up so they were eye level.
The Lorax looked up at Once-ler holding out his hand with a wide cheeky grin. "WHAT?! I MADE YOU YOUNG AGAIN!" He laughed.
Once-ler dropped the orange creature quickly and rose up to his feet while quickly motioning to his body, speaking in the native tongues of confused and baffled gibberish.
The Lorax sighed, holding out a hand and placing the other on his forehead. "Beanpole, beanpole, beanpole, BEANPOLE CALM DOWN!" He finally yelled at the babbling Once-ler.
"Calm down?" Once-ler asked with wide eyes and a twitching eyebrow. He quickly leaned down into The Lorax's face. "CALM DOWN?! Are you KIDDING ME?!"
The Lorax waved his hands sideways to Once-ler, looking at him up and down. "We'll aren't you HAPPY?!"
Once-ler sighed loudly with annoyance as he stood up straight again and placed a hand on his back and the other on his face. "Well, YEAH I'm grateful and happy you did this and all I guess but couldn't you have AT LEAST given me an oh, I don't KNOW.." He quickly looked down at The Lorax, his brows knit together and a frown on his face. "A WARNING?!"
The Lorax shrugged, glancing away and then back up at Once-ler. "I wanted it to be a surprise." He said.
"Wha―?! You just...! Okay, you know what?!" Once-ler sighed with a roll of his eyes and drew in a deep breath, a smile forming on his face as he placed his hands on his hips. "I'm going to make the MOST of this! Uh...wait." He looked back down at The Lorax, raising an eyebrow as he motioned towards himself again. "So is there like some sort of time limit here, the Cinderella affect, it turns on and off, what?"
The Lorax shook his head once with a smile, crossing his arms. "Nope. It's permanent."
"Permanent...okay...so I'm immortal then or...am I just going to keep on aging normally?" Once-ler asked. He didn't care if all the questions were annoying The Lorax or not. If this was how it was going to be then he wanted to have some understanding at least.
The Lorax walked over to the bed, jumping up on it and with a little struggling, finally managed to sit on it. "You'll age normally Beanpole. I just kind of um...RE-WINDED your 'life clock'. You're free to live a brand new happy life."
Once-ler stared at The Lorax for a long time and eventually sat down next to him on his bed, holding up a finger and waving it slightly. "Okay, just one more question..."
"Sure thing Beanpole what is it?"
Once-ler looked down at the ground and folded his hands together in his lap as he stared at it for a while, thinking. He slowly looked up at the speaker for the trees, his eyebrows arching up and one rising in a look of ambivalent. "Why did you do this for me..?"
The Lorax slowly smiled, chuckling and twirling his thumbs around as he clasped his hands together. "I felt bad for you Beanpole..." He said at last.
Once-ler was taken back.
"Bad?" He asked. "You felt bad for ME? Okay, now I'm lost again."
"You see Beanpole," The Lorax began. "After you realized your mistake and I lifted myself away...you stayed up in here for the rest of your life. You felt truly bad for what you did so...I don't think you deserved to waste all of your life in this smelly place. You get what I'm saying?"
Once-ler stared at The Lorax for a long time, in shock. He wasn't sure WHAT to say or do... Even after everything that happened and all they'd been through The Lorax did something as great and kind as THIS. It almost made Once-ler feel bad, but that feeling quickly went away and turned into gratefulness as he wrapped his arms around the creature, closing his eyes tightly.
The Lorax's eyes widened slightly, looking down at Once-ler and raising an eyebrow "Hey...Beanpole what's the matter? Are you getting emotional or something?"
Once-ler couldn't help but laugh a little with embarrassment as he pulled away from The Lorax and rubbed the back of his neck a little. "S-Sorry..." He laughed. "Not sure what came over me..."
The Lorax smiled and placed his hand on his hips, chuckling. "So! What's the FIRST thing you want to do now that you're young?!"
Once-ler's eyes widened and his shoulders drooped as he looked forward slowly. He hadn't thought about that...
"I...have...no idea..."
The Lorax rubbed his chin as he looked up at the ceiling with a thought expression. "Hm...how about..." He looked at Once-ler with a smile. "You make me some pancakes huh?! Like good old times!"
Once-ler rolled his eyes as he smiled, looking down at The Lorax. He had that one coming to him. "Alright, fine." He said as he rose up from his chair. He began to unwrap the pink Thneed he had in the form of a scarf from his neck and tossed it down on the bed. "Just go on downstairs here so I can get outta these clothes."
The Lorax smiled and did a small fist pump before getting off of the bed and beginning to walk out of the room. "Sure thing Beanpole! I'll be waiting downstairs!"
Once-ler shut the door behind The Lorax as he walked out and made his way over to his dresser, searching through his clothes. "Come on..." He muttered. "They've gotta be around here somewhere...aha! Bingo!"
Out of the bottom drawer Once-ler pulled out his light and dark grey striped pants, grey vest and white shirt. The same getup he had worn before his Thneed business took off. He tossed them over on the bed and looked around his moment for his grey fedora but made no success. Once-ler frowned, hoping that he didn't get rid of it. Those raging times were all somewhat of a blur to him...
"I'll look for it later," Once-ler sighed as he unbuttoned his green tailcoat.
The Lorax sighed with a smile when he had finally descended down the stairs, patting his stomach with and looking around before going towards the kitchen. "I can never get enough of Beanpole's pancakes..." He said as he made his way through the living room. He stopped short when he saw Once-ler's old grey fedora hat on a still very messy couch. "Beanpole's probably gonna need this then..." He said as he grabbed the hat and brushed off the dust. He turned it over and furrowed a brow when he saw a tag on the inside. Someone's name was written on it, and it's wasn't Once-ler's.
"Who the heck's Wyatt Once-ler?"
WELL HELLO THERE FOLKS! This is Isabel(I), and I'll be your A/N-er or afterword commentator for this fanfiction! This is probably our first story where nothing really TOO BIG is gonna happen, or anything over the top. Though we're VERY good at the drama every day life stuff, we just didn't ever get around to posting anything like that now, Anyway, we're STILL doing the system where we write as specific characters of course, it's just literate. Try to think of it as we're literately Role-playing and we're just simply posting the story for it if you want an idea of how we do this. X3 With that in mind,hoped enjoy this chapter and the future ones that are a' comin'!
Oh yes! And one more thing;
COMMENTS COMMENTS COMMENTS! We as writers value you, the reader's thoughts, opinions, and critiques even if you wish!
Okay, that's all folks! Till the next chapter!
-I
CHARACTER CHART:
Once-ler: Isabel Gerber
The Lorax: Kayla Kephart
Ted Wiggens: Kayla Kephart
Audrey: Isabel Gerber
