A/N: I may have had a little too much fun with this one. XDD O'Hare is such a douche and I love it. XDD Anyway, Audrey does sing in this chapter, and I have the song posted on SoundCloud. So when you see the link, copy and paste it into a new tab to hear the song!

Enjoy!


Audrey sat in the waiting room staring at the clock, her feet dangling from the high cushioned chair that she was sitting in. It had been such a long time since she had been to the nursing home, and now she remembered why. The air smelled funny, and it was deathly silent save for the ticking of the clock, causing Audrey to fidget uncomfortably.

Hearing footsteps, Audrey looked up to see the receptionist, a tall Asian woman in her forties, approaching her. The receptionist smiled. "All right, Audrey," she said, breaking to silence. "You can go see your grandmother now."

"Thank you," Audrey responded politely. Relieved to finally be out of that waiting room , she let the receptionist lead her down the long hallways and point her to her gramma's room. Audrey entered and slowly closed the door behind her. "Gramma!" she called. "Are you there?"

"Audrey darling!" Her grandmother, seeming to materialize out of nowhere, suddenly appeared and gave Audrey a big hug, smocking her cheek several times in the process.

"It's been so long, my dear! Where on earth have you been?" The woman stopped kissing Audrey's face for a moment and looked up hopefully. "Is your mom with you?"

"…No, gramma. Mom's at work. I came here alone."

Her gramma's pale face dropped. "Oh," she whispered, looking rather disappointed. But then she shook it off, brushed her long silver hair out of her green eyes, and resumed smiling. "Oh, no matter. I'm still happy you came. Would you like some gelatin?" She pulled out a tray filled with a variety of different gelatin-foods and placed it in front of Audrey. "Help yourself."

Audrey grimaced. There was nothing in the world that she hated more than gelatin, but given the circumstances, she would eat it just to be polite. As she poked her fork at a gooey strawberry gelatin on the tray, her grandmother continued chattering.

"Oh, I've just wanted you to come for so long, there's just so much to talk about," she said. "Did you hear that they recalled those new air-walk shoes because some crazy kid jumped off a roof last month and thought she could fly?" Her gramma shook her head, clearly disappointed. "I swear, children just don't think at all these days. They're just a bunch of mindless little machines that believe whatever they're told."

Audrey blushed a little in embarrassment and cleared her throat. "Umm, gramma…that crazy kid was me…"

Her gramma blinked her opal eyes at Audrey before laughing. "Oh, that's a good one, Audrey. But it couldn't have been you. You're much smarter than that."

Audrey bit her lip and let the subject slide. There was something more important to be discussed anyway. "Gramma…" the girl started. "Can I…ask you something?"

"Of course."

"…do you remember anything about trees?"

The old woman stopped moving. When she looked at Audrey, the cheerfulness in her face had been replaced surprise and a hint of sadness. "Trees…?" she repeated softly. Then she forced a chuckle. "Why, darling…why do you want to know about trees?"

"I saw them…behind the Wall."

Her grandmother turned her head around, not looking at Audrey. "Don't be ridiculous, honey. There's nothing behind the Wall."

"Yes there is!" Audrey snapped. Realizing that she was shouting, the girl quickly lowered her voice. "I saw them…and my mom said they were trees…and that they grew."

Her gramma said nothing.

"…What were they like, gramma?"

Audrey's grandmother slowly turned back to her, a hint of tear in her eyes. The woman sat down in front of Audrey and sighed. "I shouldn't be telling you this…" she mumbled. After a moment she looked up at Audrey again. "Trees were…trees were amazing…I-I hardly know where to start…"

"Were they really alive?" Audrey cut in.

Her gramma nodded. "Yes, they were alive, all right. And they were beautiful…"

"How? Could they walk and talk like us?"

"No, no, they couldn't walk or talk, but they grew, just like us. A tree would start off as a little seed," the woman held out her fingers to show the size of a tree seed. "and then it would grow into a little sapling, and after a few years it would be huge! Bigger than people!"

Audrey did not know what "seed" or "sapling" meant, but she couldn't help but feel fascinated by her gramma's broad gestures and elated expression.

"And you know what else?" they woman continued. "When they got big enough, they would grow fruit!"

Audrey's eyes widened. "Fruit…?"

"Yes! And you could eat it!"

"Food grew on trees?"

"Yes, it did!" her gramma beamed with excitement. "There were all different kinds of trees. Some grew fruit, some grew flowers, some grew nuts, and all of them were full of animals, and—."

"Animals?" the girl interrupted. "You mean, like…monkeys, and birds, and bears…?"

"Yes, those were the ones!"

Audrey looked confused. "They were real? But I thought they were just stories…"

Her gramma shook her head. "No, of course they were real. They were everywhere, and they were adorable. You would have loved them…"

The red-head listened intently. She was not sure if she was entirely convinced by her gramma's tales, but they were interesting nonetheless. "Wow," Audrey said. "What happened to all of that? Where did it go?"

Her gramma's expression faltered and become solemn again. "…Just a bunch of ignorant people doing ignorant things," the woman responded. "And nobody really understood until it was too late…"

There was a moment of silence. "Audrey was about to say more, when the receptionist opened the door and poked her head in.

"Audrey," the receptionist said softly. "Your appointment time is up. It's time to go."

"Oh." Disappointed, Audrey glanced back at her gramma, who smiled warmly.

"Come back any time you have questions, dear," her gramma said. "I'll be happy to tell you everything you want to know."

Audrey nodded and smiled before following the receptionist out into the hall. As she left, she heard her gramma softly begin to sing a jingle to herself.

"Everybody needs a—" the woman stopped singing abruptly and muttered a few angry words under her breath before the door was shut.


"Earth to Audrey! Hellooooo!"

Audrey blinked out of her daze and glanced up from her sketchbook to where Audrey was sitting across the table. "S-sorry, did you say something?" the red-head asked innocently.

Jenni grinned and played round with the spoon in her frozen yogurt. "No, nothing, I was just asking if you wanted that new tree model, and you didn't answer."

"O-oh…what new model?"

"That one, duh!" Jenni pointed to a poster right outside the frozen yogurt shop that advertised a new Party Oak Tree model. Jenni smiled again. "Doesn't it look cool? I want it."

Audrey's brow furrowed for a moment before she turned back to her sketches. "It's fine…" she mumbled. She wasn't really all that interested. She would much rather focus on her drawing of the trees stumps (as she had recently learned they were called) that she had seen behind the Wall.

Jenni paused and observed her friend for a moment. "You're…awfully spacey lately, aren't you?"

Audrey shrugged. "The tree's fine, Jen. It's just, well…" she hesitated. "Jenni, have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a real tree?"

A confused look crossed Jenni's face. "A real tree? What are you talking about?"

"You know, a real one! That lives and grows and stuff!"

"No. Why would I want that? Where did you even get that idea?"

"Well…" Audrey glanced at her drawing, "I…I've been thinking a lot about trees ever since I saw the stumps behind the Wall…"

At that moment, Jenni rolled her eyes and groaned. "Audrey, seriously? You're still thinking about those things? Get over it already!"

"No, Jenni! You don't understand! M-my gramma told me that they were beautiful and they had animals in them—."

"Animals?"

"Yeah, animals! They were real!"

Jenni rubbed her temples in exasperation. "Audrey, come on! You know better than to believe a gramma! They always make up stories!"

"Yes, but…but my gramma saw them! If it wasn't true, then why would the stumps be there?"

Jenni sighed loudly. "Audrey, listen…even if what you saw out there is real, they're all dead now, so it doesn't matter! And you shouldn't think about old dead things, it's not…" Jenni stopped abruptly, as if stopping herself from some horrible thought. "It's not normal, ok? And I don't want you to talk about it anymore."

"Well, I can talk about whatever I want!" Audrey snapped, crossing her arms defiantly. "And I'd much rather have a real tree than another plastic fake one."

Jenni looked shocked for a moment. Then she glared down at her now-melted frozen yogurt and said no more.


"Alright, class! Open your textbooks to page five…"

Audrey groaned with the rest of the class. The first week back at school was always a pain. Weren't the teachers supposed to, like, ease their transition back into school or something?

Reluctantly, Audrey pulled out her heavy textbook and opened it to page five. Luckily, it was just an introduction to the class, so it was nothing heavy. Audrey rested her head on her hand and began to skim the page. Blah, blah, blah…study of math, study of English, study of biology…

Audrey's eyes suddenly lit up. She read that last line again and quickly raised her hand.

"Yes, Audrey?"

"It says biology…" Audrey said hesitantly. "Biology means things that are alive, right?"

"Yes, Audrey…of course, humans are the only—."

"So, trees?" Audrey cut in. "Are we gonna talk about trees?"

The other students turned to stare at her, while the teacher blinked, taken aback. "What…what do you mean? Trees aren't alive."

"Well, not now, but they used to be…"

There were snickers from around her, and the teacher shook her head. "No, Audrey. We're not going to talk about trees. Please don't bring it up again."

Audrey drooped in her seat. It looked like school would be boring this year after all.

After school was over she sat in the quad with Jenni and told her what had happened in class.

Maybe she's right, Audrey." Jenni told her friend. "Maybe you shouldn't talk about trees. I mean, nobody else is talking about them, so why should we?"

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Audrey cried, throwing her hands in the air. "If they were so amazing, why won't anyone say anything?"

"Maybe they weren't really so amazing, have you ever thought of that?"

"Jenni, you may not have trusted your gramma, but I trust mine."

A few feet away, Jenni spotted a couple of boys from Audrey's class pointing directly at Audrey and snickering.

Audrey didn't notice. "I just wish I knew where they went, and why they were there in the first place." The red-head jumped up suddenly. "You know what? I think I'll go to the library and do some research on it. You wanna come?"

Jenni remained where she was and folded her arms, frowning. "No, Audrey. I don't want to get involved in this. Everyone's going to make fun of us!"

"Who cares?"

"I care! I don't wanna be made fun of!" the brunette paused. "A-and I don't want you to be made fun of either. So can you please just stop?"

Audrey blinked at her friend, frustrated. She had never seen Jenni act this way before. "Fine then." She snapped. "I'll just find the answers on my own." She turned around and walked away. "See you tomorrow, Jenni."

Jenni sat where she was, staring worriedly at Audrey until the red-head turned a corner. Then the brunette girl sighed, got up, and walked in another direction. As she passed by the table where the two boys were sitting, Jenni suddenly found herself shoved to the ground.

She glared up at the boy who had pushed her. "What was that for?" she snapped.

"Sorry, didn't mean to push you that hard," the boy lied, and his friend laughed. "But we saw you talking to that weird red-head. Are you a tree freak too?"

Jenni's eyes widened and she quickly stood up. "No," she answered, and turned to leave.

"Are you sure about that?" the boy asked.

She hurried off.

The boy called after her again. "That's not normal, you know!"

Jenni walked faster.


Meanwhile, Audrey browsed through the library's shelves, looking for anything that might help her. As she looked through the seemingly endless supply of information, she spotted a couple of books about the history of Thneedville. Smiling, the young girl pulled them off the shelf.

Audrey leaned against a wall to browse through the book, but to her surprise, the wall gave way and she found herself stumbling backward into another room. As it turned out, the "wall" that Audrey was leaning on was just a piece of cloth covering an old door.

Audrey looked around. She had never been to this part of the library before. It was really dark, and all the books looked old and abandoned and dusty. It gave her the creeps. Shivering, Audrey quickly left the room and sat down at a table in the main library.

She opened the first book.

Before Thneedville, it read, there was nothing was nothing but a barren wasteland covering the earth. Then, a young man named Aloysius O'Hare arose out of the ashes, and he resolved to make everything perfect for all of mankind…

Audrey closed the book. She had already learned all of this stuff in school. There would be nothing about trees in this one. She picked up the second one and flipped through it, but unfortunately, it was more or less the same as the first. Audrey leaned back in her chair and sighed in frustration, wondering what to do next. After a moment she decided to get up and ask the librarian. Maybe she could help.

"Excuse me," Audrey said shyly, walking up to the young woman behind the desk. "But do you know where I can find a book about trees?"

The librarian smiled and pointed to a row of shelves in the corner. "You'll find everything you need right over there."

"Thank you."

Audrey ventured over to where the librarian had indicated. To her surprise, she found that the aisle was labeled, "Technology and Manufacturing." Frowning, Audrey picked up a book and read the title. The Art of Making Trees, it said.

Audrey went back.

"Um, I'm sorry…" she said to the librarian, but I was talking about real trees."

The woman gave her a confused look.

"You know," Audrey continued. "The ones that weren't made out of plastic…?"

"We don't have anything about that."

"Nothing?" Audrey's eyes widened in surprise and she gestured around the building. "Not in this whole library?"

The librarian shrugged. "Sorry, hun. But nobody's ever written a book about that."

Audrey frowned. "Oh," she mumbled. "Well, thanks anyway."

The girl walked out of the library, lost, wondering what her next move would be. She only wished she could go see her gramma again, but unfortunately, visitors were only allowed in the nursing home on weekends. But surely there was someone else in town who could tell her about real trees.

For the next few days, Audrey did not stop asking around. Everywhere she went, she looked for whatever information she could get about trees. At school the kids were calling her "Audtree" and "Tree Freak," but Audrey didn't care. Despite Jenni's protests, she continued searching, determined to find the answers that she wanted. But it was no use. Nobody would tell her anything. Even the very mention of real trees was something that the people of Thneedville found to be preposterous.

Thursday evening, Audrey flopped down in annoyance on her bed. How could it be possible that nobody knew about real tress except for her gramma? Audrey was sure of it—something was definitely being hidden from her. But what could it possibly be?

/perrytheplatypusgirl/out-there

"Will you tell me your secrets and open my eyes," she suddenly sang to herself. "Or will you just leave me here surrounded by lies?"

Audrey wasn't entirely sure who or what she was singing to. The trees? The stumps?

The past?

"Are things really perfect like we've always been told?
Or is there something better that we don't know?

I wanna know what went on out there
Was it always so dark and dead?
Or was there once something more beautiful
That we just can't comprehend?

I've gotta know what went on out there!
What is dead, but once used to live?
Was it big? Was it bright? Was it magical?
And why won't anyone talk about it?

Tell me your secrets and open my eyes
And please don't just leave me here surrounded by lies.
I know things aren't perfect like we've always been told
There's something much better that we don't know.

But we don't know…"


Jenni stood in the corner of the quad, waiting for Audrey to show up so that they could walk home together. She noticed a couple of kids pointing at her and snickering, and she wished her friend would hurry up. What was taking her so long?

Probably asking around about trees again, Jenni thought angrily. What's her problem, anyway? Can't she see that we're standing out? Jenni gulped, a sudden creepy feeling crawling up her back, and terrifying memories threatening to worm their way back into her mind. She quickly shook them away.

Where was Audrey?

At that moment, the two kids who had been talking and laughing walked aggressively toward Jenni. She tired to ignore them, but it proved to be impossible.

"Hey," said one of the kids, a tall older girl with a large build. "Your name is Jenni, right?"

"Y-yeah…" Jenni responded hesitantly. "Why?"

"We just wanted to ask you, why are you friends with the tree freak girl?"

Jenni froze. "Why…um…"

"Dude," the other kid, a skinny young boy, piped up, "It's cause she's a tree freak too!"

"What? No! I'm not!"

"Then why do you hang around with her?" the tall girl inquired. "Or, better yet, why is she so obsessed with trees? That's justweird."

Weird. The word caused Jenni to turn pale.

"Hey, isn't that the same Audrey that tried to, like, jump over the Wall or something?" the boy cut in. "She really is crazy!"

Crazy.

The tall girl laughed before turning back to Jenni. "So, what? What's the deal with you guys, exactly? Are you really friends with that girl?"

"I-I-I…."

"Are you a tree freak too?"

This statement quickly caught the attention of several students who were standing around them.

"Another tree freak?" someone called. "Those people are everywhere now!"

More voices joined in.

"What a bunch of weirdos."

"Jenni's a tree freak too?"

"You mean Jen-tree!"

"Freaks."

Freak. Weirdo. The horrible words bombarded Audrey like rocks. She felt her world spinning with each taunt, and it felt like the other kids were closing in around her, and there was no escape…

Crazy. Strange.

They kept coming. Jenni's heart was pounding. She couldn't breathe.

Not normal.

"Stop it!" she shrieked suddenly. "I'm not a tree freak! She's not my friend!"

What? That was not right. Jenni hardly knew what she was saying anymore, but she found herself continuing.

"I only hung out with her to make her feel better! But she's just a freak! She's the freak! Not me!"

Everything was quiet. Jenni breathed heavily, trying to calm herself, when suddenly someone whispered, "Busted…"

"…Jenni?"

The brunette tensed up at the sound of her best friend's voice. Slowly, she turned to see Audrey standing there frozen, a look of sheer heartbreak on her face.

Jenni opened her mouth to say something. But nothing came out.

And just like that. Audrey was gone.


She felt numb as she walked home, tears in her eyes, but she didn't care. How could she do that? Audrey thought. We've been best friends for years…

Audrey barely heard her mom's greeting at the door as she walked robotically up to her room. Flopping on her bed, she felt the stinging tears of betrayal finally flood out of her eyes. She turned over onto her stomach and buried her head in her pillow.

"I'm a freak," the young girl wailed. "They're right about me. I should just stop." Audrey continued to cry into her pillow as her thoughts swirled. Why had this happened to her? All she wanted was to find out what had happened to the tree! Why was that so bad?

Were they right? Did trees really matter at all? Was her gramma really just crazy? Audrey didn't know. Nothing made sense anymore.

She cried until she could cry no more. After that she just lay there, confused, betrayed, numb. After what seemed like an eternity, Audrey heard her mother's voice from downstairs.

"Audrey! Can you come down here please?"

"Leave me alone, mom!" Audrey snapped back.

"Audrey! Get down here right now!"

Audrey grumbled to herself and dragged her body out of bed. As she descended down the stairs, she prepared herself for a long fight with her mother, but she was taken aback by what she saw instead.

Two huge men in black suits who seemed to be larger than life stood looming in her living room. They stared at her with eyes hidden behind sunglasses, their gaze seeming to burn a hole right through her. Between the men, Mr. O'Hare himself was seating on their couch, smiling and relaxing as if he were in his own home.

Audrey blinked. What was going on?

Her mother quickly introduced the two of them, and Mr. O'Hare got up and politely shook Audrey's hand.

"Good to meet you, Audrey," Mr. O'Hare said cheerfully. Then he frowned. "Why, what's the matter? You look like you've been crying."

Audrey looked at the floor. Her mother quickly jumped in. "Oh, you know how children are, Mr. O'Hare," she chuckled nervously. "So emotional. Audrey, why don't you go back upstairs now?"

"No, no, it's alright," Mr. O'Hare cut in. "Why don't you go make us some coffee or something? I'll just be chatting with Audrey here."

Audrey's mom looked surprised for a moment, but then she smiled and headed nervously toward the kitchen. "Uh, sure…" she said. "Um, how do you like your coffee…?"

"Black," Mr. O'Hare responded abruptly. Then he paused for a moment and reconsidered it. "Actually, a hint of sugar and cream would be nice."

Audrey's mom nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

As soon as she was gone, O'Hare turned back to Audrey with his winning smile still plastered on his face. "All right, let's get down to business," the short man began. "Have a seat, Audrey, and let's talk."

Audrey did as she was told, glancing cautiously up at Mr. O'Hare's two goons.

"Now, Audrey," Mr. O'Hare continued. "I've noticed that you've developed a rather…obsessive interest in trees lately, is that right?"

Audrey was surprised. "H-How did you know?"

Mr. O'Hare shrugged. "I have my ways," he answered simply. "Anyway, I know it's probably frustrating, not finding the answers you want, but you see, there's a reason we don't talk about trees in this Town."

As he spoke, Mr. O'Hare paced around, making broad gestures with his arms, until he was standing face to face with Audrey. "Trees cause nothing but misery," he went on. "They were dirty and useless, and they got in everyone's way! They caused fights to break out all the time, it was a mess!" The man paused and looked at Audrey compassionately. "You've struggled with that misery too, haven't you?"

Audrey looked up.

"You've been called a freak by your classmates," Mr. O'Hare observed. "You've been outcasted and mocked…you've even lost a friend, haven't you?"

Audrey's body tensed up as she tried to stop the tears from coming back. "Y-yeah…" she choked. "I-I had no idea she would…I-I mean we were friends, and…"

"I understand," said Mr. O'Hare softly. He placed a hand on Audrey's shoulder. "It's hard, isn't it? Even the mere mention of trees causes problems to arise. Now, think about it Audrey, are a bunch of dead trees really worth all this?"

Audrey paused and shrugged. "I…I just wanted to know…"

"Oh, Audrey, it doesn't matter. You're losing everything you have for something that will never come back. Now, that's not a very good choice, is it?"

Audrey paused again, then shook her head slowly. "No."

"No, no it isn't." Mr. O'Hare patted her shoulder before standing up straight and looking at her sternly. "Listen, Audrey. As mayor of Thneedville, it's my job to make sure that everything stays perfect. So, I think it would be best for everyone if you never spoke about trees again, ever. Just delete them from your mind completely. Understand?"

Audrey did not respond as she mulled over Mr. O'Hare's words.

"Understand, Audrey?"

The man's angry growl snapped her out of her trance. Audrey rubbed some stray tears from her eyes and finally nodded weakly. "…Ok."

Mr. O'Hare smiled again. "Excellent." He said proudly. "Your life will get better soon, you'll see." He then turned, gestured to his two goons, and headed toward the door.

At that moment, Audrey's mom finally appeared with a cup of coffee. "Oh," she said n surprise. "Leaving so soon…?"

"Yes, well, duty calls," Mr. O'Hare responded pleasantly. He took the mug from the woman's hands and stepped out of the house. "I'll bring the mug back tomorrow."

And then they were gone, just as suddenly as they had come.

Audrey's mom stood stunned for a moment, until she noticed her daughter stand up sullenly and walk over to the stairs.

"Audrey…" her mom said. "Are you alright?"

Audrey didn't look up. "I'm fine." The girl walked groggily up the stairs and into her room.

Mr. O'Hare was right. None of this was worth it. It would be better if she just kept quiet.

Audrey did not go see her gramma that weekend.