"Aaargh! I can't take this anymore!" Rosie cried out, pulling at her hair in complete despair. They had been travelling for weeks down a seemingly endless road. They were then at the heart of a merciless desert engulfed in scorching heat. Her mouth was dry but she could not risk a drink of water when their water supply was already so depleted.
Once-ler had ditched his usual outfit for shorts and a tank top. He dismissed Rosie's complaint. He, too, was at a loss of what to do. There was no other option but to go forward, and if he reminded Rosie of this once more he feared he might be strangled. It was at the worst of moments when he saw it. Heaven. Hills covered in the greenest grass he had ever seen, and Truffula trees. There were Truffula trees all around them. "Rosie, we did it! We found Truffula Valley!"
Once-ler exclaimed overjoyed. He jumped off the wagon and ran to hug a Truffula tree. Rosie, however remained seated in the wagon, confused. Once-ler and she were, as it was apparent to her, still in the middle of a desert and Once-ler was hugging a tall cactus joyfully. It didn't take long for Once-ler to realize that what he was hugging was not a Truffula tree at all.
He felt vicious thorns digging at the cheek that was pressed on the cactus. He jumped away from it in terror and walked back to the wagon, completely embarrassed. He couldn't believe he had been seduced by such an irrational mirage. He must have gone completely bonkers to have believed his visions were true.
"Let's not speak of this ever again." Once-ler said to Rosie, with a single manly tear running down his cheek. "Oh, Oncie." Rosie said softly. He had a terrible wound on his cheek from pressing it foolishly on the thorns in his excitement. She took out a small first-aid kit from her bag and grabbed a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide to disinfect it. "Now, this will hurt a tiny bit, but it's for your own good" Rosie warned him.
She soaked a cotton ball in the liquid and drew it along the area of the wound. Once-ler flinched and cringed in pain, but tried to keep still. The compound fizzed and burned him. He recalled a time in his childhood when he had blisters on the tip of his tongue and his grandmother made him rinse his mouth with hydrogen peroxide. It a bitter, unpleasant taste. He was overjoyed that, this time, his tongue would not have to be anywhere near him. Before he knew it Rosie had applied ointment on the wound and put a band-aid over it. "There, all done" she smiled in satisfaction.
He looked at her with watery eyes, still in pain from the wound. Oh dear, why did he have to be /such/ a wimp sometimes? Rosie knew just what would cure the pain. She leaned in closer to him and kissed his cheek sweetly. "Thank you, Rosie," Once-ler said blushing slightly. "Well, what do you know? I'm feeling better already" he joked. They both laughed.
The event took their thoughts away from the harshness of the trip. They rode on and exchanged jokes once in a while. At one point, they became bored enough to sing road trip songs and play I Spy and Rock Paper Scissors. However, they were both very dehydrated and exhausted and soon nodded off to sleep. Melvin looked over at them. Rosie was resting her head on Once-ler's shoulder, sleeping peacefully and Once-ler was snoring loudly. He grunted. What did they expect him to do without anyone to lead him?
He sighed and walked on. He might as well try to find this Truffula Valley place. He gulped. He surely hoped he would reach it alive. Hours went by and his companions were still sound asleep. He had now stepped out of the desert with some difficulty and was riding off into a green place where he hoped he could find a drink of water. He walked as far as he dared until he could no longer walk. He gave a kick to Once-ler out of spite, before collapsing on the ground in exhaustion.
Once-ler woke up to the sharp pain in his leg. "Oww." The first thing he saw was Rosie, who was still sleeping with her head on his shoulder. Her sleeping face made his heart melt. The next thing he noticed was a beautiful place before him. Thick rivers of cool water, the greenest grass he had ever seen, and hundreds, no, thousands of Truffula trees. It must have been a dream. He didn't want to wake up his companion, but he wanted to make sure he was not delusional.
"Rosie," he said softly, "I think we're here." Rosie looked up at him with sleepy eyes. She looked around, finally realizing where they were. Once-ler looked at her and whispered, "I'm not the only one seeing this, right? Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing it." "Oh, Once-ler, we made it! But, how?" "Melvin must have led us here while we slept. Hah! I can't believe it!" Once-ler exclaimed. They stepped off the wagon and Once-ler hugged Rosie tightly. "This is the most beautiful place, mmkay, I have ever seen," he said, in awe of the majestic view before his eyes.
"Once-ler, I can't breathe," Rosie gasped for air. Once-ler dropped her instantly. "Sorry," he laughed nervously. He ran to the back of the wagon and started unpacking. He swayed his hips to and fro, making Rosie turn away abashed. The bar-ba-loots were singing along, and some Humming Fish and Swomee Swans joined him.
He threw all his belongings on the grass, almost taking the life of various animals with his gardening tools. The animals soon sensed that he was dangerous and were ready to confront him violently. In fear, he pulled out two bags of marshmallows to use as shields. They failed him, of course, and an angered Bar-ba-loot charged at him. He ripped the bag open and let out plenty of marshmallows. The creatures were instantly dumbfounded by the sweets. They ate them without complaints and forgot all about the dangerous intruders.
Once-ler took advantage of the temporary distraction, and ran away, signaling for Rosie to follow him. Soon, they were setting up their tents in a space with little to no trees. Once-ler had a large yellow tent with green accents that had "Once-ler's" written on it in large letters. Rosie wouldn't have been surprised if he had his underwear labeled with his name as well. She picked the heart-patterned boxers he had left on the ground earlier, and just as she had speculated, they had his name on it.
Rosie finished setting up her tent in a matter of minutes and helped Once-ler get everything organized inside. He suggested letting him do all the work, but with the way he had unpacked, Rosie didn't think he was capable of that. Once-ler shrugged and decided he might as well chop down a Truffula tree to make his Thneed while she helped him out. He slipped into a pair of green gardening gloves and got into his tree-chopping position. With a few swings of his axe, the Truffula tree fell effortlessly. The creatures that were present gasped, their eyes wide in horror. What had he done? They stared at the tree stump he left behind in confusion. They had never seen a tree stump in their whole life. Seldom did anyone discover Truffula Valley and its wonder, and even less often did someone chop down a tree.
Meanwhile, Rosie was inside, cleaning the tent up a bit for Once-ler's stay. She wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead. She expected it would take her at least an hour more to finish up. She looked out the window in hopes of finding Once-ler back, but all that met her hopeful eyes was a dark, cloudy sky. It had just been clear a few moments ago! Perhaps she had worked for a longer time than she had measured. But, if that were the case, Once-ler should have been back already.
It looked like a storm was coming on. She was about to go look for Once-ler, when the sky was clear again as if by an act of magic. The clouds had gone as soon as they had come. Rosie stood completely still, puzzled. Her eyes must have played tricks on her. She shrugged and went back to cleaning. She dusted the few pieces of furniture that Once-ler owned, washed a few dishes they had used for lunch, and folded Once-ler's clothes and put them away. When she finished, she jumped on Once-ler's bed and decided to rest.
Ah, a bed at last! She had slept in her tent for the past few weeks. She pouted, knowing that she would have to go back to that tent in the night. She might as well enjoy a bed while she had the chance. She squeezed the fluffy pillows and rolled around in the soft bed. Maybe she could visit once in a while and have the bed all to herself while Once-ler was away. She closed her eyes for a moment. It was in the midst of her carefree thoughts that the front wall of the tent threatened to fall, but Rosie didn't notice at all.
She had her back turned to that very wall. She noticed nothing amiss until she heard Once-ler screaming at.. his mustache? He didn't even have a mustache! Whatever he was cursing at, he was awfully angry. She decided it was best to wait it out. A moment or two later, the door flew open and she saw Once-ler sticking his tongue out at a very odd creature. He closed the door behind him, infuriated, but the creature was not gone. In fact, the short orange thing (which was a male, as far as she could tell by the gruffness of its voice) threatened to unleash all the forces of nature on him if he stayed.
"You have been warned!" the little orange thing proclaimed and attempted to open the door, only to find that the doorknob was higher than his stature. Once-ler dismissed his threats, and sighing heavily, he sat down next to Rosie on the ever so comfy bed. He had a terrible day. But at least he wouldn't have to travel any more. "What was that all about?" Rosie inquired, curious to know.
"Mustache, ahem, The Lorax," he rolled his eyes in annoyance, "is upset that I'm using his precious Truffula tree for my Thneed." Rosie laughed. He was one grumpy Lorax, whatever that was. "That's all?"
"Yeah, that's what I said! I just chopped down /one/ tree!" he laughed. Rosie looked back at him horrified. "You did /what/?!" she exclaimed. "Do you know how long it takes for a Truffula tree to grow?" Once-ler stayed silent. "Ah, of course you don't. You nature-defiling beanpole. You /do/ know you can harvest the tufts, right?"
"But that would take too long!"
"And what do you value more? The innocent Truffula trees or a bit of time?" Once-ler hoped that was a rhetorical question because he didn't know how to answer. The Rosie who was usually as sweet as honey was sitting next to him, scolding him mercilessly. "I-I'm so sorry." he apologized, "I didn't think these trees meant that much to you." He hung his head down in shame. He wouldn't care if it had been anyone else, but, for some reason unknown to him, he wanted Rosie's approval. Rosie sighed. He could be /such/ a wimp sometimes. "Look, Oncie, I'm sorry I freaked out. Just.. no more chopping down trees please."
"I promise," he said crossing his chest. Once-ler made her a cup of tea to calm her down, and she sipped it down without a word. She went back to her tent when she emptied her cup. He bid farewell to her as she left and saw her off, not that her walk was that long. Her tent was a few paces from Once-ler's. He felt terrible. He gathered the tufts he collected and started knitting his Thneed miserably.
He finished when the darkness of the night reached his tent. He was planning to invite Rosie into his tent. There was no way she could be comfortable in that thing, but she had left angered. Still, looking down at his finished work, he couldn't help feeling proud. "Now that's a Thneed," he said proudly to himself, "nothing unmanly about knitting, no sir." Rosie would have giggled at that. He sighed. He hoped she wouldn't stay angry at him long. He would miss those carefree laughs. He collapsed on his bed and dreamed of Rosie.