"I... I did this..."
He whispered under his breath as if he was afraid to break the silence that hung over the lifeless valley. Somehow, with meaning to, he had ruined everything. His family had left, his friends had left, everyone was gone.
"So you finally realized," a family voice said behind him.
He spun around to see his old friend, the legendary Lorax. The Lorax wasn't wearing a face of anger like when he normally came, mostly to try and talk him out chopping down the trees. Instead he was showing pure sadness. Not just for the forest, but for the young man standing before him as well.
"I didn't mean too, I just wanted people to be happy, and it-" he said in a rush, and he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince the Lorax or himself. The Lorax simply shook his head.
"You don't have to explain. I know exactly what happened."
Once-ler let out a sigh, and turned back to the valley.
He remember the way it was when he first came. Bright, sunshiny, beautiful. Full of life, with the various animals and plants, and it seemed just a step or two away from Heaven, it was so perfect.
And he hated himself for coming along a ruining it all.
"Is there anything I can do to fix it?"
"I'll take care of it. Just go home, back to your family."
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't have a family. I have no one that cares. I could drop dead this very moment, and absolutely no one would even pause a moment, they'd just carry on like nothing even happened. I don't matter!" He started to let the anger build up in him, "And this is my mess, I don't need you to fix it! If I can't, no one will!"
He had turned back to the Lorax, who just continued to watch him patiently.
"Look, beanpole-"
"Don't call me that!"
"Fine. Once-ler," the Lorax paused a moment, hating how it felt, it was strange not using the nickname. But he continued, nonetheless.
"I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees. It has always been my responsibility to watch over this place, along with many others. This isn't the first time this place has fallen, and it probably won't be the last. It is my duty to take care of the places when this happens. I have to take care of it, I cannot let you do it without breaking some serious rules, along with some personal rules. I'm sorry, but that's the way it works."
The Lorax noticed Once-ler's defeated and angered expression, so unlike the determined one he had arrived in this valley with.
"But, I can make one exception, under one circumstance."
He looked back at the Lorax, a more desperate face was never seen before.
"What do I have to do?"
"You said you had no one. Get one person, anybody, to care about you. If you can, without using tricks or force, get one person to love you, then, and only then, can you fix everything. Deal?"
He thought over this for a moment, before reverting back to his angered state.
"B-but that's impossible! Can't you see what I've become? I'm the most hated man in the kingdom, no one can love me!"
The Lorax looked up at him, square in the eye.
"Unless."
With that, the Lorax turned and left, walking slowly into the smog, until he lifted himself up through the clouds, without one glance behind.
Once-ler's mind was reeling. Unless? A very vague answer to an impossible task, and all of this had too be put on his shoulders. Was this some type of punishment, given an opportunity to fix everything, but it being imposable, and therefore it forever weighing on his conscience?
And the Unless, what was that supposed to mean? It could be anything, but maybe that's what the Lorax meant for it to mean. Anything that he saw fit.
After watching the Lorax disappear, he simply turned around and entered his castle, determined to never go out. Several days later, there was a knock at his door. He opened it, surprised at his find.
A simple stone, and a simple word.
Greed-ler sat up straight in his bed, after being jolted awake. He took several deep breaths and wiped some sweat off his forehead. If someone saw the sight, they might assume he had woken from a nightmare, but it was just a dream, that's all it was, or so he tried to convince himself.
But he knew that the dream he had wasn't just a simple dream, it was a memory. One that he always tried to block out, and he was forced to relive every second of it.
He knew it had something to do with the glowing stone last night, and that dream was probably put there by the Lorax himself.
Greed-ler finally calmed himself down, and he laid back down, and stared into the darkness.
He knew fully well why the Lorax sent that dream. It was all because of the arrival of that girl, Audrey. Of course the Lorax would try to make him do his part of the deal he hadn't agreed too. It was all nonsense, Audrey probably hated him just like everyone else.
But still, he had this one unshakeable feeling. That maybe he might be able to do his part, and that he might be able to make friends with her, and that might turn out to be something more, and things might just turn out okay.
He decided he would think it over more tomorrow, and he soon fell back asleep.
A/N: Yes, this chapter did come fast, and I am proud of that. I am also proud to state this is becoming one of my favorite stories to work on. Expect the next chapter soon!
StoryGirl.98