The next morning...
Heather smiled in her sleep until she woke up to hear a rooster crow, but it was actually the fish before she began to look confused and puzzled. The fish smiled down to her from the tree.
"You guys are nuts." Heather giggled to the fish.
The fish smiled as they were successful in making her laugh.
Heather looked around for the guardian of the forest. "Huh... I wonder where that Lorax dude is?"
The Once-Ler's alarm clock went off before he turned it off with a groan. He then turned around to see The Lorax in bed with him which made them both scream and the Lorax then punched The Once-Ler in the mouth.
"There's my answer." Heather sighed once she realized where The Lorax was since her brother was disturbed.
"Ow! Okay... What are you-" The Once-Ler glared as he rubbed his nose before he took a look around to see the other animals of the forest also here. "Question, what are they doing here? And follow up: If I may, what are you doing here?"
"Well, after the incident last night, we found one of your socks and came here to return it," The Lorax chuckled sheepishly. "But when we got here, you were asleep."
The Once-Ler winced as he looked up to see a Barbaloot sleeping high above him and drooling.
"Aw." Heather smiled to that.
"Ew!" The Once-Ler winced from the drool.
"So cute~" Heather cooed to the Barbaloot, though hid a small smirk since it drooled on her brother.
"Ha ha, very funny." The Once-Ler groaned to his sister.
Heather giggled.
"Anyway, sleep is the body's way of telling people to go away." The Once-Ler glared to the Lorax.
"I know," The Lorax replied. "But you looked so cozy, and it was cold outside, and we just fell asleep. No harm done."
"'No harm done'?" The Once-Ler replied with a scoff. "'No harm done'?! Ugh... Okay..." He then decided to get ready for the day and did his best to ignore the animals, though it wasn't easy since they used his stuff for other things.
Heather found this amusing.
The Once-Ler tried to get his things back from the animals, though didn't have much luck. The fish bathed in the cups and a bird hatched an egg into a bowl, the Lorax even brushed his mustache with the Once-Ler's toothbrush. "Okay, that's it!" he snapped once he couldn't take it anymore.
"Now, just stay calm." Heather told her brother.
"What?" The Lorax asked as he opened the fridge. "I thought we made a deal last night."
"Yes, we did," The Once-Ler glared. "And I said I wouldn't chop down any more trees."
"And I said I was gonna keep an eye on you," The Lorax glared back. "I'm starving, what's for breakfast?" He then opened the fridge only to see the biggest Barbaloot lounging inside and eating the butter and nearly everything else in the fridge.
"And this is why animals should not be in the fridge..." Heather sighed to the Barbaloot.
"Heh... Breakfast is overrated." The Lorax smiled nervously to The Once-Ler.
The Once-Ler growled as he looked like he was going to yell until he soon tried to calm himself down. "You know what? I got work to do... Yeah..." he then smiled nervously and uneasily before changing his clothes. "I gotta go into town and sell my Thneed!" He then showed the pink cloth he used from the top of the tree he chopped down yesterday.
"Good luck." Heather said.
"You're coming with me, Heather, you promised." The Once-Ler told his sister.
"What?!" Heather pouted.
"You chopped down one of my trees for that piece of garbage?" The Lorax asked about the Thneed before laughing.
"It's pretty." Heather replied.
"It has a million uses," The Once-Ler smiled as he then began to demonstrate. "Look at this! It's a swimsuit! Oh, mud tracked over your floor by uninvited guests? Well, the Thneed sure comes in handy for that! But wait, there's more! Thanks to its all-natural microfibers, the Thneed is super-absorbent! It also works as a hat! Of course, you probably wanna wring it out first."
"Ah, go ahead, knock yourself out!" The Lorax scoffed. "But nobody is gonna buy that thing!"
"You never know." Heather said.
"Don't worry, Heather," The Once-Ler told his sister as he grabbed his guitar. "He fortunately is not the target market."
"You're bringing a guitar?" The Lorax asked.
"Oh, yeah, I got a little jingle," The Once-Ler smirked. "I'm gonna blow some minds! Sell some Thneeds!"
"I have a feeling this will not be easy." Heather said.
In town...
The Once-Ler began to play his guitar to attract a crowd while Heather sat on a bench to meet a new friend.
"Hello there, I'm Norma," The brunette girl smiled. "You're new in town, huh?"
"Yeah, I am," Heather replied. "Just trying to help out my brother go on his very own spiritual journey to become unique and one with himself since no one else in our family will help him."
"That's very kind of you." Norma smiled.
"Thanks, Norma," Heather smiled back. "Man, you're a retro friend so far."
Norma and Heather soon shared a friendly hug. Unfortunately, the Once-Ler wasn't having luck with selling his Thneed.
"Unfortunately, I didn't sell it the first day." The Once-Ler told the kids.
"What about on the second day?" Estelle asked.
"Nor that..." The Once-Ler replied. "Or the third, or fourth, or fifth day. Until finally..."
"That's it!" The Once-Ler snapped to the crowd in the story after a little girl broke his guitar and even a nun was in line to beat him up for wasting their time due to disinterest. "You know what? I'm done with this thing!"
"Aww..." The crowd awed as they were going to miss making fun of him like his family back home.
"My family was right! I quit!" The Once-Ler snapped as he took the Thneed and threw it against Heather as she sat on a bench.
Heather grunted and tried to get the Thneed off her head until she saw a brown-haired cool boy who looked intrigued by her.
"Hey, cool hat~" The boy smirked to her while lowering his sunglasses.
Heather soon found this the opportunity her brother was looking for.
"Oh, my gosh, I totally want one!" Norma smiled to the Thneed on Heather's head as it looked cute as a hat.
"That thing makes me like you more." Another girl added as she took a picture from her camera.
Heather giggled innocently. "Thanks, it's called a Thneed," She then told them all. "My brother invented it."
And where suddenly, everybody wanted one. Heather beamed as she had hoped that would work and she knew that it would make her brother really happy. The Once-Ler soon came back into the forest as The Lorax was playing cards with a bird, a fish, and Pipsqueak. He soon heard Heather coming.
"Hey, Heather." The Once-Ler sulked.
"Peace to you, my city boy of a brother." Heather smiled before she hugged him, wearing the Thneed on her head.
"Get that thing off your head before someone sees you." The Once-Ler told her, not knowing it had become a huge hit after he left town.
"But these have become a huge hit." Heather smiled.
"What?!" The Once-Ler asked. "No way, you're pulling my leg!"
"I'll show you." Heather replied.
"Okay, you can show me, right after breakfast." The Once-Ler smirked as he decided to make pancakes.
"Okay." Heather said.
The Once-Ler made pancakes for everybody. The animals ate much more and even wanted ninths and there was suddenly a rumbling. They rushed outside to see what it was and it was the townspeople who were actually praising and singing about the Thneed which proved that the Once-Ler's invention became a success.
"See?" Heather smiled to her brother.
People soon came up to the Once-Ler with money in their hands to buy Thneeds.
"Oh, yeah!" The Once-Ler beamed. "We're in business, baby!"
"Uh-oh, this is bad." Heather whispered to herself as she knew what this meant.
"Mom? Hey, it's me!" The Once-Ler smiled as he soon called his and Heather's mother. "Heather and I told you I was gonna be a success! You need to bring the whole family here right now, we're gonna be rich!"
Heather and the Lorax narrowed their eyes.
"What?" The Once-Ler asked them. "I'm gonna need all the help I can get. Don't worry."
"And that's how I first became successful." The Once-Ler told the kids as he concluded for tonight and would tell more the very next day.
"Wow." Akito said.
"So is the story over for tonight?" Akito pouted with Scruffy.
"I'm afraid so," The Once-Ler replied. "I shall tell you more tomorrow."
"Okay, sir, we understand," Estelle said before standing up with Dot and Teddy. "Thanks so much for the story."
"Yeah, thanks." Vincent added as he collected Snow White and Vulpix.
The Once-Ler waved to them and let them go. Everyone then went home until the next night.