When they finally moved on after Violet and her father had been despatched to the squeezing room they headed off for a quick look at a few other rooms. The first stop was a hallway, where Charlie got to taste something again. Mr Wonka had them pause when they were halfway down it to another room, when he suddenly saw what was on the wall and suggested that they stopped to sample the likable wall paper. It was white with lots of different fruits on them. Charlie sampled a picture of a banana, which was delicious, and the others seemed to enjoy the different fruits they had tried as well. All the fruits they recognised tasted indiscernible from the real thing.
Unfortunately it seemed as though Veruca just had to improve the situation by commenting on Mr Wonka mentioning a fruit she'd never heard of before, Snozberries, in the rudest way imaginable. Mr Wonka came out with one of his quotes which seemed to stop the other person in their tracks – something about 'we' being 'the dreamers of dreams'. Charlie didn't quite follow that one. They very quickly moved on again after this – it seemed that Mr Wonka was quickly running out of patience and had decided the only way to control the annoying little girl was to head somewhere else.
The next room they visited was the scene of the event Charlie was most embarrassed about. He didn't want to spend a lot of time thinking on it, but he did admit to himself that he had done wrong... Mr Wonka had showed them into a room where he made fizzy lifting drinks, but declined to offer them any, saying 'bubbles bubbles everywhere, but not a drop to drink – yet'.
The room was amazing, these huge bubbles floating about the place, blown by a machine, and a huge tall tower made of metal struts, with a gigantic fan at the top. The bubbles seemed to float around a bit before settling into some bottles. The other children had begged to try some of the juice, but Mr Wonka had refused permission, stating that he didn't want children floating all over the place, before hurrying them all out.
As he and Grandpa Joe were the last to leave, and there was no one else to see, the older man had suggested they try some of the juice, and Charlie had agreed. Quickly they had popped the lid off of one of the bottles, and sipped at the fizzy liquid inside. It tasted wonderful – like no other drink they had ever had before.
At first they thought it wasn't going to do anything. Then, suddenly, they found themselves rising into the sky. It was a decidedly strange sensation, floating off without any control whatsoever. Charlie wondered if this was a bit like how it would feel like to be a helium balloon – going up and up until you hit a ceiling.
Clinging to a handy bar, with Charlie clutching his leg, Grandpa had commented 'Mr Wonka isn't going to like this!' Charlie had no arguments with that observation. The only problem was, they had no idea just how little he would like it – and they weren't going to find out his thoughts on the matter for quite some time yet...
What followed was one of the most scary and somehow most exhilarating experiences of Charlie's life – especially when they hit off the ceiling of the tower, avoided being pulled through the fan, and struggled to get down again. Once they'd got over the sensation of somehow being able to overcome gravity the going up had been great. Until Charlie had realised they were going too high that was. He'd felt like a bird, and had loved his Grandfathers suggestion migrating for the winter. Still, it had been a real relief when his feet had touched the ground again.
That was probably one of their biggest mistakes. Taking a drink that they knew would let them fly, without knowing how to control how high they went was a pretty silly thing to do. Thankfully, when they were in danger of being caught by the fan, Grandpa Joe had discovered that you could start to descend by burping.
This was the first time in record that Charlie could remember Grandpa Joe making a suggestion that led him into doing something wrong, and as they hurried from the room both agreed that they wouldn't try that kind of thing ever again. Mr Wonka clearly had good reasons when he decided not to let them try something.
When they caught up with the others they found them in a room with huge geese, who were laying huge golden eggs. As they arrived Mr Wonka was just assuring everyone that the geese were actually doing what it looked like. He explained that they had to as 'I haven't met the Oompa Loompa yet who could do it.' Charlie had to give it to him; it seemed highly unlikely that any Oompa Loompa would be able to lay an egg, never mind anything the size of the ones these Quadruple sized birds were laying. Mr Wonka casually mentioned the eggs were actually 'Octuple' sized! Even if they had managed that, any eggs they might have been able to produce would certainly not be made of golden chocolate.
It was in this room that Veruca went off on one of her 'I want' fits again, causing Charlie to comment 'here we go again' to his Grandfather – that girl really would benefit from a spanking. This time though, when her father had asked what the price was, Mr Wonka plainly told him that the geese weren't for sale. He even went as far as to say 'she can't have one' when her father tried to insist that Mr Wonka would be willing to sell him a goose, if enough money was offered. The result? Veruca went into a temper tantrum, demanding all sorts of things, with her father trying to placate her by agreeing that she could have it all – later.
Of course, Miss 'I want' had wanted them 'now' to which the father had no response. That man was really starting to confuse Charlie – when Mr Wonka had said No to the sale, Veruca had demanded 'who said I can't?' and her father's response had been 'the man with the funny hat.' Once again Charlie wondered at the depths that Veruca's father would go to – he had proven long before that he knew Mr Wonka's name, therefore he was just being rude.
Charlie did have to admit to himself that Mr Salt had just had another taste of Mr Wonka's humour again, as he'd told Mr Wonka that his geese were 'a load of nonsense' and Charlie had only just caught Mr Wonka singing a quiet retort about 'a little nonsense now and then' being 'relished by the wisest men' into his ear.
Charlie imagined that this comment, and possibly irritation at his darling daughter being denied anything she indicated a fancy for, was what had raised his ire so much. The comment seemed to imply that Mr Wonka didn't think he had any wisdom. Given all, Charlie thought he was quite right about that, though once again, he'd never have given voice to any such opinion. Besides which, even if Mr Salt was annoyed by Mr Wonka's response it wasn't like he hadn't asked for it, given his continuing rude behaviour.
Charlie's musing on the way the girl's father was acting didn't solve the problem of Veruca unfortunately. It seemed that she must have never experienced being told 'no' until now, as she proceeded to run over the whole room, destroying things. The Oompa Loompa's looked at her in horror, holding onto the eggs they were working on protectively. This action came a mite too late truth be told, as she'd already thrown one up into the air and caught it again before placing it back on the table.
Once again, Mr Wonka seemed to studiously ignore her, covering his eyes as she created havoc in the room and doing nothing to interfere with her wild behaviour. He even looked off towards one of the geese, when she suddenly presented herself in front of him, demanding he throw her balls and parties. Veruca didn't seem to notice this, merely elbowing her father in the gut when he came up behind her and tried to explain she could have these things 'later.' It would seem that 'later' wasn't good enough for Miss Veruca anymore...
Charlie was becoming more and more certain that Mr Wonka best dealt with conflict, and people doing things they shouldn't, by ignoring them and pretending he couldn't see what was happening. Maybe he had a childlike, if I can't see it; it's not there mindset to this kind of thing.
Now Veruca was threatening to push a trolley into a stack of colourful boxes waiting to be filled with eggs. The Oompa Loompa's were hovering around anxiously, in a half attempt to catch it before it hit the boxes, but they didn't get there in time and more mayhem was created in the room. In some ways Charlie was relieved they hadn't caught it – Veruca had put some force into that push and they might well have been knocked over, or possibly even injured by the trolley if they had caught it.
Next thing they knew Veruca climbed onto an eggdicator – the machines which told whether the newly laid eggs were worth selling or not – and stood there for a few seconds. A moment or so later the machine made the same sound they'd heard when an egg that didn't pass the inspection had landed on it and Veruca disappeared off down the garbage chute – quickly followed by her father. The man had taken another pop or three at Mr Wonka after his daughter disappeared, and having heard that she might have got stuck in the tube leading to the furnace (rather than being sizzled like a sausage) he had taken a run at one of the machines, before diving down it head first.
Charlie had thought him this was a little silly, if Veruca had really got stuck inside Mr Salt was hardly going to get through any easier, given he was about three times her size! Charlie asked Mr Wonka if they'd really end up in a furnace, and was told they had a good sporting chance as that particular furnace was only lit every other day... Charlie sighed in relief, knowing that this response meant it was just more of the man's showmanship coming out...
The Oompa Loompa's present in the room, who had been clearing up after the silly girl, began to sing about how awful it was for a child to be spoilt by their parents. Charlie thought it was a shame to call a cat spoilt though; Veruca was spoilt far worse than any animal could ever be! He certainly agreed that she was a brat however.
It struck Charlie as they walked out of the room that Mr Wonka hadn't actually tried to get Veruca to stop what she was doing as he had with the others. Maybe she was making so much noise at the time that he didn't think there was any point in wasting his breath again – Veruca wouldn't hear him, never mind do as he asked. Or maybe it was simply the fact her father was making an attempt at controlling her. That was one of the reasons he was there after all.
Next it was time for a ride on the Wonkamobile. This was Charlie's most favourite form of transport in the whole factory. It ran on fizzy juice, and when it was full enough foam came spluttering from every possible opening, liberally covering those who were travelling on it. Charlie and Grandpa Joe had the best time, splattering each other with the stuff, while Mr Wonka sang to himself, ignoring the bubbling mixture which soon covered him and the 'Teevee's' complained about how messy they were getting.
What was even better was the clean up system. One moment they were covered in goo from head to toe, and the next they went through a tall thin structure which was standing over the track like a small bridge, and suddenly all the mess was cleaned off of everyone, to the point you would have never known it existed. Mrs Teevee commented in shock that she'd been dry-cleaned.
Given she'd been shouting about sending Mr Wonka the cleaning bill, Charlie decided that was just as well. Charlie thought his outfit was cleaner than it had been at the start of the day, and Grandpa apparently thought it was the best bath he'd had in a long time. As Charlie was asking his Grandpa what on earth they had just passed through Mr Wonka turned round and told them it was called Wonkawash. At first though, he gave them the name backwards: Hsawaknow, though it sounded more like Ha-sa-wa-ka-noo, causing Mrs Teevee to question whether he was now speaking in Japanese. Charlie could see how she might think it possible.
Getting off of the machine Charlie had asked Mr Wonka if they could go on it again, but got no response. Sighing he realised that this was just another part of the unique bundle of reactions which made the strange man up. Maybe he just didn't like saying 'no' to such simple questions, or maybe he wasn't sure what the answer would be. Still, given that was the first question he had asked that Mr Wonka hadn't answered promptly he knew he should count himself lucky!
