Nagasha: Eh, it seems a little cliché but hey as long as it works! At this point everything should start coming together, especially in the next chapter and it's the part I've been looking forward to writing!
AngetianPrincess18: Hehe it will, I always do happy endings in my stories! :)
The Tree with a tongue
Chapter 10: The small pile of rocks
'What can I do then?'
He knew the voice belonged to him but his lips never moved. His eyes snapped open and all he could see was darkness surrounding him, the only thing that was accompanying him was a lone Truffula tree with a bright red tuft. He immediately recognized it; it was the very last Truffula tree in the valley, the one that he had saved from his own machines. They stood out in the darkness as if a spotlight was directly above them, tears began to cloud his vision as he reached out to it with his shaky hand.
'Please, tell me what I can do!'
He paused, his gloved fingers inches away from the bark. He looked upward, wondering where the voice was coming from; it seemed to come from all around him but why wasn't he the one saying it? It was his voice after all. Then, what seemed like an instant the Lorax appeared not too far from him and the tree. The Lorax said nothing, just gave him a very sad glance and he seemed very still, he almost wondered if the furry guardian was even real; that he was simply an image created by his guilt and despair.
Tips of wilted red tuft slowly fell to the ground around him, he looked up in a panic and saw the tree was getting weaker; the top began to sag down and the bark of the trunk began to peel away. He cried out and wrapped his arms around the trunk, through his tears he spoke to the silent Lorax this time the words actually left his lips, "I...I'd give anything to save it. ANYTHING! Please, please help me..."
He looked up, desperate for any response but the Lorax was no longer there, it was just him and the tree again. Then he saw the tree began to glow white; a very soft white that seemed to cut through his sorrow and fill him with a sense of calm. Soon afterward he felt a warm feeling envelope him; he gazed down at his hands and realized that he was glowing the same faint white as the tree. He swiftly took off one of his green gloves to confirm that it was indeed him that was glowing.
He felt like he was unable to breathe as the glow grew brighter until his entire frame was consumed in a wall of white.
The Once-ler shot up from his bed in a cold sweat and clutched his chest in labored breaths. You'd think one such as himself would be used to the nightmares after all these years but in all honesty, in the last several years the dreams just stopped showing up, all that ever welcomed him in his sleep were dark lonely voids with a thick silence and nothing to reach out to.
And weren't those just as bad as the nightmares themselves?
He slowly dragged his body out of his old bed and let his feet carry him to his boarded up window. He knew why the dreams came back, reliving his tale to Ted brought back the inner demons and the pain.
On one side he was anxious for Ted's return, he not only yearned for the company in general but company from someone who had grown to care. On the other hand he couldn't help but feel scared; scared of the future. He reached for an item from his pocket and cupped it gently in his hands,
"What happens now?" he whispered to himself, "Do I trust him? Should I trust him? Is that what my whole purpose was up to this point?"
He placed the object back into his pocket, slid off one of his green gloves and calmly observed his hand; it trembled.
"What will happen to me afterwards?"
o~~~~~~~~~~~o
The next morning wasn't very inviting for Ted, at least more so than usual. He woke up from his peaceful sleep only to remember what had transpired last night, he laid his head down on his knees that were sticking upright and wrapped his arms around them. He never felt so helpless, not only was he going to disappoint the Once-ler for not showing up but now he was going to miss Audrey's party on top of it.
He really messed things up.
He climbed out of bed and decided to put on his old pants again, seeing as how he was going to be stuck in the house all day. As he put them on he felt something crumble in his pocket, he dug his hand in and took out the crumbled up piece of paper that contained the old poem his Grammy gave him. He scowled, crumbled it up into a ball and aimed for his trash can but he missed and it bounced off the edge.
He went over to the window and threw the curtains aside, letting the full sunlight through. He gazed out at the window and observed his town; the brightly painted lit up billboards, the tall buildings, the people down below who were enjoying the brand new day with their new cars, houses and lawns. He spotted one of his fellow neighbors changing some of the bulbs on the tree in his front yard.
All these fake trees suddenly made him feel sick. He now wondered if Audrey felt the same way.
He was beginning to see the town of Thneedville; the only home he's ever known in a whole new light. It didn't feel like a home anymore, even if he wasn't grounded he was still a prisoner just like the townsfolk, but what could he do? He's discovered a conspiracy that has solidified to the point where no one bothers to question it.
The thought of that also made him feel sick.
"So now you see it?"
Ted turned around and discovered his Grammy that had entered the room sometime during his train of thought.
"What?" Ted asked.
Grammy slowly walked up beside him, "You now see the town the same way I do." She gazed out the window and sighed, "I've lived in this town my entire life and I've watched it transform in the most horrific way possible. Never will I mention my home to what's it called now, I have and always will call it the name it has been since I was a little girl; the town of Terraville."
"So this used to be Terraville….." Ted muttered. He tried to picture it the way the Once-ler described it in his story but he couldn't, it was just too different.
"Grammy, can I ask you something?"
"Of course dear,"
Ted glanced at her, "You seem to like the Once-ler yet he says he's the one responsible for the trees being gone, if he's the one that changed everything here then why do you stand up for him?"
Grammy smiled sadly, "I will admit, ever since he first showed up things had gone downhill and even though I was too young to know any better at the time your great grandparents detested the man. However, when I came face to face with him one day I saw a broken man who was desperate to fix everything."
"So you have met him?"
Grammy rolled her eyes, "Well of course dear, how else would I have known about him?"
"Argh! You know what I mean! Why won't you tell me?"
"Because I'm waiting,"
"Waiting for what?"
"Waiting for you to get back out there and hear the rest of his story."
Ted's deflated at that response, it reminded him of the predicament he was currently in. He frowned and walked away from the window, "Grammy I don't know if you know but I'm grounded."
Grammy stared at him, "So?"
"So? Grammy I'm in the biggest trouble in the world right now! I did stupid things and now Mom doesn't trust me anymore, O'Hare and his goons are trying to make my life miserable unless I spill the beans!" He sat down hard on his bed, "Let's face it, I'm in way over my head. I think it's best if I just gave in…."
If Ted didn't gaze down at his feet he would've seen Grammy's sharp look followed by a bash on the head with her cane.
Ted cried out and rubbed the sore spot on his head, "Geez! What the heck was that for?"
Grammy's eyes remained sharp as she crossed her arms, "I'm not sure where this quitter's attitude is coming from but you sure as heck didn't get it from my side of the family."
"Wha….?"
"You're so close to the end Ted, why would you stop now?"
"Because I feel helpless. Sure I found out some horrible secret but who's going to listen to a kid like me? Everybody in town worships O'Hare and Mom didn't believe me when I told her."
Grammy gently sat down beside him, "Ted, I know you're frustrated and things may seem all against your favor but sometimes the hardest part in doing the right thing is having to do it by yourself."
"The right thing?"
Grammy smirked, "Why do you think a full grown man in his forties is bullying around a child? It's because he's afraid, you've discovered a secret that could completely ruin him." she placed a hand on his back, "Most importantly it's a secret that can help put our town and our way of life back on the proper path. You're the one that truly has the upper hand Ted, all O'Hare's doing is trying to keep you quiet and intimidated, are you really going to let him get away with that?"
Ted took all those words in as he slowly looked up at the window. He heard Grammy continue on,
"And I know a certain someone out there that will be devastated if you didn't show up, I have no doubt that you've given that man more hope than he's felt in his entire life."
A mental image formed in Ted's head, a mental image of the Once-ler gazing desperately out his boarded window for any signs of his bike riding towards him. Though he didn't have a clear image of what the man looked like, he could somehow see him crumbling down the ground in defeat wallowing in despair. It made him feel horrible inside.
Ted stood up, "Alright, I'll do it."
Grammy clapped her hands happily, "Good for you."
"There's just one problem though, how am I going to get out there? Mom has the key to my bike and it takes awhile to get there as it is, let alone walk there."
Grammy giggled, "Oh you just leave that to me. In the meantime you should find a safe way out of your window."
As Grammy trotted out the room, the silver marble that had camped out behind Ted's desk opened up a small camera and zoomed in on her.
o~~~~~~~~~~~o
"Mom….what are you doing?"
Helen Wiggins, who had been eating breakfast had watched her mother since she walked into the kitchen and was preparing toast and jam. However that wasn't the part that got Helen concerned, it was the fact that she had that smile on her face.
"Oh I'm just making some breakfast for Ted. Poor boy, he hasn't left his room yet this morning and he has such a sad look on his face."
Helen took a sip of her orange juice, "That's because he's grounded Mom."
"Oh heavens! What on earth happened? He's such a nice boy." Grammy discretely scanned the kitchen and happily discovered Ted's bike key on the counter beside the sink.
"He's been caught lying, ditching school and sneaking outside of town where he knows full well is off limits." Helen sighed, "I just don't understand where this secrecy came from?"
Grammy slowly edged toward the key, thankfully Helen was more preoccupied on tapping the plate with her fork, "Oh that's just how kids are Helen, they don't tell their parents everything. If I recall you've done similar things when you were young."
"I know and if I also recall you punished me quite a few times."
Grammy almost had the key in her hand but she stopped herself when Helen looked up at her, thankfully the toast was ready and instead redirected her reach towards that, "Well maybe it's a girl, you know how boys are around cute girls? They'll do ridiculous things."
Helen looked back down at her plate, "Why won't he just tell me then? He would still be in trouble but at least I wouldn't be so worried."
Grammy resumed her focus on the key and in one swift silent motion she snatched it in her hands, "Have you ever known a boy that tells his Mommy about a girl he likes? They're way too shy about that sort of thing." She hid the key underneath the plate of toast and took the tray in her hands, "Well there's no reason for him to be grounded on an empty stomach, certainly not healthy for a growing boy like him. I'll just take this to his room." With that she trotted out the kitchen while she hummed a cheerful tune to herself.
Helen rolled her eyes with a smile, she just couldn't understand her mother sometimes; there would be times where she seemed clueless of the world around her then other times she would offer understanding wisdom. She always seemed to be supportive of Ted, heck if it were entirely up to her she would never had let him learn to ride that bike, personally Helen thought those were too dangerous but then there was that whole 'all the boys are riding one' speech he heard over and over from Ted and even her mother at one point. She made her way to the sink with her dirty dishes and quickly noticed the empty spot where the bike key was.
Sometimes her mother was a little TOO supportive of Ted.
o~~~~~~~~~~~o
Ted snapped his helmet on and prepared to climb down the rope of sheets he had tied together, "You truly are awesome Grammy."
Grammy smiled, "I know."
"MOM!"
Ted paled when he heard that all the way downstairs, hearing his Mom's voice rise up like that felt foreign to him and not in a good way. Grammy quickly shooed him towards the window,
"Go go!"
With a nod he quickly climbed over the window ledge and walked backwards down the side of the house while he gripped tightly on the rope, he silently prayed that he tied it tightly enough against his bed railing and that it would hold his weight. He did all he could not to panic and look down, he knew he had to be quick but at the same time he had to be careful, once he was low enough he released his grip on the rope, bounced on one of the inflated bushes and quickly got on his bike. He turned the ignition and in no time at all he was on the road and far away from his house where his Mom can't possibly figure out where he went.
He couldn't help but feel bad knowing his Grammy is in trouble because of him but knowing her she can take care of herself.
Grammy waved to him through the window, ignoring her daughter as she stormed in the room. Her eyes widened at the sight of the open window with the tied sheets dangling out of it. She gripped her head and growled, "Mom! What were you doing? I told you he was grounded!"
Grammy fidgeted innocently, "Oh dear, did I mess up again? I thought it was silver wear."
Through the shouting of an enraged mother and the giggling of an amused grandmother, the silver marble behind the desk decided to take action. Little legs emerged and its camera lens zoomed in on the two women in the room before it shifted over to something else. Its main objective was to apprehend any type of information from the boy and even though it didn't get anything verbal it instead focused on the discarded ball of paper Ted attempted to throw out earlier. One of its legs morphed into a claw and latched onto the paper, it crawled behind all of the furniture and belongings that were in the room so it wouldn't be spotted and discretely made its way out the window.
o~~~~~~~~~~~o
Ted soon realized as he rode his bike through the busy part of town that there was no way he could return home unless he could explain everything to his Mom less he wants to feel her wrath.
He shuddered at the thought.
He found himself near the entrance of the supermarket and he suddenly had an idea spark in his head, he parked his bike and disappeared into the building. Shortly after he rushed out a plastic bag whipped around in his grip but before he could leave he was stopped by a voice,
"Ted?"
Ted felt himself melt at her voice. He turned around and sighed, "Hey Audrey."
Audrey smiled and walked up to him, she was carrying buckets of paint in both of her hands, "I'm so glad I found you Ted. I haven't seen you at all the past couple of days."
Ted laughed nervously, "Oh well you know, just been really busy."
Audrey smirked, "Not too busy today I hope. I know this may seem last minute but I was wondering if you'll be able to come to my party?"
"I'd love to!" he blurted but he bit his bottom lip and cursed his impulsive response. He corrected himself slowly, "I mean, I have to do this one last errand first."
"Oh." Audrey replied with a frown.
He quickly reassured her, "But I will get it done as fast as I can! Uh, when does your party start?"
Audrey's smile returned, "Three-thirty."
"Great!" Ted stiffened when his sharp eyes spotted an O'Hare Air delivery truck slowly driving by along with the traffic and pedestrians. Though it may seem completely normal to anyone else it definitely wasn't normal for Ted.
Especially when O'Hare's goons were the driver and passenger and they didn't waste any time spotting him.
He nerves suddenly felt on edge, "Uh great! I will definitely be there." He edged the rest of the way to his bike and hopped on, "Listen I have to go, I'll see you at the party!"
Before Audrey could get a reply in, his bike roared to life and was speeding down the street. She gave a startled jerk when screeching tires were heard behind her, she turned and saw a delivery truck accelerating the same direction as Ted.
That only made her more baffled.
o~~~~~~~~~o
Ted felt his heart racing as he turned the handle as hard as he could to go faster while at the same time being careful not to hit anyone or anything. He turned his head and gazed with panicked eyes at the delivery truck that was in hot pursuit, he was thankful he asked for the best bike model for his birthday, he never realized until now just how fast it could really go. He knew it was best to get off the road and with that he gripped down on the break and gracefully took a left turn onto the sidewalk through the pedestrians, some of them had to rush out of the way to avoid being run over.
He flinched and shouted over his shoulder, "Sorry!"
He felt relieved when he saw the scowled looks on the goon's faces as their method of chase was only confined to the road, he took another turn into the dark alley where he first discovered a way out of town, but when he drove up to the emergency hatch he panicked when he quickly discovered it was completely welded up and the handle was ripped out.
Courtesy of O'Hare Air Enterprises
Those words were printed over the hatch in black paint, Ted snarled at the word 'O'Hare' and banged his fists against it. He heard the sound of breaks to his left, he looked over and discovered the goons had parked their truck just outside the alley. When one of them stepped out to approach him Ted quickly reared his bike into gear and went back in the direction he came from, he crossed over several alleys while ignoring the mechanical dogs, cats and rats popping out from all hidden areas and gazing their piercing red cameras at him as he drove by.
o~~~~~~~~o
O'Hare chuckled as he enjoyed what he was seeing on the big screen in his office, "Squirm little worm."
o~~~~~~~~o
It was no use, each emergency hatch he came across was just like the first one. He had to admit defeat and leave the back areas of town and resume his way down the sidewalks, sure enough he heard the screeching tires behind him, O'Hare's goons haven't lost sight of him since the alley. He felt like a mouse in a maze finding nothing but dead ends and pretty soon he would be cornered.
Sometimes you have to make your own tunnels to get to the cheese.
With that he immediately scouted for the highest building in town, once he did he began to travel upward by using outdoor décor from several houses; bouncing up the stairs, hopping from one patio to the next and even sneaking through opened doors. He hopped onto one upper patio where a father was cooking on the grill, he cried out and turned his bike at the last second and barely missed him,
"Sorry about that! That smells good!"
He passed through the inside of the man's house; through a bedroom and an upper living area where the rest of the man's family were sitting.
"Lunch is ready!"
Then with the blink of an eye he was outside again. He spotted the top of the outer wall and paused for a moment, he took a deep calming breath to gain the necessary courage before he turned the accelerator and gained speed. He held his breath and closed his eyes as he felt the tire of his bike leave the solid foundation, he only opened his eyes when he felt his body jerk violently as he landed hard on the wall. He quickly underestimated how thin it really was and had to slam on his break in a sudden halt, he was leaning dangerously at the edge and could see nothing but smog and darkness below.
"Oh boy….."
He felt his bike began to inch forward,
"Oh no, nonononono!"
Before he knew it the air was whipping his face and hair, barely being able to scream as he felt himself going straight down the outer part of the wall. He leaned his body back as much as he could to prevent from falling forward and his legs were stretched out. When he reached the bottom he hit a small hill that made him lose all balance, he felt his bottom leave the seat and skidded and rolled across the dirt, the sound of metal crashing into the Earth was heard not too far from him. The chaos finally stopped, the dirt that was picked up created a thick dusty fog, he let out a dry cough as he slowly pushed himself back up to his feet, when he dusted the dirt off his clothes the best he could he hissed in pain when his hand brushed over a tear in his shirt that exposed a nasty scrape.
When his breathing normalized he slowly looked back at the glowing town of Thneedville and the high steep wall he had just scaled down on. He wasn't sure if was from shock or the adrenaline rush but he soon found himself laughing followed with a loud cheer.
"Beat that O'Hare! You've been outsmarted by a kid!" He threw a fist up in the air in another cheer but quickly retracted when a sting of pain jolted from the scrape, he decided it was best not to stall and with that he went to retrieve his bike.
o~~~~~~~~~~o
Luke hated the new technician that O'Hare had hired; Cyrus. He missed Charles, as clueless and goofy he was at times he was also a good friend and definitely not cold and pretentious like this new guy was. His boss O'Hare was always concerned about catching the Once-ler but it was more along the lines of a side thing as he kept his main focus on promoting his business and success. Now ever since he discovered a kid named Ted had possessed the piece of information he'd been hunting for years, O'Hare has become obsessed and Luke was putting that mildly. O'Hare grew more paranoid and was a lot harsher on him and Charles, to the point where he mercilessly fired his friend. He kept in touch with him but because O'Hare gave him such poor credibility, finding a job would prove impossible. He felt so helpless, he wanted to quit but where else would he go? There was nothing else but Thneedville, nothing else but O'Hare.
There was just…..nothing.
He was currently in the lab where he always built his little devices though lately it seemed Cyrus had taken over everything. Luke gazed at these new robot models that had replaced his and Charles' old ones; they were either scraped up to build these or they were simply thrown out. These new models were somewhat….terrifying, they had long spider legs that can climb on almost any material, their camera lens that functioned as their sight were a piercing red even when they weren't lit up but those weren't the features that terrified Luke, what made them terrifying was their intelligence. Cyrus had installed special programs into all of them; it would help them be able to identify problems and figure out solutions as well as learn from them.
Feeling uncomfortable, Luke left the room and made his way back to O'Hare's office to try and make him reconsider using those machines, if movies had taught him anything it's that machines with evolving AI's never end well. But as usual Cyrus was standing beside O'Hare like the lapdog that he was.
"That kid's pretty bold," Luke heard Cyrus say.
"At this point I'm less than surprised," O'Hare grumbled.
"If we act now and send the scouts out they can catch up to him."
The two men heard Luke yelp from behind them and they turned their heads, Luke stumbled slightly as something travel in between his legs, across the office carpeting and onto O'Hare's desk. Cyrus took the ball of paper from his prototype's claw and smoothed it out as best he could. Soon all three heads peered down at the piece of paper,
"What do you think it is sir?" Luke asked.
"Looks like a stupid poorly written poem." Cyrus grimaced.
What the two engineers didn't expect from their employer was a snicker of laughter. O'Hare snatched the paper in his hands, "I knew the kid would get careless eventually!"
"What are you talking about sir?" Luke asked.
O'Hare glared, "Don't be stupid Luke, have you forgotten all the times you sent your inferior machines out there?" He shoved the paper in Luke's face, "Look carefully at the names, do those look familiar?"
Luke ignored the rude gesture from O'Hare for it has always been his natural state to every one of his employees. He gently took the paper in his hands and looked at the words carefully, his eyes widened in realization; he had always observed the wastelands through the visual cameras of his scouting vehicles and before they would all meet their demise, he recalled coming across street signs that were purposely there to throw them off and they had the very names that this paper contained.
"They're directions," Luke confirmed to himself.
"Bingo." O'Hare replied. He snatched the paper from Luke and gave it to Cyrus, "I believe you are right Cyrus I think it's the best time to send the newly upgraded scouts out but let's make sure they know the directions as well, can you scan this into their memory?"
Cyrus smirked, "I'll have it done and ready within the hour."
O'Hare couldn't contain his widened smile, his white square teeth showing. He glanced down at the chess table where pieces were scattered about, he picked up a black pawn and admired it,
"You make a pretty good pawn Teddy."
He chuckled as he took the pawn and knocked over the white king, it rolled off the edge of the desk and fell onto the carpet.
o~~~~~~~~~~~~o
The stinging on his arm ceased down to a dull pain by the time Ted arrived at the Lurkum. When he parked his bike he heard the sounds of guitar playing in the smog followed by the crows that sang err…squawked with it, it gave Ted a weird sense of déjà vu. He took off his helm and with the plastic bag in hand he walked through the smog and spotted the Once-ler playing on the very same rock he had seen him the first time around, playing with his out of tune guitar with the crows huddled around him.
Ted let out an awkward laugh, "It's funny, last time I saw you on that rock we both screamed like little girls and ran away from each other."
The Once-ler didn't reply.
Ted wasn't sure what was going on, the last couple of times he came here the Once-ler always seemed more eager to talk to him but now it seemed like he's closed himself off from him.
"I uh, got you something that you might like." He swiftly took out a plastic wrapped object, "They're marshmallows, you mentioned that you used to eat them all the time so I figured you might like them."
The Once-ler paused and gazed at the bag for a moment before he went back to playing.
Ted grew irritated with the man, he prepared to approach him but the crows squawked threateningly at him, "Oh shut up," he kicked at them, they fluttered back a little and kept their distance after that. He continued over to the Once-ler until he was facing him, "Hey!" he waved a hand in front of his face, "Hello!"
The Once-ler stopped playing and finally acknowledged him, "Hello Ted."
"I've been talking to you for almost five minutes now."
The Once-ler lowered his head, "I'm sorry, I've been…..thinking,"
"Yeah…I can see that." Ted pointed at his guitar, "I got you new strings, why aren't you using them?"
The Once-ler paused, he caressed the neck of his guitar gently with his ungloved hand, it was unusually pale but Ted assumed it was just a side effect for his living conditions, "Because telling you my tale made me remind myself that I don't deserve to have them," he gazed at the bag in Ted's hands, "Or those marshmallows."
With that, he adjusted the strap on his guitar until it was settled on his back, put his green gloves back on and got to his feet, "Follow me."
Ted stared as he began to walk out into the wastelands, he stumbled slightly as he followed, "You're not going back to your Lurkum?"
"No, what I'm about to tell you requires something you need to see first."
The two continued their way in silence, Ted gazed down at the dead tree stumps that seemed to cover the land and the cracked dry dirt. The crows seemed to follow them, circling above him and the Once-ler as they walked then they suddenly flew over and landed on a small patch of land not too far ahead of them. As they arrived Ted discovered a small pile of rocks and though they looked like they were smooth and neatly laid out, years of moss and dirt had caked up on them. Several feet besides the rocks there was a rather large hole in the ground as if something was uprooted, perhaps a tree? Even though Ted acknowledged all of these features, there was one thing that his eyes were currently glued on, it was a word that was sketched onto one of the rocks.
Unless.
"Unless?" Ted asked.
"Yes….Unless." The Once-ler replied.
"What does it mean?"
The Once-ler sighed, he quivered as if he was about to cry, "Just a faraway word…a faraway thought."
"Mr. Once-ler! Mr. Once-ler! Over here!"
Being in the famous spotlight was definitely an easy thing for the Once-ler to get used to. He stood in the center of the main lobby of his Thneed company, his pearl white teeth glowing in his smile as several flashes of camera light filled his vision, even with the dark sunglasses on they were still blinding him. He didn't care, he felt like he was on top of the world, he felt that way for months; the demand for Thneeds has only increased since then, the money rapidly multiplied and his face was on every entrepreneur magazine and almost every billboard that hovered over the rapidly evolving town of Terraville.
Yup, life was definitely good.
The Once-ler felt his mother's presence nearby as he waved to the cameras, she was almost always nearby at his photo shoots and interviews, sometimes she would answer certain questions for him before he would have a chance to.
As he continued to wave he spotted something that made him lose his signature smile. He felt everything around him slow down to snail's pace as he spotted the orange furred guardian of the forest staring at him from the back of the lobby with every inch of sadness he could offer as well as the sadness of others in his eyes.
Sadness of who though?
When he blinked twice the Lorax vanished from his spot, he spent a moment wondering where he went but he quickly found himself being pulled back into sea of camera flashes and questions from the press.
o~~~~~~~~~~~o
How did it all go so wrong? So fast?
In a matter of months the Lorax watched the destruction that the kid had wrought in his valley and had transformed it into a desolate wasteland, the sunset combined with the smogulous smog gave it a darkened red color like the sky was on fire, it seemed appropriate for this situation.
He tried to approach the kid, not just to lash out at him in anger for hurting everyone that he cared about but just to know the reason! Why did he do it? The kid promised him...to his face that he wouldn't chop down anymore trees. Whenever he would catch a moment when the kid wasn't being bothered by yapping idiots or his 'fans' as he calls them, the kid would act as if he could no longer see him, as if he had lost his gift of being able to see the guardian of the forest.
The Lorax knew better though.
He observed him, he noticed the kid's expression would change every time those blues eyes would spot his short figure in the crowds.
During the dreadful months the Lorax got to know the kid a whole lot more, courtesy of Melvin. The childhood years of being humiliated, verbally sometimes physically abused, the amount of work labor being forced on him and even being forced to be ashamed of who he was. And yet somehow the kid kept his optimism and his kind caring attitude towards others, especially Melvin who would not be around if it weren't for him.
Still that didn't excuse what had transpired, he wanted answers and now.
o~~~~~~~~~~o
"Alright now Oncie you only have about an hour before yer next photo op! I want you all nice and right as rain by then!"
The Once-ler sighed as him and his mother entered his large lavished office, "Another one? Mom I'm exhausted, can't we just hold it off until tomorrow? I'm pretty sure they'll be willing to wait if I tell them to."
Isabella gave him a playful push, "Nonsense Oncie! You have a full schedule tomorrow you can't be fallin' behind. Wastin' time means wastin' money and we simply can't have that!"
"But…."
"No buts, I expect you all ready in thirty minutes. Don't be disappointin' yer Mama."
The Once-ler opened his mouth in an attempted protest but his mother firmly shut the office doors behind her, leaving him all alone in his office. He sighed and dragged his feet over to his leather office chair and sat down. He lazily fiddled with one of the pieces of the 'new and improved' Terraville model that was on his desk as he rested his elbow on the desk, resting his cheek on his hand.
"So how are things?"
The Once-ler jerked at the voice and though he could see the Lorax at the corner of his eye he continued to play with his town model as if he never spoke.
"I know you can hear me kid, you're not foolin' anyone."
He gripped tightly onto the top of a plastic building until it shattered, the plastic was a lot cheaper than he thought, "What do you want?"
"You're seriously asking me that?" The Lorax stomped over to him, "Just what the heck is going on here? Why are you chopping down my trees?"
The Once-ler glared, a small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, "Oh are you not happy with what I'm doing? Did I upset you?"
The Lorax stared in shock, where was this attitude coming from? "You're darn right I'm upset! Why are you doing this kid? What happened to that promise you made me?"
The Once-ler got up to his feet, "I only make promises to friends, last time I checked you and I are anything but that."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not your friend and I never will be, do you remember that?" The Once-ler snarled out those words as he now stood over the Lorax in a threatening way.
Realization hit the Lorax like a rock to the head. He recalled talking to Melvin at that time, he also recalled that being around the time where things went downhill, did the kid overhear him?
"Wait, you mean…" the lorax replied slowly, "That you did all of this cause you were upset with me?"
"Upset? With you?" The Once-ler barked out a laugh, "Hardly! If anything I should be thanking you, you reminded me what I was here for in the first place and now I finally accomplished that!"
The Lorax could only stare in disbelief, the kid clearly went off the deep end…..and he was partially to blame for it.
"Look kid, I won't deny what I said and if you want to take it out on me that's fine but why are you taking it out on the entire valley? And the animals that became your friends?"
"What are you talking about?"
The Lorax growled, "There's that self-centered attitude again but I guess I shouldn't be that surprised."
The Once-ler rolled his eyes, "Oh please, who cares if some trees are chopped down? This valley is huge, it's no skin off their nose."
The Lorax felt his rage peak, it seems the kid was worse off than he was when they first met but there was something else that seemed off about this whole thing. Ever since the 'biggering' of his Thneed business, he had hardly seen Beanpole anywhere besides the inside of his factory or office, in fact when was the last time Beanpole had ever been outside? Taking another quick glance at his office he realized his windows had the same kind of blinds that all the other windows in his factory had; a nice warm light blue with Truffula trees painted on them.
"Let me tell ask you something?" The Lorax asked, "How do you think all of your Thneeds are being made?"
The Once-ler's posture loosened slightly, that was a question he wasn't expecting, "We're harvesting them."
"Yeah, how are you harvesting them?"
"We're using an invention I designed, it plucks the tufts off the tree without using a ladder. I gave the blueprints to my mother and she ensured that they would be made."
The Lorax never had his feelings shift from anger to pity so quickly, he couldn't believe it; this kid was completely out of touch with his own company and what it was really doing.
"When was the last time you step foot outside? You used to go out and play your guitar every morning, are you even playing it anymore?"
The Once-ler crossed his arms and looked away, "I don't have time to play that stupid thing anymore."
"Well that's another promise you broke." The Lorax replied sadly, "When was the last time you've seen Pipsqueak? Or Melvin? He told me you always had time to take care of him every morning when you were a kid."
The thought of Melvin made him feel uneasy inside, "Melvin told you that?"
"He told me a lot of things….."
The Once-ler glared, "Oh so now you know everything about me? Well for your information mustache, Melvin is being given the best care he's ever gotten, better care than I've been giving him."
The Lorax crossed his arms, "You really know that for sure? Or is this something your Mommy told you."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Your Mom seems to be calling a lot of the shots around here. She's always the one that gets the paperwork before you do, she seems to be the one that schedules all of your fancy parties, photo shoots and interviews, heck I bet it was her idea to put up all these fancy blinds on every window." He gestured his small hands to him in a somewhat pleading way, "Can't you see it kid? This whole company was your idea and yet you have no control over it! You're nothing more than a dressed up pet put up for display, then when your Mom's done with you she tosses you back into this cage you call an office!"
The Once-ler bristled in rage, taking a few steps forward to intimidate the guardian but he stood his ground, "Shut up! You don't know anything about me or my Mom! I'm in charge of this company! I'm the face on every magazine and flyer! I'M THE ONE THAT CALLS THE SHOTS!"
The Lorax could only lower and shake his head. He walked over to one of the windows and pointed at it, "If you really believe that, if you truly think that there is nothing wrong with the valley then you'll have no problems opening up one of these blinds and proving it to my face."
"Alright fine!" The Once-ler stomped over to the window the Lorax had pointed at, he lifted his hand to grab the blinds but he suddenly hesitated. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was because uncertainty was lingering in his mind, after all he hadn't been outside in months so even he didn't know for sure what was happening out there. 'No,' he thought, 'I would've known about it if something bad like that was happening.' Regaining his nerve, he reached for the bottom of the blinds….
"Oncie!"
The two jumped at the sound of Isabella's voice, the Once-ler turned his head and saw his mother at the doorway with her hands firmly on her hips, "What in the world are you doin'?"
"I uh….." he gave a quick glance to the Lorax who urged him to open the blind, "I just wanted to get some fresh air, get a little sunlight in…."
Isabella gave him a sharp look before she took a calming breath and walked up to him, "Oh Oncie we have state of the art air conditioning to take care of that problem and sunlight is just terrible on the skin."
"But I…."
Isabella grabbed him roughly by the arm and pulled him away, "Now don't you be touchin' those, yer photo shoot is startin'! Come on now!"
The Once-ler gave the Lorax another quick glance before he was pushed out of the office by his mother, the doors slammed in an echo behind them. The Lorax stared at the closed doors for a moment before he dragged his feet to the double doors that were also covered up. He pushed the door open and gazed out at the horror before him; the air was so bad he had a hard time breathing, the rivers were thickened and black and all that remained of the beautiful trees he spoke for were stumps. Understanding the situation he knew the kid wouldn't have wanted this to happen, he needed to see this for himself.
Reaching the bottom of the steps he was welcomed by all the animals that loomed around the outside of the factory, as if hoping that the Once-ler could see them and how miserable they were. The Swamie swans were so sickly that they lost a great deal of their beautiful feathers, the Humming fish were so caked in the schlop that the factory generated that they couldn't hum anymore, the dry land was safer for them than the waters, and the poor barbaloots were so famished that they had almost no energy to walk; they clutched onto their stomachs to dull the hunger pains.
"Listen everyone." He said, his voice low and dull, "I know I failed you all, I failed the trees and in a way I failed the kid also. I have to help snap Beanpole out of the smoke and mirrors he's surrounded in and I'll understand if none of you want to help, I know the kid's hurt you all a lot."
The animals hesitated, unsure of what they think they should do. The Lorax took that as a hint and began to walk back inside the factory but then he felt something tug at his fur, he turned around and saw Pipsqueak looking up at him, his eyes were glazed from hunger and fatigue but none the less he saw what he was trying to say in them; he wanted to help. With that the animals all began to approach closer to the Lorax with the same message glinting in their eyes. The Lorax gave a small smile,
"Thank you." He gave a glance up at the factory before he spoke again, "I think I might have an idea and I'm definitely gonna need all of your help to do it."
To Be Continued…..
Normally this wasn't supposed end here but the chapter would've gotten way too long if I kept going, the rest of what will happen will obviously be in the next chapter. :)