Twenty years ago, In a small country side, A young once-ler walked out of his barn house, followed by his family: His mother, twin Brothers, his aunt and his uncle.
"Welp, here i go, mom!" The once-ler waved as he lunged his luggage on his wagon. "Off to change the world with my thneed!"
He hopped in and grabbed onto the rope. "Ha...I'm actually doing it!"
"Yes..." His mother sighed. "But just remember, Oncie. If somehow your "invention" ends up a failure instead of a success...IT WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME AT ALL!"
She and the rest of her family burst into laughter, One of his brothers, Brett, walked up to his wagon and punched his shoulder so hard it nearly broke.
"Hey, nice wheels! Burn!" He laughed, only to be kicked in the rear end by The once-ler's mule Melvin.
"Haha...yeah, burn!" The once-ler replied sarcastically. "But you'll see, Ok?! I'm gonna prove you all wrong! come on, Melvin, ya!"
"Wow, Grandma's a jerk..." Rose said, interrupting the story.
"Who would've thought she was so...mean." Marigold added.
"Oh, sweetie, you're grandma's not a jerk..." the Once-ler said reassuringly. "She just traumatized and belittled me for a couple of years, don't worry."
His daughters and wife looked at him with horrified expressions on their faces. Did she really do that?
"Ok, That's kinda disturbing." Lilac grimaced.
"Disturbing? Its flat out concerning!" Ivy protested.
"ANYWAY!" The once-ler said nervously, changing the subject. "On with the story!"
The Once-ler searched for the perfect material for his invention. It took days, maybe even months... He walked through scorching desserts, cold, merciless weather, and thorny bushes, until one day...
Melvin stopped at a particular spot and gasped at what he saw, He turned and whinnied at his owner, but when he realized he was asleep, he kicked the wagon, jolting him awake.
"We're gonna be there, soon, I'm sure...it's like-" the Once-ler paused and stared at the amazing display. "Whoa..."
Standing before him was a forest, filled with beautiful birch trees with Different colored tufts on them replacing the leaves, ranging from Orange to bright red. The Once-ler was flabbergasted as he got out of his wagon to get a closer look at the beauty.
"This...is...the most...beautiful place..." The Once-ler said, all choked up in his words. "Mkay, I have ever seen...!"
As he approached the forest, a trio of orange fish noticed him and greeted him with a song, and danced their way to their pond, The Once-ler stared in amazement as brown Bar-ba-Loots climbed on top of each other to get the pinkish fruits that hung from these colorful plants, Swommie- Swans flew over the valley gracefully, some taking care of their young, and best of all the humming fish finished their song and dove back into their pond.
"This is it!" The Once-ler exclaimed happily as he played his guitar passionately. The creatures surrounded him in wonder as the strange man continued to play.
🎶 This is the Place~!
These truffula Trees are just what I need~!
Gonna chop one down, and make my thneed~!🎶
"But first!" The onceler said, unknowingly knocking out a Bar-ba-loot with his guitar.
🎶 Na! Na! Na na na na!
Na na, Na na, na na, Now you! 🎶
The Creatures joined in this catchy tune and walked with him to a certain spot at the bottom of the hill.
🎶 Na! Na! Na na na na!
Na na, Na na, na na na na! 🎶
The Onceler danced to the beat as he unloaded his cart.
🎶So now, our friendship can begin!
Hand in hand, and wing and fin!
There's nothing you and i can't do,
So lets all make my dreams come Truuuuue-a-yodeloo,
a-yodeloo a-yodelayhee-hehoo! 🎶
The creatures froze in horror as he started to unknowingly throw dangerous objects all over the place, narrowly hitting them. from Saws to cutlasses, the display was just horrific.
The Once-ler continued to yodel, slowly starting to realize no-one was singing with him, when he did, he nervously stared at the creatures, who now held his sharp equipment.
"Hey guys..." He smiled nervously. "Come on, Where's my backup chorus?"
the bears growled and hissed at him in response. all except the big fat one, he didn't really know what was going on.
"What?!" the Once-ler yelped before backing away.
he pulled out a bag marshmallows as a shield. "Aha! Oh..."
One of the bar-ba-loots pounced at him and ripped the bag open with his teeth. Millions of soft white cylinders flew in the air, causing the creatures to gaze in wonder at the tasty display, they flew at it, tasting its sweet flavors and rubbing their stomachs in satisfaction. The Once-ler smiled at them all, making sure that he was on their good side. He then turned and grabbed his ax and approached a truffula tree with reddish-pink tufts on it. He sighed.
"Alright. Here i go. About to make a thneed, about to change the world..."
The Once-ler swung his ax for a second, and re-swung it, hitting the wood of the trunk of the truffula tree, with a sound that frightened the creatures. The sound became louder as he chopped, they all ran away and hid, as the tree fell down with one mighty snap.
"Haha, Check it out guys- Eh? Where did everybody go?"
The Once-ler shrugged and took his newly chopped tree to his surprisingly quickly built tent.
"WHAT?!" Marigold gasped, interrupting the story this time.
"You chopped down a tree?!" Violet croaked.
"Daddy, how could you!" Blossom sobbed as she buried her face on Rose's chest.
"Wow, Dad. Just...Wow." Lilac spoke.
"Girls, Girls!" Laura spoke. "It's alright."
"No! It's not OK, Momma!" Bluebell argued. "Do you know what could have happened if he did it again?! AND AGAIN?!"
Both parents flinched and looked at each other worriedly. They had a feeling their daughters wouldn't like the part where-
"W-we'll get to that part later..." Laura replied before clearing her throat. "Besides, If your father hadn't chopped that tree, Neither you nor I would be here."
The Once-ler hung his head. "That was the only time I don't regret doing that." He muttered sadly.
"And that means...What now?" Lilac asked.
"Well..." Laura said.
The forest creature surrounded the now empty tree stump, not branch, no long stem...no tufts? Nothing. just a short cylinder piece of wood stuck on the ground. Two fish approached it, one of this give it a gentle knock. At first nothing happened, But then, Suddenly a pink tail of light started to spiral around the stump, The fish slapped his friend for making the mistake, The light began to spiral faster, until it formed a puff of pink smoke with a figure in side of it, It looked strange, like it was taking the form of a woman...A WOMAN. Once the smoke subsided, the figure appeared to be a woman with a long green dress that flowed down her ankles, her snowy skin glowed gently in the sunlight, her Orange hair flowed to about Mid-back length. The creature stared in awe as she opened her eyes...Her eyes...they were like the hearts of the ocean. She shook her head and looked down to see the creatures staring at her. She smiled and bent her back to get a closer look.
"Hello, there." She spoke softly, with the voice of soft and sweet butterfly milk. She smiled sweetly at them all.
The smallest bar-ba-loot approached her hesitantly, wondering whether or not to trust her. her smile shone as she picked him up to face her.
"It's alright, little one. " She smiled sweetly. "I won't hurt you."
Pipsqueak's frown slowly turned into a smile as she hugged him gently. The creatures followed suit as she stepped off of the stump. It was then she realized what she stepped off of and gasped and turned to it before putting the small creature down. She shook her head in disbelief as she fell to her knees before a tear fell down her face as she placed a hand on the stump.
"Who did this...?" She croaked, not taking her eyes off of the stump. "What kind of MONSTER would do this?"
She felt a tug on her dress and she turned to see Pipsqueak pointing in a direction, she turned to see the Once-ler plucking tufts off the poor plant. She gasped in realization and a pint of anger.
"Wait here." Was all that escaped her lips before she approached the strange man.
The Once-ler sung to himself as he plucked. Now that he found his perfect material for his invention, he can finally be a success!
"Excuse me." A sweet but stern voice interrupted.
The Once-ler gasped and tumbled on his back. He didn't know someone was there as well, He looked up. blocking the sun from his view to look at the figure properly. It was a young woman, who looked about his age, with mid-back length orange hair that glowed softly in the sunlight, so did her snowy skin, her light blue eyes seemed to sparkle as she glared at him. The Once-ler's jaw dropped at this unreal beauty. He had never seen anything so beautiful in his life, and he knew for a fact because he searched half of the globe.
"W-what...?!" The Once-ler stammered as he stood up to face the woman, who turned out to be a few inches shorter than him.
She pushed her face onto his to look intimidating, i suppose, but in his eyes, she looked adorable.
"Did you chop this tree?" She asked menacingly, yet so melodiously that the Once-ler's cheeks flushed a little bit.
"Why yes." He said flirtatiously before flexing his non existent muscles in front of her. "These bad boys picked up that ax right there and they did a lot of talking, if you know what i mean~"
"AX?!" She squealed, causing him to flinch. She knelt to the now chopped tree and picked up a piece of its tuft, careful not to pluck it off. "You chopped this innocent tree, with that dangerous weapon?!"
"Um...yes?"
"You...ANIMAL." She croaked.
"Um...I'm sorry, but does the lovely maiden have a name?" The Once-ler asked, completely ignoring her insult.
"Name?" The woman asked.
"Wha- You don't know what a name is?" He said in shock.
"Well, I can't say that I do..." She said softly.
"Hmm...How about..." He thought hard at what to call this pretty girl. "Laura. It's what my mom wanted to name me if i was a girl."
"Laura..." She tried her best not to smile. "You know what? I'm gonna take this "name", But i'm highly offended by it."
"Right...So what's a lovely mysterious girl like you, doing in a place like this?" The Once-ler asked, trying to look as flirty as possible.
"Wha- I LIVE here!" She growled.
"Oh. Well-"
"And The fact that you chopped this beautiful tree shows that you have no respect for nature at all!"
"I-I just-"
"So, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"Oh. WAIT-WHAT?!"
"Leave. Vacate the Premises. Take your Ax. Get out." Laura said bluntly. "Scram. Skedaddle. Take a hike-"
"I get it, I get it, I get it!" He yelled. "But I can't leave, I just got here!"
"Oh yes, you can. And You WILL. Now get out of here, before i get mad." She replied.
The Once-ler's lips curled into a seductive smile. "You. Mad at me?"
Then the laughter, OH that laughter. It was enough to make a woman blush, but Laura didn't fall for it. In FACT, she didn't like it one BIT.
"I fail to see the JOKE." She sneered.
"I'm sorry, It's just..." The Once-ler wiped a tear from his face. " I have never seen something or SOMEONE that is as sweet as roses turn into as sour as lemons in ONE day, That just can't happen."
Laura stared at him in confusion, then at the creatures not knowing what the heck he was talking about.
"Well then, I guess we're doing this the hard way." She said bluntly before approaching his tent, Once-ler wondering what unpredictable acts she was going to do. Then, Without warning, and no trouble at all, Laura kicked a peg off the ground and ran to the next one. The Once-ler gasped.
"Hey-What are you- Stop that!" He yelled, running after her, grabbing his hammer and hammering the peg back in its place.
"Catch me if you can, Beanstalk!" She teased before kicking another peg off.
"Oh-ho-ho! Getting naughty, are we?" he asked flirtatiously before chasing after her and hammering the peg down, man this girl was REALLY determined.
Laura kicked off another one as she heard that. She gasped and looked at him in disgust. "Oh, why you disgusting little-"
Little did she know, The Once-ler planned this the whole time and when she wasn't looking, he grabbed and put her in a dip pose.
"Haha! Caught you off guard, didn't I?" He teased, making her really uncomfortably. "You know, I've seen pretty girls before, but I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life! Especially up close-"
Then without warning, Laura kicked him right in the nuts and ran to the next peg.
"OW!" He yelped, holding his crouch from the sudden pain he endured. he then watched her kicked the same first peg she kicked.
"Oh, I LIKE a woman who's rough!" he laughed before chasing her.
"Oh, You haven't seen me yet!" She teased back.
The chasing lasted a minute, until the Once-ler accidentally had Pipsqueak roped, and Laura gasped in horror as he was about to pound him!
"HEY! DON'T DO THAT!" Laura screamed, catching his attention. He gasped at his mistake and let the little cub run to his friend.
"So...You'd have the audacity... to hammer one of nature's INNOCENT creatures?" She croaked, staring at him with such sadness he just stared at this wonderful creature, who had little knowledge of the human race.
"N-no, I swear! I-I didn't even know he was there!" He tried to explain, but his stammering made him feel even more guilty.
"What kind of creature are you?" she asked, staring at his deep blue eyes. "First you chopped an innocent tree, now you nearly hurt my friend?"
The Once-ler didn't say anything, he just backed away sadly. "Look, I don't want any trouble, But I'm not leaving. I NEED these trees. They're like...what i need for my success!"
Laura stared at this man with disgust. So he cares about his profit, huh? Well this is going to be a challenge.
"Fine then." She spoke softly. "But I leave you with this warning: If you're not gone by the time the sun sets on this valley, ALL the forces of nature will be unleashed upon you, and CURSE you, until the end of your days."
"Yeah, well. We'll see about that. "The Once-ler mumbled back. not taking his eyes of the beautiful girl.
"Alright." She said before turning to leave. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
And with that, she and the rest of the forest creature walked away, The Once-ler staring at her as she did. He could feel the warm presence of her sweetness, he only wanted to get closer.
"Y'know, I used to think she's beautiful..." The Once-ler said to himself. "But Now...She's flat out irresistible."
He silently swore to get close to this pretty girl. No matter what it took.
"Wow, Papa." Ivy said in awe. "You're really committed."
The Once-ler gushed at his daughter's comment. "Thanks. I am."
"But, I knew this guy was gonna put up quite a fight." Laura said. "So, mama came up with a plan."
"Ooh, What'd you do, momma?" Rose asked eagerly.
"Yeah, what'd you do?" The rest repeated.
Laura Chuckled. "Well..."