Onceler woke up and stretched. He was feeling quite thrilled. Business was booming! But something seemed to gnaw at him, like he was forgetting something. What was he forgetting? He threw off his covers and dashed to his calendar. Nope, he remembered all of his appointments and everything on his to-do list. So what was nagging him?

A loud banging was heard at his door. "Onceler, are you up yet? We have that meeting with the new mayor today!"

"Be out in a minute, Mother!" called out Onceler. He raced to the closet and changed into his suit. He checked himself out in the mirror. With a grin, he placed his hat on his head. He paused. The color green, what was about it that made him feel sad looking at it right now? He hadn't done so before. Why now? What had he forgotten again?

"Onceler!"

"Coming!" Onceler took one more look at the mirror to make sure everything looked perfect before leaving. The meeting with Mayor O'Hare went pretty well, all things considered. He seemed insistent on hiring Bret and Chet as his bodyguards, but Onceler would only agree to it once the last tree was harvested. O'Hare readily agreed, and the family returned to their mansion.

"I wonder why the new mayor was so quick to accept my terms?" wondered Onceler as they walked home.

His Aunt Grizelda scoffed. "Because the last tree is going to be cut down either today or tomorrow."

Onceler paused. "Wait, what?" Everything came back to him in a flash. Emerald! The Lorax! The seeds! His promise! "No!" He raced back to the factory.

"Onceler! Where are you going? What's wrong?" His family ran after him.

"We need the seeds to . . ." he shouted, but paused when he reached the top of the hill. The last tree just fell down.

"What? Whatever for?" asked his mother.

"I-I promised to plant them! And I didn't!"

His mother waved her hand dismissively. "Oh hosh posh, you didn't need to do that!"

Onceler didn't hear her, he was glancing down at the valley. He gasped when he saw a line of animals moving out of what was once their home, aided by fairies. He dashed down the hill. "Emerald!"

"Onceler! Come back!"

Onceler didn't pay attention. He ran pell-mell down into the valley, calling for Emerald and the Lorax. About halfway down, a red fairy came buzzing around his head, poking and pinching him. "Ow! Ow ow ow ow OW!" Onceler tried to swap him away, but he kept on coming back. "Hey! Come on! Cut it out!"

"Why, huh? You broke your promise! You made Emerald sad!"

"I know! I-I'm sorry!"

"Saying sorry doesn't cut it!"

"Ruby!" The Enchantress flew up, followed by the rest of the Guardians, including a very crestfallen Emerald. "That's enough."

"Enchantress, Emerald, I am so so sorry . . ."

The Enchantress held up her hand. "Ruby is right though, just saying sorry doesn't cut it." The Enchantress sighed. "But I sense that you are sincere in your guilt and regret. So," she paused and gave him two seeds, "you must plant one and give the other to the first person who will listen to your story and learn from it." She blew some fairy dust onto him. "Until then, you will live forever, and you will grow old." Onceler's hair began turning white. "After that, you must tell your story as many times as the number of trees you have cut down. Only then will we reconsider you becoming a friend again." The Enchantress turned. There was the Lorax. "Do you think that is fair punishment?"

The Lorax nodded. "I think it is very fair." He turned and glanced at all the sawed off trunks. "Very fair indeed." The Enchantress flew to his shoulder and sat upon it before he floated away. The other fairies followed.

"Wait, Emerald." Emerald paused and glanced at Onceler. A tear fell from her eye before Ruby came back and put his arm around her, leading her away. Onceler let out a sad sigh before walking back to his family.

Upon hearing the story, it didn't take long for his family to up and leave him. He planted one of the seeds like he promised, then boarded up his house, and waited. Years later, Ted came along. He heard the story and planted the seed. Onceler came out and told the story to everyone in town. And then he told everyone he could after that.

(Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who waited for this to come back! I do apologize, but I realized I was missing so many characters and had to figure out the place for others. I've found enough and worked out enough for me to finish at least this book, but I'll probably need more for the rest of the series, especially for where I want to go with it. On top of that, I've moved to a new state, had to get a new job, it's only temporary though and I need to start looking again, and I'm trying to get other stories taken care of, both fanfiction and original. Thanks again for being so patient! I hope you have a wonderful day! God bless!)