Chapter One

"Ah! There's nothing like a Friday," I sighed as I let my backpack slide off my shoulders and onto my bedroom floor. I took off my headphones and went to sit down when I heard the click of the mailbox. I got up and ran down the stairs, and, true-to-form, tripped and went head over heels down the stairs into blackness.

I squinted into the sunlight. Oo, yay, it was happening again! Another adventure! I got up and looked around. I was wearing a school uniform of navy blue and white underneath a blue blazer and a leather bag was hung on my shoulder. I had navy knee-highs and black buckled shoes.

"What the heck.? What kind of adventure is this? Private school?" I muttered in disbelief and annoyance. I was standing on a sidewalk in front of a school in the middle of some town back in, say, the early 50's. The town was busy and it looked like school had just gotten out because kids were pouring out of the school doorways. I was all of a sudden in a cloud of school uniforms and was pushed and shoved along the sidewalk.

I made my way to the side and leaned against a building. Brushing the hair out of my face and turning around, I saw the words Macmillan's Candy Shop.

"Oh great," I said relieved and reached in my pockets for money, "I'm starving."

I must've been in England or something because I took out unfamiliar coins. Shrugging, I pulled open the door, hearing a little bell ring.

It was surprising that I heard the bell at all because when I walked inside the shop I came to the end of a long line of school children. They were crowding, anxious to get their hands on anything sweet. The owner looked very busy, rushing here and there. The ring of the cash register went off every five seconds.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed my way through the crowd to the counter. My stomach grumbled and I quickly searched for a bag of M&M's. But there were no M&M's.

My mouth dropped. The entire wall behind the counter was piled high with.WONKA bars? My eyebrows raised and it took a few seconds to realize that the storeowner was shouting at me.

"Excuse me!"

I shook my head and looked up at the man. He was wearing an apron and an exasperated look was on his face.

"Are you going to buy anything?"

"Uh, yes, could I have one of those?" I pointed eagerly to one of the Wonka bars. He handed me one. I dumped all the coins I had onto the counter. Annoyed, the man took two and shoved the rest back. I gave a weak smile and slid out of the shop.

I ran around the corner and found an alley. Excited, I dramatically ripped open the Wonka wrappings. Because, as it was another adventure, it would only make sense to find.

.no golden ticket.

"What?!" I gasped. I looked around rather frightened.

"What am I supposed to do now?" I whispered to myself, as there was nothing else to do to comfort myself, "It must be winter because I just happened to notice I can see my breath."

I had finally caught my bearings after my excitement and sudden knockdown. I suddenly shivered in my blazer.

"And it's gonna be dark soon. Where do I go? And hey.where's the rest of the team?"

I suddenly realized I wasn't supposed to be doing this alone. Where were my companions? Where were Sara, Mell and Mike? They were supposed to be here too. I felt a lump in my throat and leaned against the wall. Slowly, I sank to the ground and closed my eyes.

It must've been hours later. My neck was stiff. My arms were still wrapped around my knees and my head was leaning on them. It was very cold and when I opened my eyes, it was dark. I pulled out my watch. 4:30. Great, just great.

I pulled myself up, massaging my neck and crept silently out of the alley. The street was quiet and empty. I started walking down the road, thinking pessimistic thoughts. Were our fantasies supposed to be dark and scary and lonely and empty?

About fifteen minutes later, I came to a wrought-iron gate. I gasped and pressed my face in between the bars in amazement. It was a huge factory and on one tall tower it had the letters: WONKA. The electric lights shone brightly in the early dawn. I sighed, if only.

"Oh, why didn't I get a golden ticket?" I stomped and spun around angrily to walk no where in particular. I crashed into someone really tall and muttered a tiny "sorry" when the 'someone' grabbed my sleeve.

I was pulled down the sidewalk a little bit. Scared out of my mind, I looked into the face of.

"Hey, you're M-Mr.-

"Mr. Slugworth, yes, very good," he said and let go of me. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something shiny.

"Hold out your hand." I did as I was told. He shoved a golden ticket into my palm, much to my shock.

"Bu-but h-how."

"After encountering three other applicants, I have chosen you to be part of this plan. You know very well about the golden tickets in the Wonka bars and the five winners, correct?" He spoke very fast.

"Y-yeah-

"That has changed. There are now nine applicants. Read the ticket and be there. Mr. Wonka will show you his secret formula to the Ever-lasting Gobstoppers. When he gets that out to the public, he will make millions and my company will go bankrupt. All you need to do is to get the recipe and get it to me. Your reward will be quite plentiful." He opened a briefcase he carried. It was filled with thousands of dollars. I looked down and back up, gulping.

"Good luck," he said and walked swiftly away, disappearing around the corner. I exhaled with relief. Now it starts. I looked at the ticket. The date was February 1st. Checking my watch, I realized that was today. The tour began at ten. Sitting down, having a long time to wait, I put the golden ticket in my pocket, grinning mysteriously.