Chapter Six

"Now here is what I've been working on for quite some time now," Mr. Wonka was saying. I nudged Sara and we turned from Frodo, who was leaving with a pile of boxes, to gaze wide-eyed at the machine in front of us.

It was really disgusting actually. One part of the huge metal machine was smashing tomatoes. Another had a mechanical hive with bees swarming around making honey. Yet another part had a bowl of something that looked like chicken and yet another had a bowl of blueberries, where a robotic arm was adding sugar and flour.

"What does it do?" Charlie asked.

"Well, I'll show you," Mr. Wonka smiled, "Just need to find the 'on' button."

"It's right there," Mike pointed to a tiny red button on the side near the tomatoes.

"Ah, so it is, you may do the honors." Mike raised his eyebrows and grinned, pressing the button.

The machine started making whirring noises and the robot arms started moving faster. Mike walked back next to me to watch.

"Wasn't that exhilarating?" I teased him at the excitement in his face. He looked down at me and grinned sheepishly.

"Shut up."

Mr. Wonka reached into a tiny box when the machine stopped making noises and pulled out a square piece of something.

"Now what do you think this is?" he asked.

"By gum, it's gum!" Violet cried.

"No, it's actually a five course dinner!" Mr. Wonka looked very pleased with himself. Violet snatched it out of his hand.

"But wait! I'm not quite finished with it!"

"So long as it's gum and that's for me!" Violet was saying. We watched in amazement as she stuffed in her mouth and started chewing.

Mr. Wonka leaned in to our group and whispered to us, shaking his head.

"I've had trouble with this. This last girl I tried this on was just as addicted to gum, perhaps worse, always chewing it. I hope this turns out the way I want it."

We grinned, knowing exactly what he meant and turned to watch Violet.

"Oh wow tomato soup! I can actually feel it running down my throat!" she was exclaiming. Her father was just as into it.

"Hey baby, what's for dessert?" Mr. Beauregarde cheered his daughter on.

"Mmm, blueberry pie!" Violet licked her lips. Something was wrong with her face. It was slowly turning a purplish color. And ever so slowly, she was growing fatter. I covered my mouth in astonishment as Violet turned into her dessert.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" someone yelled.

"Violet, you're turning violet, Violet!" Mr. Beauregarde's voice cracked as he gaped in horror at the blue girl who was getting too fat for her belt. Finally, the belt just snapped.

"I feel funny!" Violet moaned.

"Fortunately, looks aren't everything," I muttered to Mell. She guffawed and nodded in agreement.

"Happens every time," Mr. Wonka thought aloud, "They all become blueberries."

Four or five oompa-loompas (Frodo not among them) rushed over to Violet and rolled her over on her side.

"Somebody stick her with a pin!"

"Any more air and she'll explode!" Mr. Beauregarde shrieked.

"Oh, that's not air in there," Mr. Wonka told him, "that's juice. They're taking her to the juicing room to be squeezed."

An oompa-loompa took Mr. Beauregarde by the hand and started leading him out of the room after they rolled the five-foot wide Violet through. Her father was whimpering.

"I've got a blueberry for a daughter." His voice echoed down the hall.

"Adieu, adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow," Mr. Wonka stared seriously after them.

"Well, lots to see. Let's move on, shall we?" He turned to us and motioned for us to follow. We left the room and down a hall, reaching a wide doorway into another huge room with the highest ceiling I've ever seen. A fountain stood in the middle of the room and millions of bubbles floated up into the never-ending ceiling.

"Oh gosh, isn't it high?" Veruca spoke for the first time in a while.

"Darn, I was beginning to like the silence," Mell glared at Veruca. She glared back.

"Fizzy lifting drinks. The gases in these drinks are so uplifting that they lift you right up into the air," Mr. Wonka explained.

"Oh can we try it?" the group pleaded in unison.

"No, I can't let anyone try it yet, still too dangerous."

A chorus of 'please' followed. Mr. Wonka shook his head in earnest.

"No, we have lots more to do anyway. Come let's go."

He walked swiftly out of the room. Charlie and his grandpa lingered in front of our group, waiting for us to pass.

"Oh, don't stay!" I pleaded with them, "You won't win if you do!"

"We were just going to try it," Charlie whispered.

"But you heard what he said," Sara said, "It's still too dangerous."

"Think about it. A whole lifetime of chocolate is on the line," Mell chimed in.

"You wouldn't want to lose that, would you?" Mike asked.

"I suppose not," Charlie's grandpa said, "Come Charlie let's go. Thanks kids."

"No problem."

I went to follow them out the door when Sara pulled me back in.

"Come on guys," I said.

"Ann, did you honestly think we weren't gonna give it a go?"

"Why else do you think we got rid of Charlie and his grandpa?" Mell asked.

"But--" I started, glancing up at the mile high ceiling.

"Three words, Ann. It's our fantasy," Sara said. She grabbed a bottle from the side table and handed it to me.

"You're going first."

"Oh no." I waved my hands.

"Chug it." She pushed it closer to me.

I looked from Mell to Sara and back again. Sighing, I took the bottle. They cheered.

"But just a sip," I said and popped open the top. I took a small sip of the fizzy drink and felt it slide down my throat and make my stomach feel really weird. I handed the bottle to Mell and clutched my stomach. Something pulled from my navel and my feet left the floor.

"Holy--" I started as I lifted gracefully off the floor. I watched Mell take a sip and wipe her mouth on her sleeve. She passed it to Mike, who looked at it tentatively and then took a sip. Sara took it eagerly and brought it to her lips. Almost immediately after putting it down, she floated up with the rest of us.

"Okay, okay, this is really cool," I admitted spinning around, feeling light as a feather.

"Told ya so," Sara and Mell said in unison.

I stuck my tongue out at them and laughed, dipping into a flip. Mell stuck her arm straight over her head with her "Rock on" symbol in her fingers and soared up, her other hand on her hip.

"Hey, Mell wait for us!" Sara cried and pushed herself upward, going faster every minute.

Mike and I followed them laughing. This was so great. Gravity-deprived, full of candy and chocolate, and surrounded by three other grinning friends. We went higher and higher, joking and judging each other's flips and twirls. Actually, Mike won with his back flip.

The higher we floated, the faster we seemed to go. It was only until we were nearing the giant deathly-looking fan that I stopped laughing.

"Uh, guys.?" I stammered.

"What?" Mell was twirling around with Sara and they stopped to look at me.

I pointed up, too frightened to say a word. They raised their heads and we all tried desperately to grab the wall to keep from going higher. But the wall was too slippery and we weren't stopping.

"That's it. We're done for. It's our last fantasy," I whimpered. The fan looked so heavy and it whirred louder and louder. My fingers were inches away from the ceiling and the wind blew my hair into my face.

"HELP!" I screamed. Suddenly, I heard a very loud, distinct belch. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mell slowly sinking down.

"You guys! Burp!" she yelled, sinking lower. Sara let out a big one and slowly followed suit.

"Come on, Mike! Ann, do it!" they cried up at us. I tried, the fan was too close and I was really freaking out now. Then I saw Mike slowly going down.

"Ann, come on, it's your only chance!" they screamed at me. I took a deep breath and forced a burp. My stomach felt less light and I felt my fingers slipping down the wall as I sank.

"It's working!" I shouted down at them, grinning. They smiled up at me. I pulled myself down to my friends and took their hands. We floated down to the ground in one little circle, panting with relief. As my feet touched the floor again, I sighed, extremely tired.

"From now on we keep our feet on the ground."

They nodded in agreement.