A Light of New Acquaintance Chapter 6: Cracking the Candy, a charlie and the chocolate factory fanfic

Sorry this took!

My computer downstairs where I type fried, and had to be fixed before I could get the story on my flashdrive to stick up here on this one where I actually get the internet. Ohhh, so traumatizing. . .

MY DEAR BEAUTIFUL REVIEWERS:

Stickbug: I'm glad you think so! Perhaps ya liked it enough to maybe. . . come back again sometime and check up on it. . .:big puppy hopeful eyes: But, ya know. . . :cough: . . . only if ya wanted. Heheh.

Utou: YAAAAY! HOORAY FOR SOUND EFFECTS! Hhahahh . . . Oh! But I'm so sorry about the words stuck together; my computer has this spyware stuff, so I can't get to certain sites, and the site where I edit the chapters is one of them. -- I don't even know why, but something must have messed up when I posted it, and I couldn't check or change it. I've fixed it now. . . I think it's better, isn't it? And for the DVD:foams at mouth: Omg the deluxe edition is miiine. . . I keep it in a Ziploc baggy in a pillow case and carry it around with me where ever I go. . . :hugs pillow case and little bubble hearts comefloating up in the air above:

DemiDevil: That picture is sooo cute! I love the nerds, hahahah. . . And for Charlie running into the door. . . I've done that too. . . in public. . . It's kinda funny, really, cuz you think of how Wonka runs into the elevator, and you think Oh, no, not me too, but as soon as ya start to laugh, you realize people are staring . . . and you're still on the floor. :anime sweat drop:

Oracle Phoenix: (ohhh, your name is pretty. . .) Ohhh! An alert, how exciting for me! :does a dance: Yah, I'm always a little put off too when people make Dr. Wonka all evil and sinister and mUAHAHAHAH. :cough: It's like you wanna just go, you saw how he was when he and his son were together at the end of the movie, didn't you? I think he's simply,as you said, super strict and kind of detatched, just like Wonka, only in a different way. I don't think he's really all that bad. . . (am I the only one who noticed he got kinda teary eyed. . .?)

Thanks sooooo much for the reviews, you guys, you're awesome! And I'm SOOOOOO sorry this chapter took a while. . . I promise, I do my super ultra best to geteverything up as soon as I finishit (I usuallypost as soon as I put the finishing touches) But technology just doesn't seem to agree with me at times. . . :sigh:

Chapter 6

Cracking the Candy

Charlie shuffled down the sidewalk, past the minor crowds of the typical busy afternoon. He every once in a while would edge to the side to dodge the occasional patches of icy puddles that were strewn along the road. The snow that had covered the ground of the little town for so long had met its match as the warm climate moved in. Winter was finally ending.

And it couldn't have come sooner for this young feeble boy, who every day made his trip to and from school, along the icy roads and past the corner shops that made up a great population of his hometown. Charlie Bucket skipped over another slushy puddle of snow as it gasped its last breath and slowly diminished into nothing more than a sad cold lake of water. He breathed out, and noticed how different it was to not see a large cloud of breath in the air in front of him. He continued down the sidewalk, until he slowed by a little shop next to him, where they were displaying televisions in the window. One of them was turned to the news, and on the screen was a rather large boy in a blue striped shirt, sorting a long string of hotdogs at a table next to what must have been his father. Charlie could just make out the words of the boy through the glass.

". . . and I vas stook! Zo, I yell and pound of ze glass, zen up I vent!" He took a large bite of the energy bar he was holding. "Ze schocolate vas delishious." From next to him, an equally large woman wearing too much make up and a sweat band was on an exercise machine.

"You should not 'ave been eating ze schocolate in ze first place, Augustus! You should 'ave been with ze group," she panted. Augustus took another bite of his health bar. One of the reporters stuck their microphone close to the boy's chin.

"Augustus, vat happened aftervards that's made you and your mozer zo different about your health?" Augustus shrugged.

"I don't know! I zink I vent down anozer pipe! Lot's of pipes! I ended somevhere vhere I vas pulled out and my mozer got me!" His mother got off her treadmill and dabbed a cloth on her forehead.

"Augustus iz a good boy. He just likes 'iz schocolate." She smiled and ruffled her son's hair. Little flakes of fudge came falling out. Augustus continued to help his father with the meat sorting, and the reporters flashed their cameras and shouted questions.

Charlie turned and continued down the street. He stopped at the corner of the road and went to the right. The sign that read, "Maple Street" was still frozen solid from the frost, and it rigidly creaked in the wind as Charlie crossed it. He came to a stop in front of a large building. Holding up his head in the cold atmosphere, he took a long smell of the air, then exhaled a sigh. This was what he always did when he came in front of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

The boy took careful steps as he approached the building. He glanced around to see if there were many people nearby. There weren't, not that there usually were though. Most people stayed clear of the factory, really, with the exception of the whole golden ticket deal. Not only were people caught up in their own business and didn't very well have time to go lingering around the walls of some factory, but this particular factory was a bit of a legend. It had been claimed dead for nearly ten years, and had been pure mystery for the time after that. It was certainly an interesting member of their town, but also a rather uncanny one, and most people were at more ease when they stayed away from it.

But not Charlie Bucket. Not only had he walked past it twice almost every day of his life, but he'd always admired it. He wasn't afraid of it, and he'd stopped every day before he went back home, just to look at it. He'd look at the enormous Iron Gate that stood in front, and he'd observe its intricate design. He'd study its structure, the way it rounded at the corners and curved in a way that looked like someone had carved it out of a single block of clay. He'd pore over its colossal smoke chimneys, including the single smoke stack that came up from its center in one symmetrical swirl. He'd smell the sweet scented air around it, the air that always breathed of chocolate, and he would simply gaze at it in wonder.

It was quite a wonder, indeed.

Charlie approached the structure's gates gingerly. Once again, he made a quick notice that there were no people around him. With that, he walked to one side of the Iron Gates and to a smaller gated doorway next to them. He pulled out a little red card from his coat pocket and slid it down a discrete slot that rested beside the door. The slot made a quiet buzz, and Charlie heard a snap. He pushed on the gated doorway, opening it just enough for him to slip through, and re-closed it behind him with another iron click. The little Bucket walked up, past the delivery trucks on the sides of the walls, to the doors of the factory. They were old and battered, making it looked like no one had been through them in decades. Which was true, until just about a month ago.

He pushed one of them open. Inside was a series of life sized dolls, with a colourful backdrop of smiling clocks and spinning wheels, everything still and lifeless in the dark. Charlie began through the stage, down to the actual factory entrance hidden behind it. He wished Mr. Wonka would take the whole thing down; they gave Charlie the creeps. He reached the door at the end and pushed it open, revealing the long, dimly lit, red carpeted hallway that Charlie knew as the main corridor. He began his way along.

The main corridor was rather large, really, for a hallway. Its walls were a dark shade of bluish gray, and were spread farther out from the red carpet that went down its center. There was quite a lot of floor space in between, an equal pearl colour as the walls and with a texture pattern. Along the walls were black lamps that stood straight up, then bent rigidly down, leaving light to reflect immediately off the floor. The high ceiling arched at the top, and there were small circular windows that rowed on the crest of each wall. They left equally circular light shadows across from each other, which actually made it very nearly impossible to tell whether there were only windows on one wall and the others were simply light beams, or vice versa, or if there simply weren't any windows at all, and the light was projected from some other unknown source. That wouldn't be too odd, though. Not in this factory.

Charlie continued walking down, heading towards the end of the corridor and the little door at the end. He sighed and looked at the ceiling as he walked. It really was a lovely building, inside as well as out. The rib-like arches stretched out shyly past each other, stopping at the edge of the wall, where they met the windows. In the morning, the light that came through those windows barely lit up the room. But at this time in the early afternoon, there were enormous circles of light that shone through and onto the floor where Charlie walked, hitting him like a spotlight as he walked down the red carpet.

Charlie was nearly to the door at the end of the long hallway when he heard a small something behind him. Nothing enough to make him wonder too much, but nonetheless he turned to see behind him. There was nothing. He tilted his head and shrugged it off, then turned back around to face the d-

"Heh, Boo."

Charlie stumbled back with a little gasp, nearly falling backwards from the heavier-than-he book bag that was tugging on his back. He caught himself back up, and looked at the man in front of him with the long maroon frock coat and black top hat. Mr. Wonka set his multi-coloured cane firmly in the ground and leaned into it, folding both hands on its top and crossing his ankles, wearing a gleeful little smirk. Charlie caught his breath from the fright, and grinned softly, wide eyed.

"How did you . . .?" Wonka giggled, taking his weight off his cane and bending forward a little.

"Scared'dya."

"Yes," Charlie smiled softly. Wonka grinned, evidently proud of himself. "What are you doing out here?" Charlie asked. The chocolatier straightened up and gave the little boy in front of him an obvious-of-innocence look.

"To meet you back from school, of course." Charlie turned his head slightly.

"But you've never done that before . . ." Wonka grinned another one of his bright white smiles again, tossing his cane a little in the air and catching it lower down so he could carry it as he began to turn around.

"Then maybe it's high time I start," he said. Charlie followed him cautiously to the door. Wonka walked up to the tiny door, bent down slightly to fit in the hallway, and fished in his pocket. He pulled out his key ring, and began dribbling for the right one.

"Your mom said your dad said he told your mom he was going to start working a little later, and that you'd have to walk home by yourself more often." He grinned as he picked up a key, but eyed it, then looked a little confused and dropped it back down. He kept looking. "So," he continued in his usual spunky tone, "She was gonna come out here ta meet ya, but I told her I would, cuz she's always doing like a jillion things at once anyway." He found another key, stared it down, then pouted slightly and began searching once again.

"You didn't have to do that," Charlie said from behind him. Wonka kept fingering the keys, but swayed to face the little boy and grinned a little "I do what I want" grin.

"I wanted to," he noted in his still idiosyncratic voice. Charlie smiled. Wonka looked sharply back at his key ring. "And if I could just find the gosh darned key so we could tell your mom I-" He cut off as a little arm slid in front of him and stuck a key into the door, cracking it open. He glanced down at Charlie, who was hiding a stubborn grin. ". . . gotcha," he finished, then made a face and looked at the key Charlie was holding. "How'd you get that?" he asked. Charlie smiled.

"You gave it to me," he reminded him. Wonka glanced to the left and frowned.

"Oh . . . yah." He half lid his eyes properly and turned to face the door, gently pushing it open, revealing the Chocolate Room and all its glory. The two stepped in, pausing for a moment to soak in their settings, then started their way to the crooked little house in the center, Charlie just behind Wonka, as always. The chocolatier continued talking to the boy behind him, slightly turning his head as if the sound waves wouldn't be able to make their way to Charlie's ears if he didn't.

". . . But she'll be glad ta hear you got here alright by yourself," he tilted his head to the side with amused confusion. "She gave me a bunch of directions about what to do when I found you. I don't remember them, but she really wanted you to get back okay. . . It sounded like she thought I was gonna eat you or something when I found you if she didn't tell me otherwise. . ." he giggled shortly as they reached the cottage door. Wonka rapped his customary three times. Charlie looked up at him and smiled.

"Mr. Wonka, you can just come in," he laughed softly as he went into the house. Wonka looked through the doorway where Charlie had just gone through, rather puzzled, then carefully made his way in behind him, taking off his hat as always. "Mum?" Charlie called. Mrs. Bucket emerged from behind a cabinet in the kitchen. Charlie trotted up to her and gave her a hug.

"Oh, hello dear. Did you make it home alright then?" Charlie nodded. Mrs. Buckets smiled up to Wonka, who was still standing in the doorway. "And thank you for meeting up with him, Mr. Wonka, it was quite a load off my shoulders." Wonka, who'd been looking at the design on their welcome mat, looked up and grinned.

"Oh! Yah, sure thing Mrs. B.," he said, then looked over at Charlie and grinned wildly. "Come on, Charlie! Let's go! Let's go let's go let's go let's go!" he said, doing a funny little jig to a beat only he seemed to hear. Charlie quickly pecked his mother on the cheek.

"Bye, mum!" he said as he scurried over to the door (Wonka was already out of sight, having gallomped somewhere into the Chocolate Room.) His mother waved and picked up some dishes from the table.

"Oh alright darling. I'll see you tonight!" she said as her son rushed out the door. She heard a distant "Kay!", then quickly added, "A-and be back on time for supper!"

Charlie ran out to the Chocolate Room to find where Mr. Wonka had gone. The chocolatier was out in the middle of the room, and he stuck his hand much higher in the air than needed to be and waved. Charlie jogged up to him, and the man began walking towards the elevator.

"What's the rush, Mr. Wonka?" he asked. Wonka widened his eyes and stuck his hand in the air.

"Rush? There's no rush! I'm just bored! Been bored all day! Booo-ored!" he whined, bending his knees in a phony threatening collapse. He sounded like a child who wants a cookie but isn't allowed one. Charlie's steps faltered and he laughed as he tried to catch up again.

"Why?" he giggled, "You have an enormous chocolate factory that you said yourself you haven't even seen the whole of yet." When they arrived at the elevator doors, Wonka tapped the call button with the back of his finger. He pouted and tilted his head.

"Yah, but it's no fun by myself," he said in dismay as they slid open. The two stepped in and Charlie smiled. Wonka grinned brightly again and bent down to look at the Charlie-level part of the button panel. "Now . . . where shall we go . . ." He knit his brow and set a gloved finger on his lips, his other arm behind his back, holding his cane. Charlie looked at the buttons as well. He'd just passed the Pee Wee Thai Chi Room when he ran across one that caught his eye. He turned up to Wonka.

"Mr. Wonka, what's the square candy room?" Wonka gave him a peculiar look, and Charlie pointed to the button. The chocolatier's eyes lit up.

"Oohhhhh! Lemme show you!" He punched the button swiftly and almost immediately the lift lurched to the right, made a drop, then began zooming upwards. The two caught their balance (or tried to) as the elevator swerved a few times, then stopped abruptly. Charlie put his hand against the wall for support. Wonka straightened his hat. "Ah kay, here we are!" he announced with a grin, and slipped out just as the doors opened. They entered a room with a long table. On the table were little sugar cubes, all in rows. Each one had a funny little face painted on the front, like a sleeping doll. Charlie tilted his head to the side; they were odd little things. Wonka, however, beamed.

"There we are!" he said as he rested he hands on the swirly ball top of his cane, "My square sweets that look round!" Charlie blinked, then looked back up to Wonka.

"Round?" Charlie repeated.

"Yup." Charlie looked back to the candies.

"But, Mr. Wonka," he began blankly, rather unsure of what it was really even supposed to mean, "They seem rather . . . square . . ." Wonka held his head up in a dignified manner as he looked at the candies.

"But they are square, of course they're square, I never said they weren't." Charlie looked up to him again, puzzled. Wonka kept his head straight, but glanced out the corner of his eye to Charlie, a mischievous smile at his lips. Charlie grinned.

"Just show me," he said with a laugh. He was beginning to know the chocolatier far too well for this. Wonka grinned and tossed his cane a little in the air, catching it and tapping it on the floor twice.

Clunk

Gradually, all the little candies on the table opened their little eyes like they'd been asleep (Charlie thought he even heard a couple yawning) and began to look around the room to see what had made he noise. Charlie grinned. Wonka looked back down at Charlie, nodding delightedly, and Charlie looked back up.

"Square candies that look round," he confirmed, and the man next to him smiled with a bright gleam.

"Yah, I know!" He paused, then suddenly he spun around. "Come on!" he said, as he began to walk around the tables. Charlie quickly followed. "There's more important rooms down this hallway to see!" The two got to the other side, and Wonka turned back around to Charlie and the candies. He bent down a little. "Not to mention, these guys get kinda cranky when ya wake 'em." He nodded, then turned and walked out of the room. Charlie gave one more look at the little candies as they watched him leave. Some had already fallen back asleep. Wonka led Charlie into the hallway that connected from the square candies room. He shut it behind them, and began pulling out his key ring.

The hallway they were in was a light pink, with a white rug going down the center and little circular lights in the ceiling. It was very long; all of the halls Charlie had seen in the factory so far were. Some of the doors to the left Charlie could see were, "FIZZY LIFTING DRINKS," "COWS THAT GIVE CHOCOLATE MILK," "HOT ICE CREAM FOR COLD DAYS". . . He remembered Grandpa Joe telling him about Wonka's ice cream that never melts, and thinking it was impossible. But Charlie was beginning to seriously believe something he'd been told a while back by a very reliable source:

Nothing was impossible.

He turned back to Wonka, who was locking the door.

"Why do you keep it locked if the only other people that might go in are the Oompa Loompas?" he asked him. Wonka turned around as he was re-pocketing his key ring.

"Well I dunno about you," he said as he put away his key and patted the coat pocket he'd placed them in, then started down the hallway to the right. "But I wouldn't want those little boogers getting out at night while I'm asleep. I could wake up with sixteen hanging from my hair, one on each ear, and some of the little ones in back dangling from the tip of my nose!" He set it finger on his nose, following it and going a bit crossed eyed. He blinked, then kept going down the hallway. Charlie made a serious effort to keep up.

They began passing some rooms, and Charlie would glance in the window to see what was going on inside. They passed a room called "MARSHMALLOW KITTENS". Inside were dozens of those little marshmallows you get on Easter, all shaped like cats, all scampering about. There were toys for them to play with, Charlie saw. They had a syrup dispenser that a few of the kittens were licking at, and little balls of strawberry yarn, and sugar nip over in the corner. Charlie and Wonka kept walking.

They slowed by another room. Inside was a greenhouse, and Oompa Loompas were scattered here and there, watering plants and writing things down in notepads. The only thing that was growing, though, was an oddly shaped fruit. Some were long and slender with a purple skin, and others were rather large and yellow, with lots of little berries on them, and the rest were an odd mixture of both, yellowing on one side and purpling on the other. The door read "RASPBERRY BANANAS".

"Ya know when you look on a candy and it says stuff like, "Strawberry-watermelon?" asked Wonka suddenly, glancing back at Charlie. Charlie nodded. Wonka swatted his hand in the air and made a "Phbsshh" sound. "All they do is put a watermelon and a strawberry together in a blender," he said matter-of-factly. Charlie wasn't sure that was exactly how it worked, but he supposed Wonka would know better than he. "The only real way ta do that stuff is that," he said, pointing inside the room. He grinned. "That's where we cross breed the bananas and

raspberries. . ." He put a finger to his chin and looked at the ceiling. "I was thinking about calling them something more fun, though . . . like raspbananas, or banasberries!" He looked down at Charlie excitedly, and the boy grinned and nodded.

"Banasberries," agreed Charlie. Wonka straightened back up, beginning to walk again.

"Banasberries, I think . . ." Charlie heard him murmur to himself as they carried on. They began passing other rooms. They passed "SCRATCH AND SNIFF" and "CARAMEL SCRAPPLES" and "PUPPY DOG TAILS" and "ORANGES: NOT ONLY FRUIT" and "TWISTY THINGS" and "LONG CRUST SHORTCAKE" and-

Suddenly Charlie ran into the back of Mr. Wonka for perhaps the seventh time since he'd moved into the factory. He rubbed his nose, and noticed Wonka glance back and repress a laugh. The chocolatier bent down, and Charlie looked around him to see an Oompa Loompa in a white rubber jumpsuit beckon the man closer. Willy leaned in, and the little worker put his hand next to his mouth and began whispering something. Wonka glanced around the room as he listened, and Charlie watched curiously.

Spspspspsss.

"Uhuh . . ."

Spspspspss. . .

"Oh dear-"

Spspspspspssss . . .

"No!" The Oompa Loompa nodded urgently, and Wonka stood back up. "Well, then something must be done!" He began down the hall where they'd come from, and waved for Charlie to follow. "Come on, my dear boy, we haven't a moment to loose!" Charlie gave a quick little wave to the Oompa Loompa and scurried behind the chocolatier.

"What is it, Mr. Wonka?" Wonka came to the door at the end of the hallway, and Charlie was interested to see it opened up into the Inventing Room. He followed Wonka in as the man began his way through the machines.

"Some of the Oompa Loompas working in the underground mine have come across a wall they can't get through," he said as he came to the entrance of the Inventing Room and swung it open. "Which kinda isn't good, cuz if they don't keep the tunnel going the way it started, the rocks will all form together and won't break apart." He started down the side path in front of Charlie.

"What mine?"

"Why the one underground, of course!" Charlie was still puzzled, and, as if sensing this, the man in front of him turned around. He gave a peculiar look. "You mean I haven't showed you the mine?" Charlie shook his head, and Willy Wonka lightly tapped the side of his own, turning back around. "Well I don't know what's wrong with me! I guess it's time I show you now, then." Charlie smiled and carefully stepped over the scattered puddles of chocolate on the path.

"I'm sure there are still quite a few things I haven't seen, Mr. Wonka." Wonka laughed and nodded furiously. Charlie noticed a few passing rooms.

"SCRATCHING DEPARTMENT"

"PROJECTION ROOM"

"ALL THE MINTS: SPEARMINT, DOUBLEMINT, LINAMINT."

Suddenly Wonka came to a halt, and turned to face the wall. The door read, "ROCK CANDY MINE" and Charlie understood. He would really need to use his imagination to keep up with all the things inside the factory. Wonka pulled out his key ring and immediately singled out a key, sticking it in the door and unlocking it with a loud, "Click". Charlie wondered why it had taken him so long to find the key to the Nut Room when Veruca Salt was being bad-nut tested by the squirrels on the other side; he seemed to know the rest of the rooms' keys fairly well. In fact, he seemed to find the key right away when he was letting Mr. Salt through the gate, after his daughter had been dropped down the garbage chute. Sometimes Charlie couldn't help but wonder. . .

They stepped inside, but there wasn't a mine to be seen. Instead, there was an elevator shaft to the right, and a little coat closet to the left. Wonka went up to the coat rack, pulling off a large silver coat and laying it over his arm, then pulling out a smaller silver coat and tossing it to Charlie. It landed on the boy's head.

"Go on and put that on, it's pretty chilly down there," Wonka said as he began slipping on his. The boy took the cover up and looked at it; it was just his size. He looked up at the chocolatier.

"Where'd this come from?" Wonka was trying to figure out a way to slip into his sleeves without having to put down his cane. He glanced over at Charlie.

"An exotic breed of sheep from Mongolia." Charlie giggled.

"I mean why is it my size?" Wonka had managed to get one arm in, and looked up at Charlie curiously.

"I made it for you," he said in a tone like it was obvious, and he wasn't sure why the boy was asking. Charlie looked back down at the coat. "Everything you're gonna need in the factory is made or being made, ya know. We can't go around with you without a coat for the Candy Mine or goggles for the Television Room or a timer for the Pouting Corner!" he continued.

Charlie looked at his coat again, then pulled it on over himself, zipping up the front. He looked over and tried not to laugh as Wonka nearly fell over attempting to put his arm through the other sleeve. He went up behind the chocolatier and tugged the back down so his arm went in properly. Wonka giggled quietly and pulled up the zipper, trying to look more dignified.

"Thanks. . ." He picked up a black hard hat from the coat hanger, and plopped it on Charlie's head. It was a too big, and fell over his eyes. He pushed it back up in a cute little way as Wonka removed his top hat, placing it on the peg, and set on a black safety one as well. He then turned to face the elevator shaft and pushed a big red button next to it. There was a craning sound from below as a little lift appeared and the doors slid open.

The two walked in, and Charlie felt it odd to see only two buttons on the wall: up and down. Wonka pressed the one that had a large arrow pointing down, and sure enough, the pulley obeyed its command and shivered downwards. It didn't take long for them to reach their destination, and soon the doors opened to reveal a large gaping cavern, filled with dozens of Oompa Loompas wearing silver jumpsuits and hard hats, all picking and digging away at the rocks around them.

The place was utterly beautiful. The entire cave was walled with multiple coloured crystals, and with a single speck of light through one, there were rainbows wherever you looked. Wonka stepped out of the lift and two Oompa Loompas scurried up to meet him. One tugged on his pant leg and the other pointed urgently down one of the tunnels. Wonka followed their lead, and Charlie followed his.

They stopped at a dead end, where they were multiple workers standing still around wheelbarrows of rock candy. The Oompa Loompa holding onto Wonka's sleeve let go and pointed at the wall in front of them. Sure enough, it looked rather solid, and had little chunks out of its bottom where some of the miners had attempted to crack it. Wonka knit his brow and approached it, leaning forward and inspecting it with both hands behind his back. He stood back up and nodded seriously, turning back around to face Charlie.

"It's a wall alright," he said scientifically. Charlie looked up at him, and Wonka looked back down, his forehead still set thoughtfully. As if he'd read the answer on Charlie's little nose, he suddenly stuck up a finger. There was a pause from his epiphany, until he finally spun back to face the wall. "Com'ere," he said as he gently knocked Charlie's shoulder like he usually did when he wanted the boy to do something. He walked down a little tunnel, and Charlie wasn't sure why until they reached the end and he realized it curved around to the other side of the wall they'd been at. Wonka went up to the wall, and looked around at it, his head going wherever his eyes did. Suddenly he spun around, and looked rather worried. Charlie looked at him curiously. The chocolatier took a step forward and stopped.

"Charlie. . ." he began, looking uncertain. ". . . Are you good with math?" Charlie was rather confused by the man's question, but he thought about it, then nodded.

"I usually get A's at school." Wonka nodded, paused, then suddenly reached into his coat and pulled out a measuring tape. He handed it to Charlie, and virtually dragged him up to the wall. He took out a pencil from his inside coat pocket, looked at the rock for a moment, then made two marks on it. He pointed, and looked at Charlie.

"Kay. . . er, measure from there to there. . ." Charlie went up and measured. Before he could ask, a paper pad was stuck in front of his face. He took it and wrote down the measurements. Wonka made two more marks. ". . . There to there?" Charlie recorded. Wonka nodded, and made three more marks. "Kay there, ta there, ta . . . there. . ." After Charlie had measured, Wonka turned around. He shut his eyes and put his hand on his forehead; it looked like he was reading the future.

"Kay, er. . . add the first two measurements together. . ." Charlie added. ". . . and divide. . ." Charlie divided. Wonka gave him a few more simple instructions, then spun around. ". . . Done?" Charlie nodded, and handed the pad to the chocolatier. He took it, looked at it for a moment, then grinned suddenly and walked up to the wall. "Then right. . ." he looked at the paper, then jabbed his finger on the wall. "Here." Charlie looked at the spot.

"What's there?" Wonka spun back around.

"Blblblblbl!" A little Oompa Loompa came out of a tunnel and stood attention. Wonka grinned and bent down, pointing to the wall. He looked back and nodded, and the Oompa Loompa nodded back, heading over to the wall. Wonka got up excitedly and scurried over to Charlie. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Kay!" he called to the worker by the wall, and the little man picked up his chisel, aimed at the point Wonka had marked out, then swung at it with speed.

There was a strident crack, and a long fracture began to grow up the wall. Charlie was watching, when Wonka suddenly grabbed his sleeve again and dragged him down the tunnel they'd come from. They ended up back in front of the wall where all the tiny miners were waiting for instruction. Wonka grinned, and made a gleeful gesture with his hand to go on. They nodded began digging at the wall, which broke off with ease. One of the Oompa Loompas that had led the chocolatier and his heir down this way came up in front of Wonka and crossed his arms across his chest. Wonka did the same, and the worker went back to mining.

"Good job, my dear boy," Wonka said, still grinning at the progress the workers were all making. Charlie looked up.

". . . Me?" Wonka looked down at him.

"Yah! Without your calculations, we'd have never been able to break through that sucker!" Charlie looked back at the wall.

". . . Couldn't you have done it, Mr. Wonka?" Wonka made a face.

"I hate math. . ." Charlie smiled, and looked up. The chocolatier suddenly beamed.

"Hey!" He paused, still grinning, like he was working out his idea in his head, then abruptly knocked Charlie on the shoulder (again). Charlie stumbled back and laughed. "Hey, ya wanna explore?" Charlie pushed up his hard hat, which had slid forward again, back on his forehead, and nodded with a smile. Wonka nodded sideways down one tunnel. "Come on. . ."

They started down the dark passageway, looking up at the intricate patterns the rocks had. It was just like a real cavern you'd want to visit over summer vacation, crystals embedded in the walls, sharp rock drops hanging from the ceiling. Charlie wondered if there were sleeping candy bats nestled in between the cracks of the walls. The clunk of Wonka's cane echoed around them as they walked.

"I haven't been down here in a long time," he noted as they went down. "Sure has gotten bigger. . ." They passed the Oompa Loompas digging and excavating the walls around them, then got to a somewhat abandoned area of the mine. Wonka stopped. "Oh! This must be the area they've already hollowed out!" he said with delight. There were channels and tunnels going out of the circular region of the mine. They were all very dark, and very mysterious. Charlie looked up and Wonka got a mischievous grin on his face, then flicked on the light on his hat. He nodded towards one of the passageways, and Charlie nodded happily, flipping on his helmet light as well as they started in . . .

". . . the jelly beanstalks. That way they'll sprout this spring and grow over the summer." Charlie climbed up onto a large rock, and stood to see his view. Wonka was over by a crystalline design, and nodded.

"Yah . . . cuz they'd have never jellified if we hadn't," he agreed. From up on top his rock, Charlie picked up a pebble from the ground and skipped it across a little pool of water next to him. Wonka climbed his way up to a little rock that hung over the wall. He sat down and dangled his legs over the side. "What do you think about little candy potted plants?" he asked, squinting slightly with thought. Charlie looked over at him and smiled.

"That you plant in chocolate soil," he replied. Wonka grinned and nodded.

"Yah, and they can be sunflowers and posies and roses and all kinds of stuff!" Charlie nodded as well, then suddenly grinned brightly, and stepped onto a lower rock.

"What about little candy Christmas trees?" he proposed. Wonka's eyes lit up with delight.

"Yaaaaahh! And they grow their own candy ornaments! And they're only as big as . . . they're like, just this big." He slid off from his seat and bent down, setting his hand up about a foot from the ground. Charlie smiled. He was glad Willy Wonka remembered things like holidays. The man wasn't completely oblivious from the world. Charlie picked up another little rock and tossed it into the water. It skipped three times then sank. Wonka, who'd been leaning against the wall, knit his brow. He paused.

". . . How do you do that?" he asked suddenly, looking at the water where Charlie had tossed the stone. Charlie looked over at him and tilted his head.

"What?"

"That." Wonka made a throwing gesture, then bounced his hand a little and pointed at the water. "That." Charlie smiled.

"You just. . ." He picked up a rock, and inspected it. ". . . Throw it. Like a Frisbee." Wonka looked from Charlie to the water uncertainly. Charlie hopped down from his rock to the ground.

"Here. . ." he started to Wonka, who nervously took a step back, wondering what the boy was going to do. Charlie picked up a pebble from the ground, and held it up in front of both of them. "It has to be flat," he said and glanced up at Wonka, who was looking at the rock curiously. "It helps if it's round, and you just . . . spin it as you throw it." He threw the rock at the water and it skipped a couple times. "See?" Wonka tilted his head slightly. Charlie picked up another rock, brushed it off, and handed it to him. "Try it with this one." Wonka looked at the rock, then to Charlie, then to the rock, and hesitantly took it. He twisted his hand a little, like he was screwing on a cap backwards, aimed at nothing in particular, and tossed it, the rest of his body swaying a little with his arm. It skipped in the water twice. Wonka gasped and widened his eyes.

"Oh, weird." Charlie giggled, and Wonka bent down then sprung back up with another rock. He looked it over. "Why does it have to be flat?" Charlie shrugged and picked up a pebble.

"I don't know. That's just the only way it works." He skipped his own, then went over and climbed back up on his original rock. Wonka threw his pebble, watched it skip with a little grin, and giggled.

"That's really weird. . ." He went back to the wall behind him, scaled the side (which had been surprising Charlie quite a bit, since the chocolatier insisted on going about with a cane) back to his peak. He sat down and dangled his legs from the edge again. Charlie was looking around the ceiling of the cove they were in. Wonka continued to swing his legs, and accidentally kicked off a rock from the edge. It hit the floor, bounced a few times and fell into the water with a PLOP! The walls answered back with a

Plop. . .

Plop. . . . . .

The two looked at the faraway ceiling. Wonka grinned.

"Hello . . .?" he said quietly, but just loud enough for the walls to hear.

Hello. . .

Hello. . . . . .

Charlie smiled, and stood up.

"Hello!" he said a little louder.

Hello! . . .

Hello! . . . . . .

Wonka giggled and stood up as well. He cupped his mouth.

"MUMBLER!"

MUMBLER. . .

MUMBLER. . . . .

Charlie laughed, and the walls laughed back. Then there was a gentle rumble, and a few rocks fell from the ceiling. It stopped. Charlie and Wonka looked at the ceiling, then to each other wide eyed and grinned.

"Maybe we shouldn't do that . . ." Wonka giggled quietly. Charlie smiled and nodded back, carefully climbing down from his rock. However, he slipped just a bit, and a chunk of rock from the boulder went tumbling into the water below. It splashed over the edge and Wonka jumped back, hitting his head on the peak above him.

"Ouch!"

Ouch . . .

Ouch . . . . . . . . .

A steady rumble grew from the ceiling. Rocks began to fall, and Charlie looked over to Wonka who was standing with his hand on his head where he'd hit it, looking up at the cavern roof with dismay.

"Oh snap."

Author's Notes: Yes, this one took a bit longer to post, but at least I left ya with a little cliff hanger, eh?

I'm not Canadian.

Augustus's aftermath: I really didn't think I needed to put that much, because there wasn't a lot to learn about what happened afterwards. Not only was Augustus the first to go, but he really didn't seem that different when he was leaving. His mother sort of did, and I thought if she put him on a . . . er . . . 'healthier' diet, he'd go along with it. Energy bars can be pretty good, after all.

"Heh, Boo.": Haaaaaaaaaaaahahahahah . . . I crack myself up. This reminded me of when the song ended (God I love that song) Willy Wonka is suddenly just there at the end of the line next to Mr. Salt clapping and giggling and going, "Wasn't that just magnificent!" And everyone is looking at him like, "Where the flip did you come from?" Hahahhhahh . . .

He's magic.

The Square Candy Room: That was fun. I wish we'd seen it on the tour, but since we didn't, I had the lovely opportunity to play with the matter.

"I hate math. . .": Wonka knows his math, alright? He'd kinda have to in order to make all those scientific experimentations and calculations come out correctly. But, seriously, who wants to spend their time doing math? Gross . . .

Chapter 7 Preview: Uh oh, your first cliff hanger! What to do, what to do? Quick, run around and panic! RUN! What happened to Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka? Are they stuck? Are they dead? Kay well, probably not, but who's to know really? Oh, the suspense is killing me . . .