Chapter 2: Wonka's Plan
"I can't believe that it's come to this time already," Mr. Wonka told his psychiatrist Oompa-Loompa as he was laying on his red velvet couch in the Therapy Hall. "Has it really been forty years? As you know, back then, I was looking for an heir to the factory, and I chose Charlie as the one...and now he needs an heir as well! Is it really the right time? But then again, I was looking for an heir when I was forty-two, and Charlie is fifty-three, so he's doing this eleven years later than I did. How have we reached this point in our lives? Charlie's parents are getting old as well, just like me and him, and even though they're healthy at the moment, who knows what the future could bring? I need to solve this problem, and fast! But the thing is, I have no idea as to exactly how to do so."
As Willy was reciting his internal struggles, the psychiatrist Oompa-Loompa was taking down notes on a pad of paper. Mr. Wonka gasped dramatically, rising up from his couch.
"That's it!" Mr. Wonka exclaimed. "Charlie and I will host another Golden Ticket contest, just like I did forty years ago!" He smiled at his psychiatrist Oompa-Loompa and said, "You're very good!"
The Oompa-Loompa removed his glasses and nodded slowly up and down in agreement.
One hour later, Mr. Wonka found his heir in front of the Goose Room. He was watching as groups of Oompa-Loompas stood on stools in front of tables, polishing each egg until it was shining as bright as a star, where it would then be put into a shopping cart, ready to be transferred around the world.
"Where'd your parents go, Charlie?" Mr. Wonka asked as he entered the room with him and began shaking in an excited manner.
"Oh, Mother's cooking dinner," Charlie explained. "A nice roast, complete with mashed potatoes, corn, and carrots. Father's out helping some of the Oompa-Loompas check on the factory's machinery. Why, Mr. Wonka?"
"I had a talk with my psychiatrist Oompa-Loompa," the chocolatier said excitedly, "and I thought of a plan to find our new heir!"
"Mr. Wonka," Charlie smiled, "it makes me so happy to see you smiling again. What plan have you come up with?"
"Well think about it, Charlie," said Mr. Wonka, crossing his arms. "How did you become my heir?"
"You sent out five Golden Tickets, and whoever behaved the best on the tour would be the winner," Charlie replied.
"Exactly!" Mr. Wonka smiled. "We could host a second Golden Ticket contest together, just like what I did forty years ago! However, I think to be extra sure, we should send out seven Golden Tickets instead of five, because with how the world has changed since the last contest, who knows if we'll get more brats than before? I certainly wouldn't want to imagine that."
"That's a great idea, Mr. Wonka!" Charlie exclaimed. "I'll go tell my parents the good news, and tonight, we'll go make the new Golden Tickets together!"
"What a great idea!" said Mr. Wonka, gripping his heir's back excitedly. As the two of them turned to leave the Goose Room, Mr. Wonka turned his head to watch one of the Golden Eggs travelling down various contraptions onto a purple cushion.
Ding!
The meter to one of Mr. Wonka's Eggdicators beeped, and an Oompa-Loompa instinctively took it off of the Eggdicator in order to begin polishing it. A few seconds later, yet another Egg went down the chute, and it ringed "Good" as well. Without a second thought, Mr. Wonka left the Goose Room with his heir to tell Charlie's parents the good news, closing the door behind him.
Charlie, with Mr. Wonka's help, just finished helping his parents setting the table for dinner, and the four of them were sitting down and getting ready to eat.
"Dinner sure smells really good tonight, Mother!" Charlie smiled, taking a whiff of the air around him.
"Thank you so much, Charlie!" Mrs. Bucket smiled. "That means a lot coming from you!"
"You're welcome," smiled Charlie as they all began to eat the roast that she had prepared.
"This is really good!" smiled Mr. Wonka, echoing what had recently happened in the Therapy Hall, as the chocolatier took a bite of his roast, placing some mashed potatoes and corn on top of it.
"Thanks so much, Willy," Mrs. Bucket smiled.
"Looks like another successful dinner as always, my love!" Mr. Bucket smiled, taking a bite of his carrots, then the two leaned in for a kiss. After he kissed his wife, Mr. Bucket turned to look at Charlie. "Didn't you say that you and Willy had something to tell us, son?"
"That's right!" Charlie said, suddenly remembering. "Thanks for reminding me, Father! Anyways, me and Willy decided that the best course of action to finding a new heir would be doing a Golden Ticket contest, just like he did forty years ago! Whoever is left at the end of the tour will become our heir!"
"That's a great idea!" Mrs. Bucket said enthusiastically. "I know that you two will do just fine!"
"You have our full support!" Mr. Bucket smiled.
"Thank you so much, Mother and Father!" Charlie said happily. "Now, me and Willy have to get the Tickets ready, so that we can get the announcement out tomorrow!"
As they got up from their chairs, putting their dishes into the sink, Mr. and Mrs. Bucket waved and called out, "Good luck!" Charlie smiled and waved back, and so did Willy, although he was much shyer in tone.
Willy Wonka and Charlie walked over to an area in the Chocolate Room, where Mr. Wonka pressed a panel in the wall. A segment of the wall moved to the side, revealing the Great Glass Elevator.
"Where are we going, Mr. Wonka?" Charlie asked curiously.
"To the Rock Candy Mine, of course!" said Mr. Wonka enthusiastically. "That is where I got the gold for your Ticket forty years ago, after all."
Echoing his previous statement, the chocolatier looked around the Elevator until he found the button that he was looking for.
"Ah, here we are!" smiled Mr. Wonka, pressing a button that said, "ROCK CANDY MINE."
Immediately after he pressed it, the Elevator went left, then suddenly stopped, and began travelling downwards at the most tremendous speed.
"It certainly has been a while, hasn't it, Mr. Wonka?" Charlie said.
"Since what, Charlie?" Mr. Wonka asked.
"Since I've had the factory," he answered. "You know...Joe...Josephine...George...Georgina…"
"Wilbur," Mr. Wonka added sadly, his head hanging down low. "Dad…"
"But there's one thing that I do know," Charlie smiled, attempting to lift the mood.
"And what's that, my dear boy?" the chocolatier asked.
"I know that they'd be very proud of our efforts in creating brand new candies for people all over the world to enjoy," Charlie smiled.
"By golly, you're right!" Mr. Wonka grinned. "You always know the right things to say, Charlie! Now, we mustn't keep talking, as we're almost at our destination!"
Sure enough, about two minutes later, the Great Glass Elevator screeched to a halt in the Rock Candy Mine, one of the deepest areas in the entire factory. Various Oompa-Loompas were scattered throughout, all of them wearing hard hats and thick gloves, and they were using objects like pneumatic drills and pickaxes in order to loosen the candy from the mine, then placing them onto railway carts attached to a train track, where they were taken into a pitch-black tunnel.
"If it's seven Tickets we're after," Mr. Wonka said, walking by a bunch of pegs, as well as a bin, and taking a hard hat and pair of gloves and putting them on himself, then giving the same to Charlie, "then we need seven golden nuggets!"
"Let's do this!" Charlie smiled.
Both Charlie and Mr. Wonka took a pickaxe each and began hitting at the rock candy. About ten minutes later, Charlie saw a glimmer, and he realized what he had found.
"Mr. Wonka!" he called out. "I think I struck gold!"
"What's that?!" Mr. Wonka exclaimed. "With all these drills, it sounds like you're mumbling!"
"I said, I struck gold!" Charlie repeated, waving the gold nugget around.
"Great job, Charlie!" said Mr. Wonka. "Only six more remaining!"
Once the duo finally obtained the necessary amount of gold, they headed over to the factory's metalworking shop, where they would pound each nugget into a thin sheet by using various tools, such as iron hammers and anvils. Next, the sheets were sent through a printer, where the words, "GOLDEN TICKET" were printed on one side, followed by the instructions regarding the tour on the other. After that, Charlie and Mr. Wonka placed each Ticket on top of seven ordinary Wonka Bars, watching as the bars moved down a conveyor belt towards the packaging department.
Mr. Wonka and Charlie left the room, saying nothing as the machinery finished their work. Starting with the inner foil, the machinery would wrap around each Wonka Bar (whether or not it contained a Golden Ticket), and then the outer paper. After that, the bars advanced towards rows upon rows of slides, where they would get emptied into rows of shipping containers. They would then be sealed before being addressed and loaded into one of several, bright red trucks, all ready to get delivered to airports all over the world. Who would find the Tickets? Only time would tell...
Author's Note: I do hope that you're enjoying my rewrite so far! Actually, one reason why I decided to publish it today, rather than yesterday, is because today is my birthday! And while the first two chapters may have taken inspiration from the original, following chapters will include many more brand-new ideas in order to differentiate it from Next in Line. What do you think so far, and how does it compare? I'm not asking this because I'm trying to outclass the original story, but rather, I ask this to see how I could improve, and what you all are liking so far about my rewrite as well. Feel free to review and leave your thoughts, and stay tuned for an update to this story very soon, as well as other updates for Charlie's Chocolatey Adventure!
And as a fun fact, the name of the old Oompa-Loompa chief, Theo Kekoa, comes from theobromine, a chemical in chocolate (thank MysteriousMaker1185 for telling me that), and I used the Hawaiian surname Kekoa because it's spelled similar to the word "cocoa." :P It also means "the brave one/the warrior", which could fit. I was going to use Sweet Koko as an A Box of Chocolates reference, but I opted for a different name. The name Jasir means "courageous/strong", which I echoed with his pep talks in cheering up the other Oompa-Loompas after Theo's death.
With those facts out of the way, stay tuned for updates to this story! I'm having so much fun with it, and I'm hoping that you're looking forward to the next chapter as much as I am.
Until then,
Gabe S. :)
