Chapter 5 – Three Lucky Winners
The days flew by so fast, until finally, the first ticket was found by a glutton in Germany.
Charlie and Isabelle read all about him on the FreeWeb in the library. The short video showed Augustus Gloop and his proud family, standing outside their Butcher's shop in Germany. Augustus, with chocolate smeared all over his face, was proudly holding his Golden Ticket.
"Look Izzy, the ticket is missing a corner. It looks like he bit it off." Charlie laughed and pointed at the image in front of him.
The media was absolutely saturated with Wonka stories now that the contest was proven genuine. Older archive footage of the chocolatier began to circulate. T-shirts and other merchandise began appearing everywhere. The world had exploded with what the media cleverly named 'Wonka Mania'. The catchy headline quickly went viral and Wonka bars sold out within seconds all around the world.
There were even reports from the Middle East of poor people trading goats for chocolate.
Isabelle scrunched up her face in disgust and threw down the iPage she had been reading in the staff room.
"Seriously, who would do that?" She asked her colleague Alex.
"Do what?" Alex replied in confusion.
"Trade a goat for some chocolate bars. That goat would have so many uses for a poorer person. It gives milk to drink and sell or you could make and sell cheese. A goat is far more valuable than a few chocolate bars and a factory tour." Isabelle put her face in her hands. "I just don't understand people."
Alex stared at her in utter shock from across the table. "Do you have any idea just how famous and rich Willy Wonka is?" He asked. "If you win a golden ticket you become famous too. Everyone will know your name, just like that fat kid Augustus Gloop.
Everyone knows all about him and his family. If you win a ticket, you can sell your story anywhere in the world and get rich and famous. You can go on talk shows and basically become a celebrity. You would get invited to so many events and get sponsored by so many companies to promote their stuff."
Isabelle stared blankly at her colleague as he became more and more exited. "Just think about the possibilities." Alex continued. "Remember the news yesterday? It was on tv. Someone offered the Gloop kid $1 million for the ticket. Finding a golden ticket will seriously make you rich. You don't even have to walk into that stupid factory."
Alex stood up. "I'm buying as many Wonka bars as I can find. It's worth the investment."
"But, what about meeting Willy Wonka and touring the factory?" Isabelle asked. "That man is a craftsman and master of his art, just look at the creative treats that used to be sold years ago. He would be fascinating to talk to."
"What? Ice cream that doesn't melt? Chocolate eggs that turn into chirping birds when you eat them? You don't really believe that rubbish do you?" Alex was incredulous. "Old people love to make up stories about their past but that doesn't mean it was true. The media loves to hype up that sort of stuff." Alex snorted in disgust and walked towards the staff room door.
"Who cares about that old man and out-dated chocolate from decades ago? Just get that ticket, get famous and retire rich and early, that's all I need." Alex left the room and the door shut behind him with a quiet thump.
Isabelle sat in the empty room in stunned silence. The thought of selling the ticket had never once entered her mind.
Three months later, Charlie was watching the evening news with the other foster children when they announced the second winner.
Veruca Salt, heiress of the Salt empire, stood tall and proud in front of her well-dressed father, whilst holding out the golden ticket for the sea of cameras to photograph. The thousands of camera flashes didn't bother her in the slightest.
She was twelve years old, and held herself with the grace and poise that most rich celebrities could only dream of. Her long brown hair, nails and makeup were immaculate and she was even holding a little designer bag that twinkled in the lights.
As the news report progressed, Charlie learned that Veruca's father owned an off shore nut shelling company and had actually gone to the expense of equipping his whole factory with new automated equipment specifically designed to unwrap Wonka bars instead of nuts, and to do so by the millions.
"That's so unfair." Charlie complained to the other children who were clustered around the tv. "She didn't even find it herself."
"Shut up Charlie" and "Quiet" were all the answers he got.
Charlie glumly watched the rest of the interview in silence. Veruca now had her back to the cluster of journalists and was happily taking a selfie. She turned back around and began listing off all of her animal possessions for the eager tv audiences as they peppered her with questions.
Suddenly 'Breaking News – Third Golden Ticket Found' flashed across the screen and Veruca was replaced with the view of a bustling parking lot with 'Sam's Used Cars' prominently displayed on a banner in the background.
The cameras zoomed in to show a much younger girl, Violet Beauregard, who was patiently waiting to be interviewed with a carefully crafted smile on her face.
Charlie eagerly leaned forward, as more of the foster children came running in to watch the third ticket winner be interviewed.
She lived in a large county town, just like Charlie and her father appeared to be an obnoxious ECar salesman. He constantly interrupted the journalist with slogans like 'Square Deal Sam has fantastic giveaway bargains just for you' and 'With Sam B it's a guarantee.'
Violet stood next to her mother and patiently answered the questions the journalist asked her, whilst her mother occasionally jumped in to tell the world what a fantastic parent she was by raising such a star.
They both immediately made Charlie feel uncomfortable.
For starters, they were dressed in identical white track suits. 'Who does that?' thought Charlie.
Violet appeared to be younger than Charlie, maybe eight or nine, according to Mr. Wilkinson, who was sitting in his large recliner in the corner.
Violet's mother was now showing off a trophy box that contained all of her beloved daughters winning trophies. The program cut to a view of her bedroom, which was covered with more trophies and ribbons than Charlie had ever seen.
At that moment, Violet proudly stated that her very first medal had been a gum-chewing contest, in which she had chewed gum for more than a year nonstop to beat her friend Cornelia.
Charlie wrinkled his nose in disgust. Violet reminded him of the mean high achieving sports bullies in his school that all the teachers worshipped. He pitied this 'Cornelia' friend of Violets.
Charlie couldn't stand to watch any more of the interview and left the room with a dejected sigh. He knew he had no chance of finding a ticket.
He didn't notice Mr. Wilkinson watching him quietly from his armchair in the corner.