Hello everyone.
Wow, what a crazy world we live in. I hope everyone is coping as best they can with how things are at the moment.
Here is the latest chapter, maybe it will brighten your day just a tiny bit.
Chapter 14 – The Chocolate Room
The room was enormous, no, gigantic. Isabelle couldn't see walls in any direction. Instead, sprawled out in a seemingly unending space, was a miracle. It was the only way she could describe the wonder that was spread out below them all.
She squeezed both of Charlies' shoulders in excitement. "Are you seeing this Charlie?" Her voice sounded breathless. Charlie didn't answer, he was too busy trying to look at everything at once.
The contestants were spread out on a stone platform that was surrounded by a gothic railing that Augustus was currently sprawled over. His eyes were almost falling out of his head as Isabelle shuffled forwards and held on, trying to ground herself as her head spun.
Wide steps led down towards an open space that was covered in what looked like grass. Lots and lots of grass. The brightest green grass she had ever seen. There were also giant, vintage lollipops towering over everybody. Giant gummy bears and mushrooms were everywhere. The room stretched away in every direction and no walls or windows could be seen and yet sunlight bathed the entire area in a warm, inviting glow. The ceiling couldn't even be seen. She itched to explore this place.
'Are those candy cane trees?' Isabelle thought to herself, amazed by what she saw.
"Those are absolutely candy canes." A warm voice was suddenly beside her. "Yes, you did say that out loud." He winked and smiled mischievously as he leant up against the railing besides her and Charlie. "I have never shown this place to another human being before." He added wistfully before straightening up and addressing the whole group at once.
"This is my Chocolate Room." Mr Wonka swung his cane up against his shoulder and spun to face them.
"Everything you see here in this room is edible, even the grass." He walked backwards as he led the group slowly across the platform towards the wide stone steps. "Even I'm edible, I suppose." He glanced down at Mike, "but that would be cannibalism and frowned upon in many cultures." His last glib statement made Isabelle choke back a sudden laugh. It sounded exactly like something Mike himself would say. The others were not as amused.
Mr. Wonka simply stood back and observed them, chuckling a little at their awe-struck faces as they tried to comprehend what they were seeing.
"Make a wish." He suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention back onto himself. "Count to three."
He nimbly turned and hopped down onto the first step, his warm voice transforming into a beautiful lilting song.
"Come with me…" Isabelle watched from the back of the group, as the man danced and sang as he led them down the stairs. As he twirled and skipped, he deftly thwacked his cane in front of anyone brave enough to try and pass him by. Veruca seemed to be his favourite target, always pushing herself in front of Violet, or at least trying to. Violet, although smaller, was clearly no pushover and wasn't letting Veruca have her way.
Isabelle idly wondered how many times Mr. Wonka had tripped over that cane as he had practiced this routine. Her and Charlie had tried to copy many a dance move from the movies they saw on tv, usually ending with them in a tangled heap on the floor. She held back a laugh at the mental image of Mr. Wonka falling flat on his face mid-song.
The song was hauntingly beautiful and she was swept away by the lyrics. Charlie elbowed her lightly as he heard them.
"If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it." Mr Wonka warbled away.
Charlie clearly remembered all the times she would try to help him find beauty as the world fell apart around him. She often reminded him that if he couldn't see any beauty, he had to create it himself in his mind.
The pushing and shoving from the group intensified as they neared the bottom of the steps and Wonka was hard pressed in blocking them with his cane. Augustus and Veruca where the main culprits, both more than ready to be set loose in the wonderland spread out in front of them.
As they approached the little clearing at the base of the steps, Wonka did another one of his quick spins and faced the group.
"Please, enjoy yourselves, eat as much as you like and remember, have fun." He bowed theatrically and everybody rushed past him in their eagerness to explore, even Charlie didn't ask twice, he was so overjoyed with what he saw.
Isabelle was rooted to the spot simply staring at everything in wonder. 'Where does the sunlight come from.' She wondered; so many observations running through her head that she almost forgot how to walk.
Charlie ran back and dragged her away with him.
If she had looked over her shoulder, she would have seen Mr. Wonka smile a true smile of delight at everyone's joy.
The Chocolate Room was a misleading name, Isabelle decided as she wandered along the pathways. She had encouraged Charlie to explore by himself a while ago and had last seen him reaching for a candy apple that Violet quickly snatched for herself.
This room wasn't entirely made of chocolate, but a variety of different sweets and candies to delight the senses.
Mr. Wonka had encouraged them to taste everything, and she had. She had tasted the grass, which was minty, and a twig from a tree, which was nutty.
She had deftly searched through the bushes and had found a hidden stash of salted caramel chocolate berries.
Isabelle didn't have much of a sweet tooth, so she hadn't been tempted to try much of the brightly coloured sweets. That was Charlie's privilege, which was why she had encouraged him to explore by himself. She preferred the more refined subtle tastes of vanilla, orange and hazelnut. Anything overly sweet simply grated on her taste buds.
No, if she was completely honest with herself, Isabelle preferred the visual feast that was truly a delight to her senses. She longed to sketch and draw what she could see. In her humble opinion, Mr. Wonka was a true genius for designing the entire space. The designs, the colours and textures, even the numerous scents that collected in various spots were wonderful.
She vowed to remember as much as she could and draw everything later. This room had given her inspiration for years to come.
As she explored further, she could hear singing, and recognised Mr. Wonkas smooth voice. She followed the sounds as he continued singing his song from earlier.
Isabelle smiled. His imagination clearly knew no bounds in this world of his creation. She could only guess at how he had managed to construct the place on his own.
She plucked a large dahlia and nibbled on the petals. 'Hmmm, strawberry, she guessed.
In the distance, Mrs. Gloop appeared with her whole face covered with cream and attempting to juggle an armload of other delights. Augustus was nowhere to be seen.
Isabelle wandered off the path to avoid her, and strolled uphill into a clump of red coloured trees. She regretted her choice, as she came across Mike Teevee, who was kicking and smashing what looked like a giant marble. The crushed, gooey remains of similar marbles lay all around him. The ripped off head of a giant yellow gummi bear lay underneath a bush.
"Why are you like this Mike?" His father sighed with dismay.
"Dad, he said enjoy." Mike rolled his eyes and continued smashing. "You can always find treasures hidden inside stuff like this in video games, maybe Wonka does the same."
Mr. Teevee looked at Isabelle in despair. She simply shrugged, smiled and wandered away.
The next person she saw was Violet's mother, blocking the path as she sprawled across a giant red toadstool with creamy white spots.
'Well, this should be interesting.' Isabelle wandered over to say hello, cringing internally as Violet's mother looked up whilst trying to shove more cream into her already full mouth.
Her face was smeared with cream and her teeth glowed a sickly red as she smiled sweetly at Mr. Salt, who was walking towards her. He looked shocked at her cream covered face.
Here, use this." Isabelle looked on as Verucas father approached and held out a large handkerchief towards the taller woman.
Violet's mother smiled and wiped herself down.
Since Isabelle couldn't avoid them at this point, she walked over and introduced herself. "Hello, I'm so sorry, but I never caught your names…?" Isabelle hesitantly threw out the question, hoping one of them would answer.
"Veronica Beauregard, honey." Violet's mother somehow managed to be both condescending and polite at the same time.
"Henry Salt." Was the curt answer Isabelle received from Verucas father.
"It's a delight to meet you Henry." Veronica handed back the now creamy handkerchief with a smile. "You both realise, once the competitions start that my Violet is going to win this little contest. My Violet never loses. No hard feelings though."
Henry Salt huffed. "I don't really care much about this competition, as long as Veruca's happy I'm happy. Ah, here's my princess now."
He turned slightly and put his arm around Veruca, who was, mercifully quiet as she had a lollipop in her mouth. Her bright red dress had a fine sprinkling of powdered sugar around the hemline.
Isabelle excused herself from the small group, leaving Veruca to glare daggers at Veronica. Henry Salt seemed blissfully unaware of the hostility brewing between the elder and younger women. Isabelle just shook her head and moved onwards.
She was starting to wonder how it was possible to be surrounded by such beauty and wonder and completely ignore it at the same time.
In the distance, Violet was fiddling with something long and blue. She wasn't paying much attention to what she was doing; she was far too busy gazing around in amazement.
Isabelle smiled to herself. She was happy that someone besides her and Charlie was appreciating the landscape for what it was, not just what it provided. She snickered as Mr. Wonka appeared from nowhere and startled the girl, making her jump. He used his cane to whack the large yellow gummi bears so they dropped down on Violet.
He didn't stop as she caught one and nibbled the ear.
Isabelle turned away and continued exploring. She eventually heard an odd whooshing that never stopped. It sounded almost like water. Curiously, she searched for the origin of the sounds.
What she found, increased her respect and admiration for the genius of Willy Wonka even further. An imposing waterfall cascaded down the rocky side of an outcrop. As it poured down the sides, several large rocks split the cascading water into several smaller falls. The entire display was mesmerizing.
The waterfall was clearly not water, but chocolate. The colour instantly gave it away, followed shortly by the beautiful smell. The base of the waterfall tumbled and churned merrily.
Isabelle was mesmerized as she moved closer. She soon discovered a beautiful little clearing at the river's edge and sat down to simply drink in the view.
The enormous river of chocolate meandered lazily away through the factory. Swirls of steam moved above the surface, indicating that the chocolate was heated to prevent congealing as it moved slowly and sluggishly. Bubbles formed every now and then, some of them growing so large that they burst with a loud 'pop' and spraying tiny droplets everywhere.
She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. The warm aroma surrounded her. In fact, it was the exact comforting chocolate smell that she had experienced so many times with Charlie. All those afternoons spent together after school in 'their' little spot on the hillside overlooking the factory.
That warm chocolaty smell reminded her of peace and tranquillity. Of warm summer afternoons, when she would paint and Charlie would complete homework, or just sit back and watch the clouds.
She opened her eyes and looked out over the wide river. She could see a beautiful red bridge in the distance, arching across the wide expanse and Isabelle debated the merits of having a bridge that one could eat.
How much time she spent there; she wasn't quite sure.
"Well hello there Ms Isabelle." The warm voice of Willy Wonka made Isabelle look up.
"This place is truly beautiful Mr. Wonka, thank you so much for sharing it with all of us." Isabelle smiled up at him.
"Why, thank you, that's very kind of you to say." Mr Wonka sat himself down next to her and placed his hat and cane to one side. "I do believe Charlie said something similar when I found him earlier. The two of you are certainly very much alike. I'm glad he brought you along."
"Me too Mr Wonka."
They shared a moment of silence. Wonka picked two yellow cups and saucers from the plants surrounding them and handed one over to Isabelle.
She sipped with delight. The texture was smooth, creamy and quite thick but thankfully not overpoweringly sweet. It was refreshing with a faint vanilla, or maybe banana flavour, she wasn't quite sure which.
"Mmmm, delicious," Isabelle closed her eyes to savour the subtle flavour.
"So, tell me, Ms Isabelle, how do you like my factory so far." Wonka sharp eyes not missing a detail as Isabelle came alive in front of him at the question.
"Oh, this place is amazing." Isabelle set her flower cup down beside her as she began gesturing with her hands whilst she talked.
"The colours, the textures, just the whole concept of a place like this is genius." She enthused. "This place is full of wonder and love and imagination. How did you even think of something like this?" She silently cursed herself as the words tumbled over themselves. She always found it difficult to talk properly with new people.
Wonka gave a genuine laugh at her antics. "My dear lady, do you ask a fish why it swims or a bird why it flies?"
"No."
"It just comes naturally, I suppose." Wonka and sipped his drink. "I enjoy happiness, my own and others." He shrugged and looked at her. "Does it need a reason to exist?"
"No of course not." Isabelle shook her head. "A sunset doesn't need a reason to be beautiful, we just have to look at it to enjoy it. Sometimes we want to capture the moment and share it with others."
"Spoken like a true artist." Wonka gestured with his cup. "Sadly, so many have lost the ability to simply enjoy things as they are without needing reasons."
Wonka contemplated his flower cup sadly, before biting into it.
Isabelle pointed at the river and asked, "Is this river the reason you call it the chocolate room? The smell is so comforting and I can almost imagine fish jumping out of the river, or crocodiles lounging lazily on the shores."
"Now there's an idea." Mr Wonka gazed off into the distance looking thoughtful.
Suddenly a doorway opened in the rocks across the river, and a group of the tiniest people Isabelle had ever seen appeared.
They looked exactly like regular humans, only much smaller and more muscled. Some of them had shiny black hair, others had thick, green frizzy hair. Their hairstyles were diverse, but they all had startlingly orange skin.
Isabelle blinked in surprise. She wasn't aware of it, but her head tilted to the left slightly in confusion, wondering if it was a trick of the lighting.
They all wore the same uniform, overalls, and gloves. As she watched, they began manoeuvring many tiny wheelbarrows and bags closer to the base of the waterfall.
Isabelle glanced over at Wonka to ask a question, but he was already standing and peering at an open pocket watch in his hand, before pocketing it and offering his other to Isabelle to help her stand.
He was replacing his top hat on his head as Veruca's shrill voice echoed across the room.
"Look daddy, tiny men!"
Another short note from me...
I have been having issues for months with my internet connection, so updates will be completely random from now on.
For those who live in the Land Down Under, I'm sure you can sympathise with my plight. NBN, what can I say...?
To all my lovely reviewers, Thank you kindly for your words, I'm glad you are being entertained.
Stay safe everyone :)