None of the children said anything as a little carnival ride type boat came into sight with little orange people rowing it. It was bright, glistening turquoise and looked like hard candy, just like the wall from earlier did. There were six lavish seats in it and a bench up at the front. There was also a beautiful mermaid carved into the front of it like an old pirate's ship would have had. As the boat came to a stop Wonka skipped over to it as if nothing horrible had just happened. He was about to tell them all to get on board when Mike shouted out, "Orange men?! No way! What are they?"
Wonka froze and stared off into space, blankly, wondering how it was that someone could be so rude as to say something like that out loud. He faced the boy with a fake smile, "Oh, well, those, as I have already told Charlie here, are my dear friends, the Oompa Loompas." He paused to make sure everything was understood before gesturing once again to the boat, "Now, everyone aboard! This will be a very eye opening experience for you all." His face held a sly smile as the children piled themselves in.
Mike and Verruca sat behind Violet and Charlie, and Wonka sat up front facing them; just like he stood with good posture, he sat with it too. He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, "Ready?" It didn't matter if they were ready or not, the boat began to move anyway. It moved at a nice, slow, relaxing pace. It felt like a lovely day at the park as they looked around at the scenery. Then the children could see a tunnel coming up, one that appeared to be pitch black, and they began to grow visibly nervous.
Once the boat entered the tunnel it was only dark for a moment before a dim red light flickered on. There was an extreme chill in the air but the glow of the light cast an eerie stream of warmth over them. The boat sailed smoothly, there was barely even a ripple in the chocolate, not that it was easy to tell in the semi-darkness. There was not a single sound, except for the slight sloshing of the chocolate under the boat, and it added to the creepiness of Wonka just sitting and staring at them, stiffly, with his wide grin, which looked even more insane in that lighting. Eventually he started speaking, "What is fear?" He paused, his eyeballs moving like a puppet's would. "It is nothing but our imagination." Then the light went out and it was completely dark once more.
Suddenly, only a second later, there was a rushing noise and, right after that, the children felt the boat tip foreword and their stomachs drop, they were clearly falling. They all had to hold onto their seats to keep from falling out; at least that's how it seemed to them. Verruca was the one who yelled out the loudest, she was not fond of this sort of ride.
When the boat settled another light flashed on, a deep blue one. "What do you fear Mike?" came Wonka's voice. Suddenly a scene appeared at the side of the boat as if it was coming from a projector and the projector was moving with the boat. The scene was of Mike, he was scrawny and dopey, sickly looking. He was siting all alone in the corner of a dirty room filled with people. Everyone was gawking at him, pointing and laughing hysterically, spewing disgusting insults at him. Mike sunk down in his seat, his eyes tearing up, why was Wonka showing this?
Then the scene changed and Wonka spoke again, "What about you Verruca?" It showed the girl, filthy and poor, sitting on a sidewalk, yelling out and begging for all the things she wanted but everyone who passed her by ignored her, didn't even acknowledge her. Verruca covered her mouth with her hand, gasping.
Once again the scene changed, "Let's see what frightens Violet." The girl sat with broken, mangled, arms and legs, blood everywhere, and her jaw was broken, leaving her mouth hanging open. Violet's eyes went wide and her hand flung over to Charlie's for comfort. Wonka, being a jealous man, didn't like seeing someone else, especially her, touching the young boy. He couldn't help it this time; he smacked her hand hard with the end of his cane. She yelped and drew her hand away.
The scene changed for the last time, and it was Charlie. He was sitting all alone in darkness, sobbing with immense sorrow. Wonka got a kick out of seeing everyone's fears, but not Charlie's. He would never let that happen to his dear Charlie.