Chapter Two- The Intruder
The knocking continued relentlessly- a continuous, annoying, rapping on the hard wood. The man's voice never ceased either- now shouting; "HELLOOOOO, HELLOOOOOOOO IS ANYONE IN THERE? HHEEEELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?"
Finally, the Once-ler couldn't take it anymore. With the Lorax beside him, the Once-ler strode to the door and pulled it open, stepping back abruptly to avoid being hit by the man continually moving hand. Finally the man seemed to notice that the door was missing from beneath his hand and he stopped, staring at the Once-ler as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
"It's a giant," he mumbled to himself, causing the Once-ler to blush slightly. Before the tall man even had time to respond, the intruder pushed past him, dumping a fairly huge, filthy backpack right on the Once-ler's bed.
Now feeling genuinely annoyed, the Once-ler stepped forward, bringing himself to his full height. "Who are you?" he demanded in what he thought was a loud voice- but it didn't even seem to register in the mind of the slightly-shorter-than-average man. However, when the Lorax came forward and began to positively shout, his words were certainly heard.
"WHO ARE YOU?"
The man jumped and turned around, his eyes locking onto the Lorax and widening in shock. "Woah, what's that?" he exclaimed, pointing at it then turning a questioning gaze to the Once-ler. "This your pet?"
"What? No!" the Once-ler exclaimed, waving his hands wildly in denial. "This is-"
"I am the Lorax," the Lorax began in a hard voice, "and I speak for the trees. Who are you and what are you doing in the forest- and in this house?"
"Huh, it talks," the man said in simple shock. He was clearly a very thick man- in both weight and mind. He gave a small bow, addressing both the Once-ler and the Lorax as he introduced himself. "My name is Mr Yepti Yoose. I am a traveller, and I've decided that I will be staying here, so thanks for being so hospitable, Mr...?" he looked questioningly at the Once-ler, who bristled.
"First of all, my name is the Once-ler. Secondly-"
"The Once-ler? That's your name?" Yoose laughed, slapping his knee. "That's retarded!"
"You're retarded!" the Once-ler snapped, blushing and pointing to the door. "Secondly, you're not staying here! Get out!"
"And you speak for the trees, do you?" Yoose asked the Lorax, completely ignoring the Once-ler. "What are they saying right now, huh?"
"They're saying get out," the Lorax growled, glaring at the annoying man.
"Nope, I'm staying," he responded simply.
"Were you the one that left that mess of colourful plastic and chip packets out there?"
"You mean all the way back on the fringes? Yeah, I did. There weren't any bins around, and the fish-things kept tryin' to stop me from throwin' it all in the river, so I just left it there. No harm done, right?"
"GET. OUT."
At that moment, curious at all the noise coming from within the usually quiet tent, a few Bar-ba-loots and Swomee-Swans climbed and flew in through the window, stopping in a small clutter in the corner of the room and staring at the new arrival curiously. Yoose, for his part, didn't seem at all surprised at their sudden arrival and welcomed them cheerfully.
"Well well well, aren't you all cute? Oh- and beautiful, might I add," he added, winking at the Swomee-Swans, who giggled amongst themselves. Several of the Bar-ba-loots crept forward and Yoose scratched their heads gently, earning their affection instantly. Soon he was surrounded by a small, ever-growing gaggle of creatures as more arrived through the Once-ler's windows and the still-open back door. While Yoose was occupied with the creatures, the Once-ler bent down and leant close to the Lorax, whispering to an area of fur he assumed covered his ear.
"Well? What should we do?" he asked almost desperately, his hands itching to throw the intruder's bag from his bed and immediately clean the sheets- and the man himself.
The Lorax sighed, now not quite so sure himself. "Well... I suppose we'll just have to accommodate him until he decided to get going."
"We? Me, more like! He's filthy, and this is my tent, you know! Where's he gonna sleep, anyway?"
"I figured I'd just use that bed," Yoose said smoothly, causing both the Lorax and the Once-ler to jump as they realised he must have heard them. The shock immediately disappeared to be replaced with annoyance and- on the Once-ler's part- dismay as Yoose pointed to the Once-ler's own bed. "Looks comfy enough."
"No way, NO WAY are you sleeping in my bed, that's my bed! It's already taken!" the Once-ler argued hotly.
Yoose shrugged. "Room enough for two," he said, winking slyly at the Once-ler, who cringed, his mouth opening and closing for lack of a response.
The Lorax glanced sympathetically at his friend and stepped forward. "That's his bed, and you're not sharing," he said shortly. "We'll allow you to stay here and we'll clean up the mess you made, but you follow our rules. You'll sleep on the floor, you'll listen to anything I or the Once-ler says, and you'll be gone after a week. Understood?"
"Sure, but I don't have a mattress to sleep on."
The Once-ler spoke up. "I can give you a blanket and you can curl up in that or something-"
"The floor's too hard."
"What did you sleep on when you were camping outside, then?"
"The ground."
"Well why can't you-"
"Ground's softer out there- it's hard wooden floors in here, it'd do my back in."
"Then sleep outside-"
"But I'm staying here."
The Once-ler was just about ready to start shouting at the man, but luckily the Lorax intervened, placing one of his furry hands on the Once-ler's leg. "How about this- you share the bed, but beanpole gets one end and Yoose gets the other. Does that sound fair?"
"Sounds good to me," Yoose said brightly, jumping to his feet. He promptly took off his jacket and shoes, dumping them on the floor along with his filthy socks. Leaving his belongings in the tent, Yoose headed for the front door with his new animal friends following behind, leaving the Once-ler and the Lorax behind, staring after him in disbelief.
It was to be one of the longest weeks the Once-ler had ever experienced.