When I started planning things out, I asked retro mania if I could bring back an OC that I haven't touched in about 10 years. So if you've read some of my really old stuff, you may recognize them.

Charlie opened his eyes. He looked around and found the other children with him. But something was wrong.

"What the?"

"What's going on?"

"We look like cartoons!"

And they did. The children looked like they were in a cartoon. Their heads seemed a little bigger, their eyes wider, and their limbs thinner, except for Augustus – he looked more rounded with a chocolate smear across his mouth. The colors were more vibrant and the room they were in, which was now the entrance to the factory, had impossibly high ceilings.

"We are cartoons," Charlie said, looking around the hall.

"Well, you're not illustrations. This isn't The Pagemaster."

There was a woman standing off to the side. Her dress had a wide skirt, part of it gathered up to reveal the layers of different colors and fabrics in shades of brown, tan, cream, and caramel. A bolt of chocolate satin wrapped around and made up the front of the bodice, pleated and folded over decoratively like ripples of melted chocolate. Her boots were chocolate colored knee-highs and laced up with black laces. Her hair was done up in curls and twined with the askew fascinator made up of chocolate shavings, cookie straws, and sliced strawberries. Her earrings were one strawberry on the opposite side the fascinator was leaning and a raspberry in the other ear. Her makeup was berry eyeshadow, black liner, and glossed lips. In one hand was a takeaway cup with "Rita's Italian Ice" written on the side and the contents looked like a chocolate smoothie.

"Who are you?" asked Violet.

"I'm Selena, your Wonka Chocolate Factory tour guide."

"Where's Mr. Wonka?" asked Veruca.

"Where's everyone else?" Charlie added.

"Willy's a bit busy at the moment," said Selena. "Pesky paperwork; you gotta worry about all the legalities when it comes to stuff like this. But I'm available. I can do the job of showing you around just as well as he can."

"You?" asked Mike with a snort.

Selena looked down her nose and narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, me."

"What about our parents?" asked Violet.

Selena tipped her head in her direction. "Do you want your parents with you? Wouldn't it be such a drag with them here? Come on, let's have some fun!"

She started walking down the red carpet.

The five children looked at each other.

Augustus reached in his pocket and pulled out his half-eaten Wonka bar. "Should we follow her?" He took a bite of his chocolate.

"Maybe we should try to find a way back," said Charlie, looking around. "Our parents will be worried if they can't find us."

"It's probably part of the tour," said Violet. "A test to see who gets the special prize." She jogged after Selena.

"That doesn't make sense!" Mike called after her.

The others ran to catch up.

Selena stopped in front of a very tiny door. She spun on her heel to face them. "Now, you all know you're getting a lifetime supply of chocolate. But the special prize is something that wasn't announced yet. Would you like to know what it is?"

The children leaned forward.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you. Not yet anyway. The best prize is a surprise! Now." She reached her free hand into her pocket and fished around for something. "Ah-ha! Here they are!" She withdrew her hand and five colored candy squares were in her palm. She gave them a toss in the air.

The squares started twisting and growing, shaping themselves into five child sized blobs. Each one was the color of the playing pieces the children chose and were forming themselves into copies of the children.

The children took a few steps back, their doppelgangers losing their single color to look lifelike. They stared back with simple smiles.

"What is that?" Augustus asked.

"Taffies!" Selena said brightly, putting a hand on the Charlie copy. "Fun little candies. You can stretch them and twist them into all different shapes!" She turned her attention to the doppelgangers. "Okay, you guys. While these kids play with me here, you pretend to be them with their parents. Okay?"

The five taffies nodded.

"Very good!" Selena pulled the game board out from behind her back and opened it up. The five taffies were sucked in. She closed it with a flourish. Another flick of her hand and it disappeared. "Now, the tour!"

She whirled around to the door, skirt twirling. She knelt down and fiddled with the knob.

"Why's the door so small?" asked Mike. "There's no way we're going to fit through that."

Selena look over her shoulder. "I just created copies of the five of you. You think you can't get through a little door?" The knob clicked and she stood up. "You're not wrong." She pushed on the wall and the entire thing opened up.

They walked in and gazed upon the fanciful garden in front of them. Giant spotted toadstools, pink and red striped pumpkins, leafless trees of colorful bark and twisted limbs all planted in long bright green grass, and cutting through it all was a river of melted chocolate stemming from the waterfall at the other end of the room.

"Now do be careful, my dear children," Selena said, a smile on her face. "Don't lose your heads, don't get overexcited, just keep very . . . calm."

The children looked around the room. Augustus's eyes widened absurdly and he dropped his Wonka bar. Violet blew a large bubble before going back to chewing.

"It's beautiful," said Charlie.

"Hmm?" Selena hummed. "Oh, yes, it's very beautiful. You should see it in winter. It's rigged up to snow powder sugar and shaved coconut flakes. Come along, children. I'll show you around."

They walked along a path of stones, going up to the chocolate river.

"Every drop of the river is hot melted chocolate of the finest quality," Selena told them, leading them across a bridge in front of the waterfall. She paused to direct their attention to it. "The waterfall is most important. It mixes the chocolate, churns it up and makes it light and frothy. Wonka's Chocolate Factory is the only factory in the world that uses this process. Everybody else doesn't think it can be done."

They crossed to the other side. Selena looked up and saw some pipes moving around.

"Children," Selena called out. She pointed up to the pipes. "Those pipes suck up the chocolate and carry it away all over the factory. They can move thousands of gallons an hour."

One of the pipes lowered into the river and began to suck up chocolate.

"Do you like the meadow?" she asked, spreading her hands wide. "Try some of the grass."

"You can eat the grass?" asked Charlie.

Selena nodded. "Mm-hmm! Everything in this room is edible. Even I'm edible, but that is called cannibalism, dear children, and is frowned upon in most societies. Now go explore. Enjoy. Shoo, shoo." She flapped a hand at them to send them off.

The five children scattered to try the different candies in the room.

Mike started smashing open the pumpkins, but ignoring the jelly and cream fillings inside.

Charlie went over to one of the trees that had candy apples hanging on it. He reached out for one, but it was taken by Violet. She took out her gum and put it behind her ear.

"Why hold on to it?" Charlie asked. "Why not start a new piece?"

"Because then I wouldn't be a champion," she sneered at him. "I'd be a loser, like you." She took a bite out of the apple and walked away.

Augustus went around shoving his fat hands in everything and gobbling it up, smearing it all over his face. He dropped to his knees and started pulling up fistfuls of grass to eat.

Veruca was licking a lollipop and looking around. "What's that over there? It's a little person!"

The others turned to look. There was a little person in a red jumpsuit on the embankment across the river. It had a small jackhammer and was digging up some of the grass and dirt.

"There's more than one," said Violet.

And there were. Many little people in shiny red jumpsuits were actually harvesting the different candies from around the room. They all had dark skin and black hair that was twisted and pinned back. Those working with heavy equipment had ear protection on.

"Who are they?" asked Charlie.

Mike looked up at Selena. "Are they real people?" he asked skeptically.

"Of course they're real people," Selena shot back. "They're Oompa-Loompas."

"Oompa-Loompas?" repeated Veruca.

"Imported, direct from Loompaland."

Mike scoffed. "There's no such place."

"What?" asked Selena.

"My dad teaches high school geography," Mike went on.

"Well, then he's told you all about it and, oh, what a terrible country is it," Selena interrupted. "It's nothing but a place of thick jungles and dangerous beasts. Hornswogglers and snozzwangers and those terrible, wicked whangdoodles. Willy went to Loompaland looking for exotic new flavors for candy. He didn't find anything marketable, but he did find the Oompa-Loompas.

"They lived in tree houses to escape the fierce creatures who lived below. Their diet consisted not much else than crushed green caterpillars. They looked for other things to make the caterpillars taste better: red beetles, the bark of the bong-bong tree. But what they longed for the most was the cocoa bean. An Oompa-Loompa was lucky if he found three or four cocoa beans a year. And oh, how they love cocoa beans. The cocoa bean happens to be the thing that chocolate is made, so Willy told the chief to come live in the factory and they can have all the cocoa beans they want. He'd even pay their wages in cocoa beans if they wished. The chief agreed. The Oompa-Loompas now have a safe place to stay and a steady food supply and Willy has workers who wouldn't sell his secrets to the competition. They are such wonderful workers. But they are mischievous, always making jokes."

Charlie noticed Augustus on the other bank scooping up chocolate from the river into his mouth. "Should he be doing that?"

The others looked over.

"No, he should not," Selena said tightly. "Boy, the chocolate is not to be touched by human hands!"

And just like that Augustus tumbled in.

"But the rest of you, that's fine," Selena added sarcastically.

Augustus surfaced and floundered about.

Selena sighed. "Great. An entire batch of chocolate – ruined." She looked up over her shoulder and smiled widely.

A pipe was moving into place. It extended down and started sucking up chocolate right next to Augustus. The current pulled on him and he was caught in the chocolate whirlpool the suction was creating.

"Hold your breath, kid!" Selena yelled.

Augustus went under only to reappear in the pipe. He stuck for a moment. The chocolate forced itself out the seam of the pipe and Augustus shot up again.

"There he goes," said Violet.

"How is he small enough to fit up that pipe?" asked Veruca.

Augustus ascension began to slow.

"It isn't big enough," said Charlie. "He's slowing down."

"He's gonna stick," said Mike.

And there Augustus was, caught two-thirds up the pipe.

"He has," Selena stated.

"He's blocked the whole pipe," said Veruca.

A humming began.

"Look, the Oompa-Loompas!" Charlie said.

They were all humming and tapping rhythmically as they worked.

"Back off, you little freaks!" shouted Mike.

"What are they doing?" asked Veruca.

Selena grinned. "They're going to treat us to a little song and dance number. It is a special occasion. They haven't had a fresh audience in months."

The Oompa-Loompas gathered along the banks and started singing and dancing.

Augustus Gloop! Augustus Gloop!

The great big greedy nincompoop!

Augustus Gloop!

So big and vile

So greedy, foul, and infantile

'Come on!' we cried, 'The time is ripe

To send him shooting up the pipe!'

But don't, dear children, be alarmed,

Augustus Gloop will not be harmed,

Augustus Gloop will not be harmed

Although, of course, we must admit

He will be altered quite a bit

Slowly, the wheels go round and round,

The cogs begin to grind and pound,

We boil him for a minute more,

Until we're absolutely sure

Then out he comes! And now! By grace!

A miracle has taken place!

A miracle has taken place!

This greedy brute, this louse's ear

Is loved by people everywhere!

Fore how could hate or bear a grudge

Against a luscious a bit of fudge?

Augustus shot up the pipe and into the holding tank.

"Ah, very good!" Selena applauded. She turned her attention to the remaining four kids. "Well?"

"Well, what?" asked Mike.

"Aren't you going to help your fellow contestant?" she asked.

"Why?" asked Violet. "One less contestant I have to beat out for the special prize."

Selena's smile stretched across her face. "You didn't read the game instructions, did you?"

They shook their heads.

"I can tell," said Selena. "The game doesn't end because one of you completes the tour. It requires all of you to reach the end."

"What?"

"That's not fair!"

"It's perfectly fair," said Selena. "How else am I to decide who gets the special prize? So if Augustus doesn't continue the tour with you, you're stuck here."

"You can't keep us here!" cried Violet.

Selena took a sip of her drink. "Wanna bet? It's not like your parents are going to miss you. Those taffies are doing an excellent job of replacing you. Now, you go get your friend. I have to take care of contaminated chocolate."

The chocolate river began to drain.

"Looks like someone beat me to it," said Selena.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place?" asked Veruca.

Selena scoffed. "You can't just shut off thousands of gallons of melted chocolate."

An Oompa-Loompa appeared, barely reaching the top of her boot. He handed her a clipboard.

Selena squinted at what was on it. "I'll be right there."

The Oompa-Loompa crossed his arms and bowed.

Selena repeated the gesture. She turned and saw the children were still there. "What are you waiting on? Go." She walked off.

"What do we do now?" asked Veruca.

"We help Augustus," said Charlie.

"How?" asked Violet.

"Control room is next to the waterfall!" Selena shouted back at them.

Charlie looked at the others. "Sounds like the control room is a good place to start."

They walked around to the waterfall and saw a metal door. They opened it and found the control room. There were a lot of flashing lights and buzzers. A couple Oompa-Loompas were working at the panel, seemingly trying to get things under control.

"Okay, how do we fix this?" asked Violet, looking around. "It looks like they can't even do it."

"We don't have to fix it. We just have to get the fat kid out of the pipe." Mike walked over to the computer screens and started looking. "Pipe TR1A-C, truffle room . . . Pipe MR, marshmallow room . . . Okay, I think these pipes all go out to different areas of the factory. Somebody go out and see what pipe he's stuck in."

Violet ran out to check. She came running back. "It's FR1STW."

"FR, FR," muttered Mike. "FR1STW, fudge room. It's this one." He got on the computer and redirected the pipe to the empty riverbed. The pipe folded up on itself and the tank was lowered before Mike dumped all the contents out.

Augustus sat up, spluttering chocolate.

"He's out!" Violet called from the doorway.

The others ran out of the control room and to the riverbank.

Charlie went down to help him up and saw Augustus had changed. "You're skinny!"

"Hmm, I don't know about skinny." Selena was standing on the bank watching them. "Looks more like a pool noodle with arms, legs, and a head. Or maybe a bratwurst. But what did you expect? He went up a narrow pipe."

Charlie and Augustus climbed out of the riverbed.

"I thought I would be made into marshmallows," Augustus puffed.

"Couldn't happen," said Selena. "That pipe doesn't go to the marshmallow room, it goes to the fudge room, more accurately for the strawberry flavored chocolate coated fudge."

"Then I would have been made into strawberry flavored chocolate coated fudge," Augustus corrected in horror. "They would be selling me by the pound all over the world!"

Selena gave a small shake of her head. "No. I wouldn't allow it. People wouldn't want to eat Augustus flavored chocolate coated Gloop. Ew. No." She turned to the riverbed. "All right, boys! Let's get this last bit of chocolate cleaned up!"

The Oompa-Loompas ran out with packs on their backs and hoses in their hands. They vacuumed up the chocolate and got out of the riverbed. A couple Oompa-Loompas also vacuumed the chocolate off of Augustus's now tube-like body. Moments later molten chocolate began streaming down the waterfall and filling the river again.

"And done. Simple enough," said Selena.

"Miss Selena, why would Augustus's name already be in the Oompa-Loompa song?" asked Charlie.

"They're great improvers," Selena cut him off. "It's a skill that takes some practice. I used to be really good at it. Oh, here it comes!"

"Here comes what?" asked Charlie.

Selena pointed up the river. A large, pink Viking-style boat floated downstream, Oompa-Loompas manning the many oars. One Oompa-Loompa drummed at the front to keep the rhythm of the oars.

"Willy made it out of a giant boiled sweet," Selena told them. "Personally, I would have gone with a normal paddlewheel boat. There's just something classy about them."

The boat pulled up to the shore. The Oompa-Loompas turned to them and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Violet asked.

"Ignore them. They're always laughing about something," said Selena. "Come along now." She stepped onto the boat and sat at the very back.

The children climbed in after her.

"Onward. And don't lick the boat, Augustus! Remember where your gluttony got you five minutes ago."

Augustus's tongue snapped back into his mouth and he sat up quickly.

The drummer started up and they began to row down the river.

Bringing Selena back after 10 years is so exciting for me. I've been meaning to bring her back, but she was sort of discontinued when Lucid Dream started as she was the prototype for the dreamer. Happy to have her back and be able to share her with all new readers.