"What? I was sleepwalking?" Willy cried." And Mrs. Scrubbit threw me in here after I walked into her closet and knocked down her clothes"."Yep" Lofty said."That's what I said". Willy put a hand to his head and groaned."Oh, my head"."Well, that's it" Lofty started."I'm getting that key". Willy snapped his head to look towards the Oompa Loompa."What!?" Willy cried."You heard me" Lofty told him."I'm getting that key to get you outta here. I am not letting you freeze to death in here. You still have a debt to pay"."What if she comes back and I'm gone?" Willy wondered."Then she's gonna be really mad". Lofty sighed."Well, Either way, you can't stay in here forever. I'll be back as soon as I find that key". Lofty left the same way he got in, through the small hole in the door way.
Willy was still tired. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep for the rest of the day. He knew roll call was going to be soon, but no doubt that Mrs. Scrubbit would let him outta here until after the work day. Willy sighed. He couldn't believe that he sleep walked last night, and all the way into Mrs. Scrubbit's closet. A few moments later, he heard very small foot steps towards the door.
"I'm back with the key, Sir" Lofty called to him.
"But, you're so small. How can you reach the key hole" Willy questioned. Lofty thought about it for a moment."How about this. I go to Mrs. Scrubbit's closet and grab one of those hangers that's hopefully still on the floor and you can use that through the crack of the door and pull me up so I can reach the knob". Willy's face lit up."That's a great idea". Lofty turned around and started to walk away."Careful not to get caught!" Willy whispered out.
"Of course, I know, sir" Lofty said. As soon as Lofty made it in Mrs. Scrubbit's room, she was no where to be seen. As far as the Oompa Loompa could tell anyways. But, he was still careful as in not to make to much noise. He walked into Mrs. Scrubbit's closet that Willy sleepwalked into that night and sure enough, the hangers, and clothes were still on the floor. Lofty sighed once again.
"The things I do for you, kid" he said. Lofty grabbed one of the hangers that were still on the floor and quietly left the room. The sun was rising more now, which meant he had to be as quick and discreet as possible. Lofty made it back to Willy."I'm back with the hanger, sir" he called."Great" Willy cried." Hand it to me". Lofty handed the chocolatier the hanger. Willy brought the hanger down to the orange man's level."Okay, grab on" Willy whispered. Lofty grabbed onto the hanger and held on. Willy carefully brought the hanger up to the door knob. Lofty took the key out and unlocked the door. Once he was back on the ground, Willy came out of the coop and he breathed as if he was breathing out fresh air.
"It's nice to be finally out of the coop. I wonder when Mrs. Scrubbit would of actually let me out" Willy said. Willy headed back to his room, hoping that Mrs. Scrubbit probably would of left him in the coop for the whole work day, so he wouldn't have earned that single sovereign. When Willy made it back to his room, he laid back on his bed. He was still so tired.
"I'm going back to bed" Willy groaned, tiredly. Willy looked at Lofty as his eyes were starting to close."You don't have to stay. I'm not a kid anymore, ya know".
"I know" Lofty muttered. Lofty walked away. He took one last look at the young man. His eyes were closed, clearly trying to get some sleep. In one way, Lofty wanted to stay again and keep an eye on the kid, in case Mrs. Scrubbit wondered where he was if she didn't see him in the coop where she left him.
"I'll be back, kid" Lofty whispered and left the room with his chocolates.
Willy slept through almost a whole work day, until he woke up again. It was 2 in the afternoon, when he woke up again. Willy sighed and sat up. He rubbed his eyes with his hands and yawned. He still wanted to sleep more, but he figured he should sneak back into the coop in case Mrs. Scrubbit decided to let him out. After a quick bathroom break, he started to head back towards the coop, trying not to get caught. But, of course, as Willy was heading back towards the coop, he saw someone coming. The young man stopped in his tracks and held his breath. Out of panic, Willy put his back against the other wall, hoping the person would just walk past him without noticing him. A little shy gasp left someones mouth.
"Willy, you startled me" It was Lottie Bell, gasping. Willy slowly backed away from the wall, but still tried to keep hidden from everyone else in sight.
"Sorry" was all Willy could say.
"Oh, it's okay. I heard you were thrown in the coop last night. Were all very worried" Lottie told him. Willy sighed."How's Noodle taking it?".
"Fine, I guess. But, I'm guessing she's more worried than any of us are considering how close you two are" Lottie answered.
"Well, I guess I'll head back to the coop now before Mrs. Scrubbit comes back" Wonka said. Wonka started to head back towards the coop, but Lottie put a hand on his chest, stopping him. Lottie looked Willy in the eyes with a worried, sad expression on her face. She noticed something was of about the boy. He looked tired, no… he looked exhausted.
"Willy, what is going on" She asked him gently, like a kind and worried mother. Willy's lips started trembling as he tried to keep himself together. She rubbed his chest very gently.
"Shh, Shh" She whispered."Lets go back to your room, dear". Willy nodded and followed Lottie back to his room. He took a deep breath in and let it out, so he wouldn't start crying in front of her. But, it was getting hard to keep his emotions together with everything that has been going on lately. His first shop just got burned down for crying out loud! Lottie And Wonka went into Willy's room. Willy sat on his bed and looked at Lottie.
"Willy, what's going on with you" Lottie asked, sweetly."Why did you get put in the coop last night". Willy sighed and answered Lottie.
"I sleepwalked into Mrs. Scrubbit's closet and knocked her clothes down". Lottie's eyes widened.
"Sleepwalked" she cried."Why did you sleep walk, Willy?". The young man just shrugged his shoulders, trying to keep himself together.
"I don't know" he answered as his voice cracked. Clearly, he was getting upset."Ive never done that before. But, to tell you the truth. I'm fatigued, and I've been tired for quite a while now". Wonka was on the verge of crying now.
"Oh, Willy. I had no idea" Lottie said."Here, why don't you lie down". Lottie helped Wonka under the covers."I've just been busy with making chocolates and going down for roll call that life's been busy and above all of that… I miss my mama. She's been dead ever since I was a kid, and I miss her so much" Willy told her and started crying.
"Oh, I am so sorry, dear" Lottie soothed. She started putting her hand through Willy's curly hair to comfort him."Shh, Shh". Lottie continued putting her hand through the young man's hair as he continued to cry.
"Do you want to go back to sleep" She asked gently."But, what… a-about… M-Mrs.-Mrs. S-Scrubbit" Willy sobbed."Hey, don't worry about her. I've got it covered. You just rest now" Lottie said, sweetly. Willy calmed down enough that he stopped sobbing. Lottie stroked his hair one last time and made sure he was sound asleep before she left the room. She felt bad for the young Wonka. He was too young to be fatigued. He had to be in his early twenties. Sure, she didn't know how old he exactly was, but, he had to be at least 23, at he oldest. She didn't' know how long he was tired for, he could have been tired ever since he was a kid… as far as she knew.
Lottie woke up early the next morning. Her plan was to get Wonka to go back in the coop before roll call, so Mrs. Scrubbit would let him out. She didn't want the boy to get caught, before Mrs. Scrubbit figures out he was gone. Lottie walked back to Willy's room and quietly opened his door. When she peaked her head in, the boy was still sleeping. As far as she could tell. Lottie walked up to Willy's bed and gently rubbed the boys shoulder to wake him up.
"It's time to wake up, Willy" She whispered. Willy groaned."Come on, silly boy. It's time to go back into the coop before Mrs. Scrubbit figures out you're gone." she told him. Willy slowly got up out of bed. After another stop to the bathroom, Lottie walked Willy to the coop."I just hope Mrs. Scrubbit lets me out today" Willy sighed."It's been a whole day". Lottie smiled."She will. I heard her talking to Bleacher last night. I hope she keeps that promise". Willy shrugged his shoulders."I guess I'll see you at roll call, I hope". The twenty two year old went back into the coop. Lottie walked away before she gets caught and get's herself locked in the coop as well.
Later that morning, Mrs. Scrubbit stomped down the hall to let Willy out of the coop. She had a wicked smile on her face. Mrs. Scrubbit opened the door to the coop. There he was, the little boy she had thrown in the coop just the other night, sitting on the dirty floor in front of the opened door. Mrs. Scrubbit smiled and grabbed Willy by his shirt, and pulled him up off the floor. Willy was now face to face with Mrs. Scrubbit. Mrs. Scrubbit let out a breath and spoke.
"Did you learn your lesson, little boy" She sneered in Wonka's face. Willy nodded.
"Yes, Mrs. Scrubbit. I am sorry for what happened. I had no idea that I sleepwalked into your closet" Willy said. Mrs. Scrubbit sneered.
"Well, you better work extra hard today, my boy".
Mrs. Scrubbit started to walk away, pulling Wonka with her.
"You better get to work, right away, Mr. Wonka" Mrs. Scrubbit chuckled.
Mrs. Scrubbit loved that she finally put Willy in the coop. She would put Willy in the coop again in a heart beat. He needs to learn his lessons. Mrs. Scrubbit would have Willy for twenty seven years. Willy would be 49 years old by the time Mrs. Scrubbit would let him leave the wash house. That means there would be more lessons to learn in his young adult life. She would gladly keep the boy in the coop even longer than a day next time he needed to be punished. Yep… next time.
Authors Note: Yep, Chapter 2 is finally out. Lofty will be back in the next chapter. I decided to let another character shine after the Oompa Loompa left, and that character was the telephone girl, Lottie. Thank you for the favorites and the follows. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed so far. Please favorite, Follow and Review. Thank you. Next chapter!