Kind of an angsty Once-ler story, basically shadowing his life and mistakes.
I wrote it for the-slacker-greedlette because she wrote me one c:
I hope you guys like it and I hope she does too ;-;
Everything around me seems so much different from where I’m from
And at this rate I think my fates been sealed.
This life’s so unpredictable.
Once-ler sat in his chair, puffing on a freshly-lit cigar. He remembered seeing that last tree fall, the Lorax shaking his head in disappointment. He might as well have muttered, “You monster.” That was the look he got from the Lorax’s soft blue eyes bearing into his. He was having trouble dealing with the guilt, it was eating away at him.
Well go, continue to live a life that
No one knows.
Where’s this gonna go?
Oh the questions he had when he was younger, he remembered. Will this really take off? Can I make my family proud? Can I make myself proud? How will I pull off this stunt? He could see his memories clear as day, his old, sweet personality faded over time. It turned him into an overworked, irritable, abusive person. Just like his father before he died.
Right here, right now, this is
The beginning of, the end
And I won’t sing one single thing till we can get this right.
I’m moving on,
I’m moving on.
He remembered chopping down that first tree. He hadn’t seen the fear that spread among the animals, all he’d seen was his first step into success. But that was the past, behind him now. All his mistakes had been made. He puffed on his cigar again, blowing smoke rings into the dimly lit room. He pulled the Truffula tree seed form his pocket and stared at it. He wanted to plant it, but he knew that it wasn’t going to grow. Not out here, ever. He closed his fist around the seed and walked out the door. He was leaving this factory for good. There was no point in him being here any longer.
Hey mom I wrote you some soft songs.
And tell dad I’m just fine.
We had to choose, we made our moves
And now we gotta go, go.
He sat in front of his boarded window, thinking about everything in the past. How he started and ended this, left a factory, and even a life behind. He hung his green-gloved hands out the window, woven between the boards. He thought about his mother telling his father about how he’d brought her hopes up, then let them down. But he knew that she’d only be telling a gravestone.
Everything about me seemed so much different when I was young.
I couldn’t wait to take my place
He was fading in and out of his memories, remembering how badly he wanted to impress his parents. His mom was never proud, and his dad always was. Even when his father was sick, he still praised the boy. He praised him until he was six feet under. Then who told him how wonderful he was? No one.
Five years have passed.
Good god have I been gone?
“Yes, yes, it’s been five years.” Once-ler told himself, staring at his twiddling thumbs. “Five years since the Lorax left, five years since I messed everything up.” He hated admitting it, but that’s exactly how all this happened. Because of him. He peeked through the boards to see his once incredible project, Thneedville, sprouting with life. How long had he been locked up in this hoosegow of a home?
So why, I’ve never felt so alone in my whole life.
Time’s not on my side.
It didn’t matter because he knew he was bitterly alone. By himself, no brothers, aunts, uncles, or mothers to bother him. No one remembered him, or even came to check on him. So all he had was himself. He went to get an itch at his nose, and he felt his scraggly beard. He frowned, because he knew time had been eating him up. It was making him age, and he knew that without proper care, he wouldn’t be around much longer. And that didn’t bother him.
Hey mom I wrote you some soft songs.
And tell dad I’m just fine.
He was outside again, walking about. He thought that if he were going to die, he might as well take one last look at everything. He strode through the ruined soil, the tree stumps everywhere. He kept his eyes on his feet, and he strode up to a hill. The soil there was seemingly worse than where the trees once grew. He opened the creaky gates and stared at two headstones. They belonged to his mother and father. “Hey,” The Once-ler started, his throat closing up as tears welled in his eyes. “I came to say I miss you guys. I’m sorry for letting you down.” He knelt down, resting his fingertips on the top of his Dad’s grave. “Thanks for being an inspiration for me, telling me I could always do it.” His hand shifted to his mother’s grave. “And Mom, I’m sorry for letting you down. I hope I was a decent son to you at some point.”
We had to choose, we made our move
And now we gotta go,
And why’s this make me so nervous?
Why does everything go wrong?
He got off the ground, brushing the dirt from his knees. He went to turn to face the wasteland again. But he was scared, scared to face what he had done. So he faced it, and hung his head. He had created the ultimate failure.
I’m holding on to a fairytale,
We’re moving forward but we’re not there yet.
I’m holding on to a fairytale,
We’re moving forward,
We’re moving forward!
He went back to his home, waiting for someone to come and ask him about the trees. He had hoped that someone would come eventually, and that he could tell them. He could tell them the mistakes he made, the great times he had, and give them the seed in hopes they would do something good with it. He wanted someone to take it, maybe the Lorax would come back. Maybe.
((Slacky I hope you like this ;-; <3 It’s so bad so hate it if you want ))
