𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 ; 𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐑

13. | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

Fun fact,

this was supposed
to be the last chapter,
but I ended up changing
some things because I'm
not ready to let this story
go just yet without a
bang of drama added to it (;

•

"we were happy,"

•

 

  The halls had been kept dark for so long, that you couldn't remember when the last time you saw the sun was. But right now, you needed to see it.
Onceler shut out any ounce of light that allowed him to see what he had done. The forest was dead, and every creature, and person, left it. Except for you. You . . you were still here. But mostly because you still cared. About, well, everything really. Him, the forest.

You keep your promises, so you couldn't leave even if you wanted to.

Onceler was someone you still loved, and it was plain as day. It just hurt so much, with everything that happened. Betwixt you both, and with everything else. The lies, the excuses, the Lorax.

 
You'd walked over to the factory from the house, a bare neck, with no thneed to cover your face from the smog. It was a painfully long seeming walk, having to pass by the dried up, sludgy river, even though in reality the time it would take for you to walk from the house to the factory, was maybe only ten minuets.

The door was heavy, and the lights were almost all turned off. You would have to constantly re-open the curtains, (not that you really wanted to look outside either), just to see inside. The curtains were heavy, but you managed to shove them across the rod, just about every time you'd stop in. Only for you to leave, and find Onceler closing them again.

Letters pile up under the front door, getting kicked or pushed to the side. Sometimes you'd go through them, reading the inportants.

People were mad at him. You, too. But, mostly him. You've had to break up a fight a couple days ago, because someone from the protester group actually managed to get a good swing at Onceler's eye.
Honestly, well deserved. You decided to call it an even slate for the shit he put you through.

 
You'd even managed to settle down some of the protesters and rioters that were camping on the deserted forest grounds, and make your face on the news, alone. Promising to fix what you two had broken. It lightened things up a little bit for the two of you- - but mostly you.

Long, slow strides take you up the endless sets of stairs. You trail up to Onceler's office door, and your hand pressed against it.
You knock softly, and await an answer of some sort. When silence only answered you, your foot conflicts in pivoting away, but you just couldn't. You've avoided this room for weeks, and it was time to face it.

With a deep breath in, you reach for the door handle and turn it so that you could contend whatever lies on the other side of the door.

When you see inside the room, you couldn't figure out what was more depressing- - the Onceler, sitting with his head buried into his arms atop the office desk, or the darkness and dust cluttering up the corners of the room that he's been sitting in.

Your heart broke a little more with each step that took you forward, the door gently closing behind you. "Once?" You didn't mean to whisper, but the silence was too loud to speak up.
The frantic state of mind began to take over, and you cautiously walk to his side. Your hand gently falls to his shoulder, fingertips grazing his coat, still not getting any type of reaction from him. The thneed- - your thneed, was wrapped around his neck.