Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - Male OC Insert

Chapter 2 - The Story of Wonka

In the evenings, after he had finished his dinner, Charlie always went into the room of his four grandparents to listen to their stories, and afterwards to say goodnight.

Every one of these seniors was over the age of 90. They were quite shrivelled and underweight. Throughout the day, until Charlie made his appearance, they lay huddled in their one bed with their nightcaps on to keep their heads warm, dozing the time away with nothing to do. But as soon as they heard the door opening, and heard Charlie's greetings to everyone, then all four of them would suddenly sit up and their faces would light up with smiles of pleasure, and the talking would begin. For they loved the little boy dearly. He was the only bright thing in their lives, and his evening visits were something that they looked forward to all day long. Often, Charlie's mother and father would come in as well and stand by the door, listening to the stories that the old folks told; and thus, for perhaps half an hour every night, this room would become a happy place and the whole family would forget that it was hungry and poor.

"Is it true that Wonka's factory is the biggest in the world?" Charlie asked Grandpa Joe, Mr. Bucket's father, one evening.

"True?" Grandpa Joe echoed. "My dear boy, Mr. Willy Wonka is the most extraordinary chocolate maker the world has ever seen!"

"You think so?" Charlie asked, his eyes gleaming.

"I know so!" Grandpa Joe answered. "I saw Willy Wonka with my own two eyes! I used to work for him, you know."

Charlie's eyes widened. "You did?"

Grandpa Joe nodded. "I did." The other seniors affirmed.

"Of course, I was a much younger man in those days." Grandpa Joe continued. "Only, say, sixty-five or seventy."

Grandpa Joe paused for a minute, recalling the memories he had working for the candy-making genius.

"Twenty-five years ago, Willy Wonka began with a small store on Cherry Street, but the whole world wanted his candy." Grandpa Joe explained to Charlie. "Willy Wonka had the knack for candy. He could make tiny candy-coated eggs that you sucked on for only a few seconds, and they hatched into little chocolate birds."

Charlie was amazed.

"The man was a genius." Grandpa Joe went on. "Did you know he invented a new way of making chocolate ice cream so that it stays cold for hours, without a freezer? You can even leave it lying in the sun for hours on a hot day, and it won't go runny!"

Charlie's eyes widened. "But that's impossible!"

"But Willy Wonka did it!" Grandpa Joe exclaimed. "Before long, he decided to build a proper chocolate factory. I had retired by then, mind you, this was only fifteen years ago. It was the largest chocolate factory in history, fifty times as big as any other! The opening day was a media sensation!"

While they were talking, Mr. and Mrs. Bucket had come quietly into the room and stood just inside the door, listening.

"Tell him about the Indian Prince." Grandma Josephine said. "He'd like to hear about that."

"You mean Prince Pondicherry!" Grandpa Joe recalled. "Well, Prince Pondicherry wrote a letter to Mr. Wonka and asked him to come all the way out to India and build him a colossal palace entirely out of chocolate."

"Did he do it?" Charlie asked.

"He did indeed, and what a palace it was!" Grandpa Joe answered. "It had over one hundred rooms and everything was made out of either white or dark chocolate. The bricks were chocolate, and even the cement holding them together was chocolate! All the walls and ceilings were made out of chocolate as well! So were the carpets and the pictures and the furniture. Even the telephone was chocolate! Prince Pondicherry was pleased as punch.

"Mr. Wonka said it wouldn't last long, though, and that the Prince had better start eating right away. But Prince Pondicherry said, 'Nonsense! I will not eat my palace. I intend to live in it!'

"But Mr. Wonka was right, of course. Soon afterward, there came a very hot day, with a boiling sun. The entire palace melted away in the course of an hour. It was all Prince and Princess Pondicherry could do to escape with their lives and not drown in liquid chocolate! Soon after, he sent an urgent telegram to Mr. Wonka in request of a new palace. But Willy Wonka was facing problems of his own.

"You see, Charlie, all the other candy makers had grown jealous of Mr. Wonka. They began sending in spies to steal his secret recipes. Fickelgruber started making an ice cream that would never melt. Prodnose then came out with a chewing gum that never lost its flavour. Then Slugworth soon began marketing candy balloons that you could blow up to incredible sizes and then pop with a pin. The thievery got so bad that one day, without warning, Willy Wonka formally apologised to his workers and told every single one of them to go home. He announced that he was closing his chocolate factory indefinitely."

Charlie furrowed his eyebrows. "But it didn't close forever. It's open right now."

"Ah yes, but sometimes when grownups say forever, they mean a very long time." Mrs. Bucket informed her son.

"Such as, I feel as if I've eaten nothing but cabbage soup, forever." Grandpa George explained.

"The factory did close, Charlie." Grandma Josephine added.

"And it seemed as if it were going to be closed forever." Grandpa Joe chimed in. "But one day, we saw smoke rising from the chimneys. The factory was back in business!"

"Did you get your job back?" Charlie asked hopefully.

Grandpa Joe shook his head. "No. No one did."

"But there must be people working there!" Charlie was incredibly puzzled.

"Think about it, Charlie." Grandma Josephine said. "Have you ever seen a single person going into that factory, or coming out of it?"

"No." Charlie responded. "The gates are always closed."

"Exactly!" Grandpa Joe exclaimed.

"But then, who's running the machines?" Charlie inquired.

"Nobody knows, Charlie." Mrs. Bucket answered.

"It certainly is a mystery." Mr. Bucket added.

"But that's absurd!" Charlie cried. "Hasn't someone asked Mr. Wonka?"

"Nobody sees him anymore." Grandpa Joe said. "He never goes out. The only thing that comes out of that place is the candy, already packed and addressed. I'd give anything in the world to see that man and his business one more time, and see what's become of that amazing factory."

"Well you won't, because you can't." Grandpa George added gruffly. "No one can! It's a mystery, and it will always be a mystery. That model factory of yours, Charlie, is as close as any of us is ever going to get."

It was then that Mrs. Bucket spoke up. "Come on, Charlie. I think it's time you let your grandparents get some sleep."

So Charlie bid his grandparents goodnight, and settled down in bed, millions of thoughts running around in his head.