I walked into my small room and went over to the barred window. I looked across the rooftops and the slums, the golden dome of the Galleries Gourmet seemed so far away. “Room service!” I heard a familiar voice call, I smiled and turned to see Noodle standing in the doorway holding a bucket. “I told you to read the small print.” she scolded.
“Hm. Well there is a slight problem with that.” I began hesitantly.
“You can't read, can you?” Was it that obvious?
“I focused my studies almost exclusively on chocolate.” I explained.
“I see.”
“For everything else, I've relied on the kindness of strangers.”
“And look where that's got you: the Staff Quarters. You've got a bed.” I sat on my bed but it collapsed underneath me. I’ll have to ask Piper to fix it, she seems the most experienced with that kinda thing. “You had a bed. Desk. And wash basin slash toilet. Water comes in two temperatures. 'Cold' and 'Colder'.” she said and turned on the faucet to demonstrate and I noticed that the wash basins are marked. “How much do you owe them?”
“Ten thousand.”
“Count yourself lucky. I owe thirty.” I was caught off guard when she said that.
“What? How do you owe them money? I thought they found you down the laundry chute.”
“Oh they did. Took me in out of the goodness of their hearts and charged me for the privilege.” She said sarcastically.
“You’re kidding me.” I said in disbelief.
“It's not so bad. If I keep my nose clean, I'll be out of here by the time I'm eighty-two.”
“What a pair of monsters.’’ I said angrily. They had no right to do what they did to Noodle, she was just a baby. She was a victim of circumstance and she couldn’t help it. There is no reason to charge her.
“ The greedy beat the needy every time, Mr Wonka. Guess it’s just the way of the world.” she said and poured something into a bowl for my dinner before leaving.
That reminded me of what Mrs. Scrubbit said about orphan syndrome. She didn’t trust anyone and believed that everyone was corrupt. I hoped that I could prove her wrong. “Oh come on, Noodle, that's just your orphan syndrome talking.”
She reappeared at the doorway “My what?”
“Your Orphan Syndrome. And we're certainly not going to be eating any slops.” I picked up my sample case and put it on top of the desk.
“What are you doing?”
“Making chocolate of course. How do you like it? Dark? White? Nutty? Totally insane.”
“I don't know. I've never had any.” Noodle shrugged.
My brain stopped functioning, I was so shocked at this revelation that I could barely form words. “Y-youneverhadchocolate?” She shook her head no and my brain finally allowed me to speak properly. “What?! You've never had chocolate?”
“No.”
“You've never had CHOCOLATE?!!” I asked still in disbelief.
“Still no.” She said probably questioning my sanity.
This just won’t do. “Well we'll soon put that right. Fortunately I have a selection of the world's finest ingredients right here in my travel factory.” I opened my sample case which concertas out like magic. Inside was an almost impossible array of flasks and beakers, a miniature gas stove, and jars of ingredients.
“Woah!” Noodle said in amazement.
I ignored it and started thinking of what chocolate to make, “Where to start, that's the question... Ah! I know! Silver Linings! Made of condensed thunder clouds and liquid sunlight. Helps you see that faint ray of hope beyond the shadow of despair. Just what we need, wouldn't you say?” I asked looking over at Noodle and before I grabbed the ingredients and started making it.
“Did you always want to make chocolate?” Noodle asked curiously.
“Oh no. Back when I was your age, I wanted to be a magician. My Mom was the cook. We lived on the river, just the two of us, in a perfect little world of our own…” The framed postcard of a tree inside my case slipped over revealing the first image of an old mutoscope film which started to play.
A barge chugged around a bend in the river. A twelve year old me walked along the roof towards the stern where his mother stood, steering. “The way I remember it, I spent every waking hour trying to come up with some new trick or other to impress my Mom…” I seemingly magically summoned an apple.
“Bravo!” my mom cheered.
“But the real magic came from her.”
***Flash Back***
My mom was making chocolate while I lay down in bed. “We didn’t have a lot of money but each week she brought home one cocoa bean, and by the time my birthday came around, there was enough to make a single bar of chocolate. But it wasn’t just any old chocolate. Far from it.” She handed me a spoon to lick the leftover chocolate.
“This has to be the best chocolate in the world!” twelve year old me said.
“I don't know about that. They say the very best comes from a place called the Galeries Gourmet.” my mom responded modestly.
“Theirs can’t be any better than yours, Mamma. It’s impossible.”
“Well, as it so happens, I do have a little secret even those fancy pants don’t.”
“What is it?”
My mom took the spoon, “I’ll tell you... when you’re older. Now get to sleep!” I layed back down and stared up through the window on the ceiling looking up at the moon in my bunk before I came up with an idea.
“We should go, Mamma.”
"Where's that then?’’
‘‘To the Galeries Gourmet!’’
‘‘What? And start a shop?!’’
“Yes! With our name above the door and everything!”
“Oh I can see it now! Tables piled high with chocolate.”
“And the tables would be made of chocolate. The whole shop would be made of chocolate.’’
“That's a wonderful dream, Willy.”
I faltered and the clouds covered the moon, “Is that all it is? Just a dream?”
“Hey now. Every good thing in this world started with a dream. So you hold onto yours. And when you do share chocolate with the world, I'll be right there beside you.” my mom comforted me.
“You promise?”
“I can do better than that. I pinkie promise. Now sleep.” Contented, I settled down to sleep. My mom crossed over to a table where she picked up a pen and wrote, on a home-made chocolate wrapper, the single word “WONKA.”
***End of Flashback***
“So what was it, Willy? What was her secret?” Noodle asked.
“I never found out. Soon after, she fell sick and before I knew it, all I had left was her chocolate.”
YOU ARE READING
We Can Create a World of Our Own: A Lottie Bell and Willy Wonka story
Fanfiction"Why did you stop taking? You have a beautiful voice." "I stopped talking because my big mouth got myself into trouble. I shared information that I shouldn't have... they took advantage of that. I couldn't let it happen again." "I promise I won't hu...
