Mr. Wonka let the others walk ahead so he could make sure no one was getting left behind, and you were the last one to walk into the large corridor that led outside the Inventing Room. But you suddenly tripped on the edge of the corridor's entryway. You yelped and squeezed your eyes shut to brace yourself for impact, but after just a split second of hearing a gasp, someone's arm broke your fall. You opened your eyes and looked down as you held on to the dark red sleeve of the arm holding you up from the floor. You looked up to the arm's owner and saw none other than Mr. Wonka looking down at you with a panicked but quickly relieved gaze.
"That was a close one! You gotta watch your step with these doors, they can trip people up pretty often." He winked, then lifted you back up to your feet. "Thank you..." You giggled slightly shaken, but happy. You gently hugged his torso and surprisingly, he allowed it, chuckling softly. He patted your head then nudged you to continue on, only he made sure you weren't going to trip on anything this time.
After leaving the Inventing Room and catching up with the others, you all walked along the bright corridor. You, Veruca, and Mike were in the front with Mr. Wonka while the two adults were in the back. "Without the boat, we'll have to move double-time just to keep on schedule. There's far too much to see."
"Willy?" You spoke up. "Yeah?" "Why did you decide to let people in?" You asked curiously, you'd wondered this for a while, and since there wasn't as much commotion you thought it'd be best to ask now.
"Well, so they could see the factory, of course!" He replied, smiling. "But why now? And why only five?" You tilted your head. Mr. Wonka was cut off from his thoughts by Mike.
"What's the special prize, and who gets it?" "The best kind of prize is a surprise." Mr. Wonka made a slightly exaggerated laugh at the end. Veruca abruptly pushed past Mike, causing him to stumble aside. "Will Violet always be a blueberry?" She asked. You knew she didn't care for her well-being, but she was curious to know what would become of her, probably for a laugh.
"No. Maybe. I don't know." Mr. Wonka corrected his answers in an unsure but seemingly unconcerned way. "But that's what you get from chewing gum all day, it's just disgusting." He added with a look of distaste. "If you hate gum so much, why do you make it?" Mike questioned Mr. Wonka with that same annoyingly rude tone.
"Once again, you really shouldn't mumble because it's kinda starting to bum me out." He brushed Mike off again. "Can you remember the first candy you ever ate?" You asked, curious to hear his answer.
At that, Mr. Wonka suddenly stopped walking, and his face became distant. "No..." His voice trailed off like back in the boat. You all stood there in silence, watching as he stared off at nothing for a few minutes, then he said: "I'm sorry, I was having a flashback."
"I see..." Mr. Salt held Veruca by her shoulders, eyeing Mr. Wonka like he wasn't mentally right, taking a step back. Mr. Teavee had the same kind of look. "These flashbacks happen often?" He questioned cautiously.
You for one were worried that you had done something wrong or Mr. Wonka was having a problem. "Increasingly... today." With that he continued walking, giving an odd, quiet chuckle. Everyone followed like normal, but everyone besides you was watching him with either skeptical, untrusting, or -in the other kids' cases- simply bored looks.
You soon came across another large, white, round doorway. The big letters read: "Nut Sorting Room'. Mr. Salt spoke proudly upon seeing it. "Ah, this is a room I know all about. For you see, Mr. Wonka, I, myself, am in the nut business." He handed Mr. Wonka a business card, and as soon as he took it in his gloved hand he tossed it behind him, Mr. Salt had been looking at the door in that moment so he hadn't noticed.
"Are you using the Havermax 4000 to do your sorting?" He inquired. Mr. Wonka laughed in-between his next sentence. "No... You're really weird." He then walked to the door and opened it, making sure you were still with him in the process. The room had the nonstop sound of nuts hitting metal and lots of squeaking bouncing off the walls.
The floor had white and blue in a swirly striped pattern, and in the center was a large hole. The whole area was full of numerous round seats that had squirrels sitting on each one. They were all being distributed nuts and they cracked the shells of each one they got, leaving the nut inside to go along a white half-pipe that led who knows where. Though occasionally they would toss one behind them into the hole.
You were on the very left with Mr. Wonka staying on your right, he was next to Veruca and Mr. Salt while they were next to Mike and Mr. Teavee. You held onto the railing that prevented anyone from going down, watching the squirrels with a smile. You had never seen squirrels so closely nor from a distance, due to the cold weather seeing them was a very rare sight, so you tried to take in as much detail as you could.
"Squirrels." Veruca said excitedly as she looked at all of them. "Yeah. Squirrels. These squirrels are specially trained to get the nuts out of shells." You looked up at the machine and watched as the nuts continued to fall from out of nowhere and into the top of the machine, then looked as the nuts fell into glass containers that were in front of the squirrels, the tubes that stuck out would shoot out a nut each time the squirrel finished one.
"Why use squirrels? Why not use Oompa-Loompas?" Mr. Salt asked. "Because only squirrels can get the whole walnut out almost every single time." Mr. Wonka explained. Mr. Salt nodded and continued to watch. "You see how they tap each one with their little knuckles to make sure it's not bad? Oh, look-look!" He pointed over to a squirrel on one end, and you saw it messing with it's nut, banging it against the edge of the half pipe and putting it to its ear.
Mr. Wonka furrowed his brow as he watched. "I think that one's got a bad nut." The squirrel tossed the nut behind it and it went rolling to the hole. Veruca looked up at her father and said demandingly: "Daddy, I want a squirrel. Get me one of those squirrels. I want one." You gulped, fearing that this was going to end badly like with Augustus and Violet.
"Veruca, dear, you have many marvelous pets." Mr. Salt tried to convince her. "All I've got at home is one pony and two dogs and four cats and six bunny rabbits and two parakeets and three canaries and a green parrot and a turtle, and a silly old hamster. I want a squirrel!" Veruca stated angrily. You and Mr. Wonka both eyed her dumbfoundedly, she certainly was a spoiled brat.
"All right, pet. Daddy will get you a squirrel just as soon as he possibly can." Mr. Salt gave in. "But I don't want any old squirrel, I want a trained squirrel." Veruca added. "Very well." Mr. Salt nodded. Mr. Wonka glanced back at you slightly on edge, you looking at him the same way. He tried to cover up his nervousness by smiling again.
"Mr. Wonka." Mr. Wonka looked to Mr. Salt. "How much do you want for one of these squirrels? Name your price." Veruca then looked up at Mr. Wonka with a wide, fake smile. "Oh, they're not for sale. She can't have one." Mr. Wonka refused. With that Veruca's face turned into an angry, puffed up look. She quickly and almost ferociously turned to her dad again. "Daddy." Mr. Salt flinched back slightly, almost as if he were frightened a bit.
You couldn't blame him, you'd be scared too if you were in his shoes. You already were just by being in the same room as her.
Mr. Wonka puckered his lips and did an impression of Mr. Salt, and you tried to stifle a giggle of amusement at his childish joke. "I'm sorry, darling. Mr. Wonka's being unreasonable." Veruca then stated to her father: "If you won't get me a squirrel, I'll get one myself." Then suddenly shoved past Mr. Wonka, leaving you unprotected. You cowered as she stepped up to you.
"And you'll be going with me." She growled with a sneer. "W-Why me?" You asked feebly. She said nothing and pulled you to the gate, pushing you to go through. "Go. Now." She continued to order you. You saw Mr. Salt's expression, and he seemed to surprisingly be concerned for you.
You unwillingly squeezed yourself through the gate and went down the first set of steps, pausing once you reached the middle, then looked back as Veruca did the same. Mike had his arms folded over the railing, seemingly not caring about the matter, though his father seemed to be uneasy. Mr. Wonka quickly stepped back to the railing and gave you a very worried look, then he suddenly gasped in shock. You wondered what was wrong until you unexpectedly got a shoe to the back, and you went falling down the rest of the steps, some scratches being left on your face from them upon impact. Fortunately, there weren't that many, so it was only a few seconds before you were flat on the cold, smooth floor.
"Owww..." You whimpered as you crawled away from the stairs. You got up to your knees and rubbed your face, trying to resist the tears that started to fill your eyes. Veruca abruptly grabbed you by the sleeve, forcing you to get up and stumble to keep up with her. For a girl around your age, she had one heck of a grip when she was unhappy!
"Veruca, leave that girl be and come back here at once." Mr. Salt tried to command her, but Veruca kept walking like she didn't even hear him, even though he kept repeating her name. She continued to drag you, then she looked over at a certain squirrel and made her way over to it. Soon enough all the squirrels began to look at you and Veruca one by one, watching you with their beady black eyes.
"Little girl?" Mr. Wonka spoke, then his tone changed to a cautious one. "Don't touch that squirrel's nuts. It'll make him crazy!" He tried to warn her. All the squirrels' silenced their squeaks as she approached the one on the very end, and she finally released you. You looked back at Mr. Wonka fearfully, and he motioned for you to come back. You slowly began to back away, unsure of what was going to happen.
You gulped and felt your heart begin to race as she slowly reached out to the squirrel. "I'll have you." She stated. Once her hands were just a few inches from it, it squeaked and jumped down making her gasp, then all the other squirrels jumped from their seats, charging at Veruca. You tried to stay away from her while dodging the squirrels that ran past you, but then some of them started to go after you as well.
"(Y/n), run!" You heard Mr. Wonka call worriedly. You turned around and ran to the stairs as fast as you could, but five of the squirrels beat you to them, blocking your way. You staggered back and tried to keep away from the squirrels. "No!" You heard Veruca cry as the squirrels climbed onto her, eventually she fell and they began to pin her down to the ground.
"Daddy!" Veruca called to her father. "Veruca!" Mr. Salt called back, very high-strung. You ran as some of the squirrels chased after you, but there was no where you could run to that the squirrels wouldn't be. You tried to run to the back of the area in hopes of getting some distance, but the same ones from the stairs cut you off again. You tried to run back, but they cut you off once more, not letting you get even a step closer to safety.
You saw Mr. Wonka struggling to find the right key to the gate with an extremely panicked expression on his face, his eyes repeatedly flickering from the keyring to look back at you. The other squirrels had completely pinned Veruca to the ground, arm by arm and leg by leg. "Daddy, I want them to stop!" One jumped onto her chest, stepping up to her head. It banged on her forehead, then put an ear to it. "What are they doing?" Mr. Salt asked anxiously. "They're testing to see if she's a bad nut." Mr. Wonka answered, watching Veruca.
The squirrel squeaked loudly. "Oh, my goodness. She is a bad nut after all." Mr. Wonka simply stated, clearly already knowing this but saying it as if he didn't.
The squirrels worked together to lift her up and turn her around, then carried her off to the middle of the room towards the hole, you continued to slowly back away as the squirrels you were dealing with continued to close in on you. "Veruca!" Mr. Salt continued to call to her again. "Daddy!"
"Where are they taking her?" Mr. Salt asked. "Where all the other bad nuts go. To the garbage chute." Mr. Wonka answered as-a-matter-of-factly. "Where does the chute go??"
"To the incinerator."
Your eyes widened in fear, if you ended up in the chute you'd be in pretty big trouble.
"But don't worry, we only light it on Tuesdays." "Today is Tuesday." Mike instantly spoke up. "...Well, there's always the chance that they decided not to light it today..." Mr. Wonka didn't sound so confident.
You couldn't keep looking up at the others, you had to keep an eye on the squirrels, which were continuing to creep closer. You could hear Veruca's nails clawing against the ground as the squirrels continued to carry her, then she yelled as she fell into the hole, her cry echoing briefly.
Everyone's gaze lifted from the hole to you, Mr. Wonka looking especially scared for you, and you knew exactly why. You yelped in horror as all of the squirrels made their way towards you, not one faltering in speed even after carrying Veruca away. You tried to run around them, but they cornered you. You backed away in fear, and you looked up briefly to see Mr. Wonka trying much more desperately to find the right key.
As you backed up against the wall, one of them climbed onto your shoulder. You didn't try to push it off, scared that you might hurt it or make it angry. It started sniffing you as if it were inspecting you, it tickled slightly. Then, it squeaked and jumped off, and all of the squirrels ran off back to their seats, returning to their nut business. You stood there in complete shock, and everyone else, including Mr. Wonka, stared the same way.
"What just happened?" Mr. Teavee asked in confusion. "I... I'm not sure." Mr. Wonka replied with a stunned voice. "Why didn't they attack her like they did with Veruca?" Mr. Salt inquired in disbelief.
"...I'm just as confused as you all are." Mr. Wonka confessed. Mr. Wonka finally found the right key and opened the gate. "C'mon, (Y/n), hurry and get out of there before something else happens." Mr. Wonka advised, motioning for you to come to him.
You didn't waste another moment, you bolted from the wall, running around the hole and racing up the stairs. Once back to the top you practically fell into Mr. Wonka, holding him by the torso and shaking like a leaf out of fear. He pet your head to comfort you as he spoke to Mr. Salt. "Now, she may be stuck in the chute just below the top. If that's the case, all you have to do is just reach in and pull her out. 'Kay?" He then stepped aside carefully pulling you along with him, then shut the gate as Mr. Salt went down.
You sniffled and clung to Mr. Wonka for dear life, feeling the tears coming back. Mr. Wonka knelt down and held you gently to his chest, still petting your head and shushing you softly. "Sh sh shh... It's okay, you're safe now. Those squirrels can't get you from up here." He whispered sweetly. After a minute, you heard music playing, and you wiped one of your eyes with your sleeve as you looked over.
Mr. Wonka held you closely next to him as Oompa-Loompas in yellow suits started to sing and dance around, the song had a calming and serene tune, just the thing that could help you calm down a bit more. You giggled a little as Mr. Wonka nodded his head along with the tune like before, smiling at you playfully.
Veruca Salt, the little brute
Has just gone down the garbage chute
And she will meet, as she descends
A rather different set of friends
A rather different set of friends
A rather different set of friends
A fish head, for example, cut
This morning from a halibut
An oyster from an oyster stew
A steak that no one else would chew
And lots of other things as well
Each with its rather horrid smell
Horrid smell
These are Veruca's newfound friends
That she will meet as she descends
These are Veruca's newfound friends
Mr. Salt stepped down the second set of stairs, and the Oompa-Loompas used this as part of the dance.
Who went and spoiled her, who indeed?
Who pandered to her every need?
Who turned her into such a brat?
Who are the culprits?
Who did that?
A squirrel jumped from its seat and came up from behind Mr. Salt, running up fast.
The guilty ones, now this is sad
Are dear old Mum
An Oompa-Loompa tossed a portrait of who must have been Veruca's mother into the hole.
and loving
Dad
At the last word, the squirrel kicked Mr. Salt in the rump, making him lose his balance and go barreling down the hole with an echoing cry. You and Mr. Wonka looked at each other, both of you trying not to giggle at what had just happened. An Oompa-Loompa tugged on Mr. Wonka's sleeve, and he leaned closer as the Oompa-Loompa whispered in his ear. "Oh, really? Oh, good!" Mr. Wonka stood up and said: "I've just been informed that the incinerator's broken. So there should be about three weeks of rotten garbage to break their fall."
"Well, that's good news." Mr. Teavee responded, slightly sarcastic. "Yeah. Well, let's keep on trucking." He concluded, and motioned for them to move on. The two walked out and Mr. Wonka knelt down to you again.
"You okay?" He asked, placing a gloved hand on your head again. You smiled and nodded, wiping the remaining tears in your eyes away. "Thank you, Willy." You giggled happily. He chuckled and nodded back, standing up and once again rubbing your head before motioning for you to go on.
As you walked away, you wondered why the squirrel let you go after smelling you, and out of curiosity you smelled your worn-out sweater. The cotton had the fragrance of chocolate mixed with something else, you eventually figured out it was coconut. When Mr. Wonka wasn't looking you took a whiff of his coat and noticed it smelled the same. Perhaps when he'd caught you from your fall his scent stuck to your sweater, and the squirrel thought that since you smelled like him, you were automatically a good nut.
Well, at least they didn't try to crack open your forehead.
You had a feeling that this tour was going to be over soon, and you weren't exactly excited about it. You just hoped you could savor the little time you had left here for as long as you could.