Author's Note: Well, I had this really long babble-thing planned, most of which was just a reply to IDOL HANDS' review, but I decided that that wasn't really as all-inclusive as I wanted it to be… So… Less of the random, more of the text. I hope so, anyway; it's either that or my handwriting got really big last night for no reason. ..;;; That would be bad, so everybody hope, all together now, that I actually wrote lots.
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Willy Wonka had been spending a lot more time in his office since claiming Charlie s his heir. More specifically, since he had rejected all those horrid other children. Anyway, it just so happened that he was finishing up a game of tic-tac-toe (he had gotten bored with working several hours ago and now had at least four pages of one-person tic-tac-toe and a recipe for chocolate-coated fried gumdrops) when all of a sudden there came a knock at the door.
"Come in," he called, grateful for the distraction, "I'm not doing anything important." The door swung open noisily, and there stood Charlie. The chocolatier's face broke into a wide smile.
"Oh, good, you are in here," said Charlie, shutting the door behind him as he stepped into the room. "It's so much easier to find you––at least when you're doing paperwork––since Mother made you join all your tiny offices into one big one…" The small boy broke off and gazed around the room. And… Was that a flicker of pride there on his face? No, no, must've been the light. After a moment, he shook himself from his trance.
"Anyway," he continued, "I was wondering if you felt like going for a walk. You haven't really seemed yourself these past few days, and I thought maybe some fresh air would do you good."
"You're right!" cried Willy Wonka, leaping to his feet. "I haven't been feeling very creative at all this week. Bt of a head cold, probably… Yes, a walk sounds quite nice:
Now, that was a bit of a lie. It was true that Mr. Wonka had not been feeling creative that week, and of course a walk sounded lovely. However, he knew quite well that it was not a head cold causing the temporary lapse in his brilliance. This was caused by several lawsuits he had been trying to deal with. Hearings and such were still To Be Decided, but he was hoping to reach some sort of out-of-court settlement.
-- mighazz! Scene change! --
Willy Wonka normally walked quickly, cheerfully, even skipped sometimes, usually chattering joyously about some kind of candy or other. Today, though, he was slower and completely silent (except for a few words here and there when Charlie asked him a question). It was almost as if he had something serious (!) on his mind. Charlie, on the other hand, bounced around like the energizer bunny; he had just had a bit of a binge in the Chocolate Room.
As the unlikely pair was passing a playground, Mr. Wonka mumbled something similar to, "Maybe I should fake my own death and move to Australia… Bet it's nice there… Not like Loompaland, that's for certain, not with all the ferocious beasts… I don't think I could live there…"
Because the man was mumbling, the only things Charlie could make out were phrases like "my own death" an "don't think I could live". Now, Charlie, was not a stupid boy, he could put two and two together and get six, so his mind quickly jumped to the most obvious conclusion.
"You're not planning on doing anything drastic, are you, Mr.Wonka?" he asked cautiously, stopping short to stare at his friend.
"No, no, I would never do something like that to you, my dear boy," laughed Willy Wonka. "At least, not until you're old enough to run the factory by yourself…
"Hey, look! They have swings here! Let's go on the swings!"
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Author's Note: Hwoo. That took longer than I wanted it to, mostly because it took three tries to get the plot right and I still hate it. Myaaaaah…
Um… Let's see, that's 575 words, which is about 30 more than the last one… So, it is longer, but not by any substantial amount.
So… I really have to go get ready to go to the lake now, so my ramblings will be cut short here.
…REVIEW.