Differences

A/N: Okay, this is a companion piece to 'They've Done so Much to You' but it doesn't really need to be read for you to understand, because this is a bit of a prequel to that one, where you get to see, through the Lorax's eyes, when and why he decided to try and drive the Once-ler's family out of the forest. I just really love Once-ler/Lorax friendship stuff, and I really thought that the Lorax might notice how badly Once-ler's family treated him, but...he never did.

Anyway, much like my other story, 'They've Done so Much to You', I'm considering turning this into more of a chapter story, but it'd be the story through the Lorax's eyes, while 'They've Done so Much to You' is the story through the Once-ler's eyes...

Should the Lorax have noticed? He didn't know. If he really hated the Beanpole as much as he said he did, he definitely shouldn't have. But then, he was known for being observant.

He sighed, watching it unfold before him, the routine now heartbreakingly familiar. On second thought, he decided, Beanpole wasn't all that bad.

But how he had wound up different from that dysfunctional mess of a family…

Yes, that family was the cause of the Lorax's troubles. It wasn't just because they thought they could stride in here and take over the whole forest, although that was certainly part of it. The thing that really bothered him was that the family was just plain mean. Not to him, of course, because they rarely ever saw him. He stayed mostly in the forest whenever they were around, but he heard enough yelling coming from the direction of the little cottage and he heard enough snippets of conversation to know. They weren't mean to him, but they were mean to his Beanpole!

And his Beanpole seemed quite used to it, even to expect it. But he was…different around his family. In more ways than one.

1. He never played guitar.

This was odd in and of itself. The Lorax didn't think he'd ever seen Beanpole without the familiar black and white instrument slung around his neck, and the sight of it was odd. Not just odd, but unsettling. And even when he did have it, his hands would go to the strings in nervous habit, only to stray instantly away again at his mother's look of disapproval.

She would shake her head and heave a sigh. A look of hurt would flash in his blue eyes. In the next instant, it was gone and his hands were back by his sides in a gesture of studied obedience. His mother couldn't have cared less; just so long as he quit fiddling around with that silly old guitar, she was happy.

But the Lorax noticed, and the Lorax cared. He surprised himself by feeling anger towards that horrible woman. Who was she to make his Beanpole feel self-conscious about his music?

2. He never danced or sang.

Even disconnected from the other things, this, in itself, was a worrying observation. Beanpole was naturally an optimistic, energetic person and to see him walking around, straight-backed and stiff as a robot, made the Lorax think. He would watch his Beanpole when the boy was away from his family, and there were a few moments when it would seem that he was loosening up, whistling and skipping just a bit. And then a family member would suddenly appear, and it was back to that robot walk again. Straight-backed and stiff.

3. He never ate

As a rule, Beanpole didn't eat much, or so it seemed to the Lorax. But it seemed that no food ever passed his lips when his family was around. His mouth was always pressed into a thin line, his eyes flicking nervously from face to face as he watched them chew, and he'd poke sadly at the food with his own fork, but he wouldn't pick it up or eat it. And that made the Lorax wonder, too.

4. He didn't give a genuine smile

Now, this one wasn't entirely true, but it was good enough for the Lorax to add to his mental list of their wrongdoings against Beanpole. His smiles around his family were careful, guarded, like he expected them to laugh at him at any moment. There was one quick quirk of the lips the Lorax remembered seeing, and that quirk grew bigger and bigger until it formed the happiest, widest smile the guardian had ever seen. A smile that literally sang of glee. And it made him sick to remember it, Beanpole's mother throwing her arms around him, saying, "Oh, Oncie, you've made me so proud!"

Beanpole blinked for a second, his mouth falling into a perfect 'O'. And then it relaxed into a wonderful smile, the smile that meant that he felt truly loved and cared for, wanted for the first time in his life.

And the Lorax hated that woman even more, for never giving his Beanpole a reason to smile like that once in his life.

5. He was anxious

Thin and pale, his Beanpole generally seemed anxious about something, but now there was a concrete reason behind it, something the Lorax could not ignore. A forced smile, a bright yet false laugh…why didn't his family notice that he expected them to leave him? The Lorax wondered furiously, and then it hit him. It wasn't that they didn't notice; it was that they didn't care. They were planning to leave him behind anyway, because in the end, it wouldn't matter if they hurt Beanpole's feelings, or made him feel just as horrible as they always had. No, all that mattered to them was how much money had he made, how popular were his thneeds, and they certainly were getting more than ten percent of all profits, right? They were his family, after all! They'd raised him, they said.

No. No, they hadn't, the Lorax thought angrily, a terrible rage bubbling up in him. And that marked his decision to drive them out of the forest.