A/N: These are going to be a series of one-shots based on various thoughts I've had while watching the movie The Lorax. Please read, enjoy, and review!

1: So what did the Once-ler do after the Lorax was lifted away?

...

The Lorax had warned me, I didn't listen. Look where it got me. Two weeks after the annoying orange fuzz ball left, I was still lurking quietly in my former office. Slouched back in my chair, feet up on the desk and the model of 'Thneedville' lying broken on the floor, I contemplated my situation for the thousandth time. For the last two weeks I had sat in my chair. For the last two weeks I had been staring a hole straight through my desk and then straight through the floor. I was going a little stir-crazy.

It's my fault.

It's my fault.

It's my fault.

Shut up.

It's my fault.

Sigh...

I hadn't come to a solution yet, but thinking about it wasn't about to get boring. The constant lump in my throat and the knot of guilt in the pit of my stomach would make sure of that – what I'd done was impossible to forget, and I'd certainly never forgive myself. But as I sat slumped in my chair, I made a resolution. It wouldn't do me – nor anyone else – any good if I did nothing. With a new purpose in mind I scrambled up from my chair and hopped over the desk, almost tripping myself when I just barely cleared it. Finally, I had something to do! This terrible boredom had been far worse than the half-insane ranting I had succumbed to on my initial trip to the Truffula forest... Unfortunately, this new boredom couldn't be quenched; it was mingled with a mind-numbing sense of dread and unbearable loneliness.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I looked back to the building from which I had come, feeling a sudden surge of hate rise up from my lungs, and I screamed at the nothing that cared to hear. The factory that I had so carefully and lovingly designed was now my worst regret. After a moment of deep breathing – followed by several coughing fits – I continued on towards the opposite building, and quickly snatched all that I'd need, running outside and away towards the schloppy, gloopy, river. And I walked. I walked for the entire day, following the river through the empty air, not bothering to look up from the ground. There was nothing to see, only dead Truffula stumps all around; I already knew what the sky looked like, smoky and grey and thick with smog. But as I kept my gaze lowered, I was searching. Hour after hour, I searched to no end until nightfall. Even then, I refused to stop. I wandered all night, straying from the sluggish river to search among the hills and valleys. There was no moon, and my only source of light was an old electric illuminator that my family used to use on the farm. That seemed like such a long time ago...

By the next day, I could barely keep my eyes open, but I forced myself to continue my search. That is, until I finally collapsed from exhaustion. Greyish dust curled up around me when I fell, settling down over my clothes and stopping up my lungs. Yet another coughing fit followed. Right there on the ground, I passed out.

When I woke, I took a guess and assumed it was midday – hard to tell when the sky's so grey. I got up from the ground and went on my way. I looked far and wide across the countless fields of Truffula stumps, until finally I found it. It was sitting peacefully at the foot of a particularly massacred-looking Truffula stump, half-buried in dried-up dirt and just a little bit scuffed. I picked it up gingerly in my long green gruvvulous gloves, wiping it off and looking it over, tears welling up in my eyes. I had it in my hand, the one thing that everyone truly needs.

A small but significant Truffula seed.

A/N: Hope you like it so far! Stay tuned for the next one-shot!