On the edge of a bustling city, there is a little apartment nestled inside a crumbling, brick building. And in this apartment is the Bucket family, which consists of Mr and Mrs. Bucket, Grandma and Grandpa Bucket, and of course, little Charlie Bucket, who on this particular day, stood looking wistfully off his balcony at the city before him. It was his favorite spot, and he felt that if he could not be part of the excitement below, he could at least watch it unfold. In the midst of the city was the most magical place, and the most mysterious: Wonka's Chocolate Factory. One could only fantasize about what it must be like inside that marvel of a building. There were plenty of rumours to go around, but nobody really knew.
Charlie inhaled a deep breath. He could almost taste the chocolate wafting in the air. With a sigh... he turned and went inside to kiss his mother goodbye. She was taking her mother's temperature, so he planted a short one on her cheek, offered a wave to his grandparents, and grabbed his bag before leaving the foul- smelling room.
As he shuffled down the street in his oversized sweater and sagging pants, he shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. Suddenly, looming in his path was something that demanded his eye's attention: a Wonka Candy Shop. It was crowded with children of all ages... exiting the revolving doors and shoving handfuls of candy into their mouths. Greedy fingers grasped chocolate bars already melting , and little round mouths were lined with stickiness. For an inexplicable moment, Charlie was mesmerized by it all. However he quickly came to his senses and kept walking, past the store his father worked at, and all the way to school. Poor Charlie was beginning to loathe it there, as he hadn't any friends. The other kids would watch videos on their brand new phones and devices, and some would vlog their entire school day for the world to see. Charlie had no such luxuries, and always found himself at a table for one.
«^»^«^»^«^»^«^»^«^»^«^»^«^»
Later that evening, a ruddy- faced little Charlie trudged back in his apartment and plopped his satchel down on the bed where his grandpa was sitting.
"Ahhh, Charlie!" Grandpa Joe exclaimed "Just in time! I was simply telling the story of Willy Wonka... I know you like that one."
Charlie sat down on the floor beside the rickety bed frame and listened with wide eyes to the story he had only heard a dozen times before.
Grandpa Joe cleared his throat, which induced a short coughing fit and much concern from Mrs. Bucket, but after a drink of water he began to tell the tale.
"Yes so as I was saying... Mr. Willy Wonka had gotten so popular that eventually he began franchising overseas. One Prince Pondicherry happened to love his chocolate so much that he ordered an entire palace of it. But it wasn't just the building, no.... everything was made of chocolate. The throne, the furniture, the floors. Everything. "
"Wow" Charlie mused, thinking very much how he'd love to have his own palace of the stuff.
"Of course, such fame in the chocolate world brought on a lot of competitors, who slowly infiltrated the ranks of his employees. Fickelgruber, Prodnose, and Slugworth began stealing his recipes and renaming them so they could sell them as their own. Wonka's nerds became Fickelgruber's Geeks, Pixie Stix became Prodnose Sprite Stakes... how he got around copyright, I have no idea. And then there was Wonka's crowning achievement, the everlasting gobstopper. It's the only candy that never loses its flavour, and never gets any smaller. Slugworth has been trying to get his grimy hands on it for the past fifteen years, but has yet to even come close.
Anyways, Wonka eventually sent everyone home in an attempt to flush out the spies. At the time we assumed the factory would reopen in a month or two, but it stayed closed for almost a year. "
Grandpa paused for dramatic effect and took another sip of water.
"But it didn't stay closed forever, grandpa!" Charlie piped in.
"Oh no" said grandpa " I thought i was crazy, but on the anniversary of the factory's grand opening, I saw the lights to the sign slowly light up again. People started cheering in the streets. The letters on the sign were fading in one at a time, as if Wonka himself was winking at us with his little joke. We weren't sure what to make of it until a few days later when the trucks started leaving the factory. They were delivering chocolate to stores!!
Rumour has it that he hired little men from overseas to make his chocolate for him. Some claim to have seen their shadows outside the factory late one night. They must've been no higher than my knee." Grandpa lifted his leg for emphasis.
"They say now that nobody ever enters or leaves the factory except for the little, mysterious men, and occasionally delivery drivers in their trucks. The windows are blacked out, though, so we can't even tell if there are drivers in the car. They are Tesla's, after all. "
Suddenly there was a harsh knock echoing throughout the small room.
Grandpa leaned back, content that he had provided entertainment with his story, and Mr. Bucket abruptly rose to answer the door . The swinging wooden frame revealed their stout neighbor, Roald, boasting a small cell phone in his right hand. Between his short, raspy breaths he managed to stutter: "You're going to want to see this."
