The announcment

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Our story begins in a small, cramped room that had rotting hardwood floors, crumbling plaster walls, and a cracked ceiling that had water damage with mold everywhere. There wasn't much in the little room, besides a metal wire bed frame, with a sorry excuse of a mattress on it, and if you were to sit on it you would most certainly get up immediately, because you could feel the frame through the mattress itself. It had no sheets, and the only thing that you could really cover yourself with was a single, thin, ragged blanket that could barely be called a blanket, although it had been stitched back together multiple times over the years. The door that lead into the room was nearly broken, and ready to fall off of it's hinges.

Atlas, a small, ill-nourished young boy was shivering underneath his sole blanket, as the night had been colder then most. He awoke, his teeth chattering, and sat up, pulling the blanket around him. He quite liked it, despite its ragged appearance, and kept trying to repair it with what little fabric he could get his hands on. His 'family' was downstairs, living much better then he was. He had his mother, his father, both sets of grandparents, and three working children, all who bullied Atlas to no end with little mercy. The rest of his family spoiled the three, and actually encouraged the bullying, sometimes joining in. Atlas constantly had multiple bruises all over his body, and multiple times he had flares of pain from his bones if he moved them too quickly or they were jostled too harshly.

It sucked, but he'd been dealing with it for years, and had no doubt in his mind he'd die before the age of 25. He'd come to terms with it long before, and enjoyed what he could.

It had been a week since Willy Wonka, a person Atlas admired, had announced the news about the golden ticket, and four of them had already been found. No one knew where the last ticket was, and Atlas knew that he wouldn't get the chance to even see Willy Wonka before he shut himself off again.

Thankfully, it was Sunday, which was when his family went to church, so he had a few hours to himself. Granted, it would be at least an hour till they actually left, so Atlas waited patiently until they were gone to start moving.

He carried his blanket with him everywhere, not even letting it touch the ground when he went for a walk. He walked to the candy store, looking at the display with sadness, and slight hunger. He hugged the blanket closer around his body, staring at the candy absentmindedly, when he felt a tap on his side. He looked down slightly, and found a young boy holding a candy bar out to him with a grin. "You looked like you wanted some candy. Here!" Atlas stared at him in astonishment, then slowly took the candy bar, and held it close to him. "Thank... you..." he said softly, sounding unsure. He didn't use his voice much, so it sort of crackled softly when he spoke.

He went to an alleyway, deciding on opening his candy there, so that nobody could protest at him eating a candy bar. He opened it, and stared in astonishment and wonder at the fifth and final golden ticket that was resting inside. He knew he had to hide it, else his family would take away his only chance at meeting THE Willy Wonka, and he was determined not to let that happen.

Eating some of the chocolate, he nearly burst into tears at how the chocolate melted on his tongue. He'd only had chocolate once, and that was when he had turned 5 on his birthday. He ate it quickly, for the family returned at around noon, and it was already ten o'clock. They didn't expect much of him on Sundays, thankfully, only that he was in his room and staying quiet.

Sprinting home, he managed to find a decent hiding spot in his room to hide the ticket, and it was in between a space underneath the floor boards. Monday night he'd have to get it, and sneak out of the house while everyone was asleep.

~Le skip to Tuesday~

Atlas, after some very, very careful sneaking through his house, was standing in front of the world famous chocolate factory. The other children were already there, and Veruca threw a nasty look at Atlas, who had brought his much-loved blanket with him to ward off the cold. It was almost time, and Atlas kept looking around nervously. He was keeping an eye out for his family, so that he could avoid them as much as possible. Regretfully, he took off his blanket, folded it and held it tightly to his chest, the golden ticket hidden inside. He shivered, but at least now he knew he wouldn't be as easily identified. After all, he normally kept his blanket wrapped around his whole body as much as he could, and hardly ever let it out of his sight.

Soon, the clock struck ten, and the gated opened to let the nine people in, five being children. As soon as the gates closed behind them, Atlas let out a sigh of relief. Now he could enjoy his brief freedom before dying. He put his blanket back on, and hugged it close to himself.

Now he could watch the show. It was entertaining, but off-key, and about half way through the show it sparked, then caught fire. Atlas widened his eyes, but when it became apparent that the show was over he started clapping softly, and smiled. He would have clapped louder, but it would hurt, and he couldn't really move any faster without shrugging the blanket off of his shoulders. Nobody else was clapping, instead looking at it with slight disgust.

"Well," a voice came beside Atlas, startling everyone else. "Good to see at least one person enjoyed the show." Atlas looked up at the voice, and his face filled with wonder. Willy Wonka, world famous chocolatier, was standing right beside him, and giving him a rather nervous smile. Atlas worked his mouth, about to speak, when he was knocked to the side by the parents that had come with the children.

He landed with a thump, and his blanket slipped off his shoulders. The landing brought immense pain to his body as it had jarred his very bones, and he bit his hand in an attempt not to scream as he froze on the cold, rough ground. He was shivering, and he sat there for a few moments. He closed his eyes firmly, and focused on the pain in his hand rather then the rest of his body.

Feeling his blanket being slipped back on his shoulders, and wrapped around him, he opened his eyes to see the two boys slightly glaring at their parents as they helped the much thinner boy up. Mike looked at him in sudden concern when he found how easy it was to pull Atlas up, and he whispered in his ear, "When was the last time you ate something?" Atlas worked his mouth, but his voice had chosen not to work at that very moment, instead letting out soft, hoarse sounds. Mike, seeming to understand, glared at Augustas. "Give him your chocolate. He can't talk, his voice is gone." Augustas immediately surrendered the chocolate, and handed it to Atlas. Atlas, surprised, gave a grateful smile to the both of them, and broke the remainder of the chocolate into three, and gave each of the boys a piece each.

The each took the chocolate, and Augustas happily chomped away on it, while Mike carefully took a nibble on his piece, and surprise overcame his features. "This is pretty good." he mumbled around his piece of chocolate. Atlas beamed.

By this time, Willy had managed to free himself of the adults, and walked over to Atlas. "Are you alright starshine?" He asked Atlas. "That landing looked like it hurt." Atlas, frowning, looked to Mike for help, who understood and said "At the moment he can't talk. His throat is damaged, and he's probably dehydrated." "Is that so." Willy said, concern flitting through his eyes before he said "Well, why don't we all go inside? It's quite chilly out here."

"YOU BRAT!" Everyone heard. They looked towards the gate, and Atlas was filled with dread. "YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" It was his mother, and surrounding her was the rest of his family, as well as several shocked people, who had started inching away from the family. Atlas drew his blanket around himself more tightly, and trembled, slightly crouched. Willy noticed, and made the connection in his mind. "Everyone, let's ignore the screaming woman and go inside, yeah?" He said. He stood in front of Atlas, and gave him a gentle push towards the factory.

Atlas walked, face pale, with Mike and Augustas on either side of him. He was fearing what would happen to him after the tour, which is when he was almost certain that he would die.

Well, what do you think about the first chapter?

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