How Bad Could You Really Be?

But this is MY home.

It was a warm spring morning as I headed out of town. With a notebook in hand I headed to the truffula forest that was nearby. If anywhere was a place to be inspired this was it. Swomee swans flew overhead and settled in the trees near the water. The animals were harmless and some expected me to be here on my days off. The barbaloots expected snacks and would often rummage through my bag. I settled by the river. The humming fish jumped out of the water creating an ambiance I just adored. My bag flopped on the ground as a small barbaloot ran over sticking his head inside. I poked him playfully as he scurried out of the bag.

"I brought snacks, but you'll have to share pipsqueak," I snickered.

I pulled out a large bag of trail mix. The barbaloot ran off with the bag as others gathered around to eat some as well. I opened my book and continued writing in it. The animals disappeared for a while, but they came and go as they pleased anyway. Everything was fine until I heard a sound that would change my town and life forever.

Thunk. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Thunk. The swomee swans flew away from me. Thunk. My head turned around as I ran toward the noise. I left my bag and book my the riverbank. My heart was pounding in my chest. Some animals scurried past me as there was a creaking noise. A tree fell just in front of me. My eyes filled with tears. Who would do this to my home? A young man about my age stood in front of me. He was wearing a striped pants, a white button shirt and a gray vest. His bright blue eyes met with mine. He smiled innoncently at me.

"Hello!" he beamed.

"What have you done?" I asked.

"Oh I just needed the tufts from this tree. It's for my invention."

I looked down at the tree. A nest was smashed as a liquid oozed underneath of it. I covered my mouth as I scooped the nest into my arms and ran off.

Just as the tree fell I saw her for the first time. I had never seen a hair color like hers. It a soft blue that shimmered in a way that reminds me of snow in the moonlight and eyes as blue as the sky. When I smiled at her she didn't return the gesture. She grabbed something and ran off in a hurry. I shrugged as I pulled the tufts into my house tent. I started sewing the tufts together.


I sat by the riverbank with the eggy mess in my hands. Some of the animals walked over to me. With my hands I dug a small hole and settled the nest in it. Carefully the dirt covered the nest. When I stood up I wiped my eyes with my forearm.

"I'm sorry," I muttered.

The animals looked at me with the same sad look on their faces. As I ran off my notebook fell out of my bag. It wasn't until I got home I noticed it was missing. But I didn't feel like going back to the forest, not after today. There was a crack of thunder as I jumped upon hearing it. I hated thunderstorms so much. But even worse I felt like it was an omen of things to come. Maybe one tree wasn't a huge deal, but if he continued on who knows what would happen. That's it then. Tomorrow I am gonna go back and give him a piece of my mind. After a shower I curled up in my bed and fell asleep as thunder echoed through the night.
The next morning the sun shone through the remaining gray clouds from the storm last night. I pulled on a jean skirt with a deep blue v-neck shirt. I filled my bag with a small item and some food I had made for the animals. When I walked out of the house I heard faint singing. People were laughing in the middle of town. I walked off toward the forest. The group of laughing people was hiding the guy from yesterday.

Deflated, he headed back with an awkward looking scarf around his neck. His mule, Melvin, accompanied him back to the tent. He knew the little monster was going to be happy about his failure today. When he returned to the tent he saw the girl from yesterday pacing outside. She was talking to herself.

"Hello," he said, happy to see her again.

"O-of all the things you could do! Who do you think you are coming here and ruining my forest?"

"Your forest?" he chuckled.

"You're not from here. You could have asked. Do you know th-"

"Are you with him?"

"Who?"

"The monster."

"Sir, these animals aren't monsters. And you're changing the subject! Yesterday you..."

"Not these the animals. And you don't own the forest. I can cut down as many trees as I need," he huffed.

"Please don't," I begged.

My hand reached for his as I pulled him with me. He asked where I was going, but I didn't say a thing. We stopped at the small mound by the river. The guy looked around. He shrugged his shoulders at me as if not understanding my point. I let go of his hand not realizing I had still been holding it. So I pointed at the fresh mound.

"There was a nest in the tree you cut down yesterday," I muttered through some tears.

"Well, it was just-" he stopped when he noticed my expression, "I didn't know. I'm sorry. What's your name anyway?"

"My name is Skye."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Once-ler, or Once, Oncie, whichever you wanna call me is fine."

"Please don't cut down the trees, if you do..."

"Are you talking to yourself out here, beanpole? If you didn't sell much you should be leaving," a voice called.

I turned my head upon hearing the voice, but saw no one.

"Down here, toots," the voice said.

When I saw it I couldn't believe it. This was only a thing of fairy tales. A small, furry thing stood in front of me. He was bright orange with a bright yellow mustache. I kneeled down and looked at the animal-like thing. I pulled gently on his mustache as he patted my hands away.

"You're the..." I started.

"I'm the Lorax and I speak for the..."

"Trees," we said at the same time.

"Once-ler?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"D-did the Lorax showed up after you cut down that tree?"

"Yes and it won't go away. How do you know about this thing?" he asked.

"Oh okay."

I stood up slowly. My eyes shifted between Once and the Lorax. After trying to convince myself this wasn't another bad sign I shook my head. This is just a dream, right? The Lorax isn't real. It's just a story. But he stood right in front of me as real as anything else. I nodded my head continuously until I fell back into Once-ler's arms. He shook me a few times.

"She'll be fine, we should let her rest," the Lorax said walking off, "and when she wakes up you both need to get outta here."