Chocolate Eyes (Wonka x Fem! Charlie)

Chapter Three - Charlie

The next morning, I left the house as quietly as I could and made my way to school. As I walked, I saw a small crowd gathering around a pole. Curious, I nudge my way up to the front to get a peek at what everyone is staring at. As I read the flyer attached to the pole, I got excited.

'Dear People of the World: I, Willy Wonka, have decided to allow five children to visit my factory this year. In addition, one of these children will receive a prize beyond anything you could ever imagine.'

This can't be real. My mind was in a daze for the rest of the day, daydreaming about meeting the greatest chocolatier of all time. As the day progressed, I learned that in order to enter Mr. Wonka's amazing factory, you had to find one of his golden tickets. I barely registered that the day had ended, and I was making my way home, lost in my own thoughts. All too soon, I found myself sitting on the middle of the bed that my grandparents shared.

"Wouldn't it be something Charlie to open a bar of chocolate and find a golden ticket inside?" Grandpa Joe said to me wistfully.

I smiled at him. "I know, but I only get one bar a year for my birthday," I sighed dejectedly.

"Well, it's your birthday next week," Mom said, trying to cheer me up.

"You have as much chance as anybody does," Grandma Josephine encouraged. I almost felt a small flare of hope at her words, but then Grandpa George decided to drop a huge reality bomb on all of us.

"Balderdash! The kids who are going to find the golden tickets are the ones who can afford to buy candy bars every day. Our Charlie only gets one a year. She doesn't have a chance."

"Everyone has a chance, Charlie," Grandma Josephine said, clearly opposed to Grandpa George's negativity. Grandpa Joe nodded encouragingly at me.

Grandpa George, however, remained unmoved. "Mark my words. The kid who finds the first ticket will be fat, fat, fat!"

***********************************************************************

The next night, I was doing my homework when I heard a new report that the first golden ticket had been found. I set down my pen and raced to join my grandparents on the bed, who were already watching the news with rapt attention. The camera panned to a very large boy with a chocolate-stained face. He didn't look more than thirteen. An equally large woman, who I assumed was his mother, stood to the left.

"I was eating the Wonka bar when I taste something that is not chocolate. Or coconut, or nougat, or peanut butter, or coca butter, or caramel or sprinkles. So, I look, and I find the golden ticket," the boy says while holding up a golden ticket with a bite taken out of one corner.

A reporter asked, "Augustus, how did you celebrate?"

"I eat more candy!" He took out another Wonka bar and proceeded to shove it in his mouth. I wrinkled my nose and looked away in disgust.

"We knew Augustus would find the golden ticket," his mother explained, proudly. "He eats so many candy bars a day that it was not possible for him not to find one!" At that, Mom shut off the television.

"Told you he'd be a porker," Grandpa George stated.

"What a repulsive boy!" Grandma Josephine added with disgust.

"Only four golden tickets left," I said anxiously.

"Now that they've found one, things will really get crazy," Grandpa Joe predicted.