Visions of Greed

Chapter 8: The Writing On The Wall

Recommended Songs: I Am Machine- Three Days Grace, Point Of No Return- Starset, Nervous- Daughtry, Confession (What's Inside My Head)- Red

It was another beautiful day in the Truffula Forest. Once-ler was outside, leaning against a truffula tree and knitting a thneed. Suddenly, the ground began to shake slightly and Once-ler heard the sounds of sharp thuds. When Once-ler looked up towards the direction of the sounds, he gasped in terror. A super axe hacker was headed straight for him at an alarming speed. Once-ler quickly got up and ran away from the machine, abandoning his thneed on the ground.

Once-ler sprinted through the forest while trying to avoid falling trees and spinning blades, as the sky began to turn red. As Once-ler continued to race through the forest, he could see the animals, including Pipsqueak and the Lorax, also running away in fear. Once-ler continued to run as he turned to look at the threat behind them. His eyes widened in horror when he saw Greed-ler looming large against the crimson sky, smiling wickedly, and asking how bad it could possibly be.

Once-ler shot up in his bed, gasping and panting. He then realized he was in his bedroom inside his penthouse. For once, he had actually put on his pajamas and gone to bed instead of sleeping in his office. After calming down a bit, Once-ler tried to lie down and go back to sleep. He tossed and turned, unable to get the images of the nightmare out of his mind. From that angle, the super axe hacker did not seem like such an appealing idea. In fact, it looked rather terrifying.

Once-ler felt guilty, but he wasn't sure what else he could do. He was supposed to present his new invention to his executives and family at a meeting later that morning. Once-ler remembered how the last meeting went. He didn't want to disappoint everyone again, but Once-ler didn't want to become that evil entity of destruction that he saw in his nightmare either. So greedy and powerful that he didn't care who or what he destroyed.

Unable to settle down, Once-ler looked up at his alarm clock. He had woken up only two hours before he was supposed to. With a resigned sigh, Once-ler decided to just get out of bed and get a head start on the day. With a yawn, Once-ler went to the kitchen. Since he had some extra time, he decided to make himself some pancakes. Once-ler had been busy and hadn't cooked himself anything in a while. Lately, he had mainly lived on thneeds, bagels, breakfast bars, and marshmallows.

Once-ler pulled out a skillet and began to prepare the pancakes. As he waited for the first pancake to cook, he tried to remind himself that inventing the super axe hacker and expanding his factory would be good for his business. Even though some fear and doubt still remained, Once-ler tried to reassure himself that he was doing this for the good of the company and his family. He tried not to focus on the potential consequences of what he was doing and instead tried to think about all the money he would soon make. Once-ler hoped that he'd finally be able to buy himself some new furniture, a new guitar and maybe a new outfit too.

As Once-ler continued to ruminate and cook his pancakes, he began to doze off in front of the stove. Once-ler realized that this was dangerous and he decided to forget about the pancakes and take a quick power nap on the couch. Once-ler turned the dial on the stove, but in his tired haze, he did not realize that he had turned the stove burner up instead of off. Once-ler made his way to the couch in the adjacent living room, lay down, and fell asleep immediately.

Once-ler woke up to a strong smell of smoke, and the sensation of heat all around him. He looked up and fell off the couch in shock when he saw that his living room and kitchen were covered in a thick gray haze. Somehow, Once-ler had started a fire in his kitchen. He crawled on the floor, looking for an exit. The smoke stung his eyes and made it more difficult to see. Once-ler tried to make his way to the front door of the penthouse, but it was blocked by the fire. Once-ler looked around in fear and confusion, trying to think of another exit. He gasped and coughed, quickly becoming overwhelmed by the fumes that surrounded him. The smoke also had an unusual odor, as though it contained traces of smogulous smoke.