𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐞 | 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐚 𝐗 𝐅𝐞𝐦! 𝐎𝐂 | 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐚 (𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔 ~ Little Orange Man?

Dorothy, Noodle and Willy stayed up late and devised their plan. Noodle was stationed with a picture, drawn by Willy, whilst the two adults were downstairs in the washing room. Dorothy had started her usual day, except Willy was grabbing several things around the room for something that the blonde hadn't been told about. 

"First you pick up the apparel, then you stick it in the barrel"

"Scrub, scrub!"

Dorothy noticed that man grabbing sheets, rollers, and many other things. What was he up to?

"Then you put it to the mangle, making sure you don't get strangled"

"Scrub, scrub!"

Willy grabbed a ladder that Lottie had been using, leaving the woman dangling. Dorothy left her station and ran over to help her down. "I've got you!" She reassured her; just as Willy poked his head from the corner and was holding up what appeared to be, a piece of his mailman pants.

"Oh Tiddles, here's your chance to chew my mailman pants!"

Tiddles barked enthusiastically and ran over to the room where Willy was working. Dorothy got Lottie down, and was staring at the room with an arched eyebrow.

"Guys, something must be going on, cause we've never changed our song!"

"Scrub, scrub!"

The others listened to the sound of Dorothy's melodic voice and followed her, as if following a siren's call. Just before the blonde could open the doors, Willy pushed them wide open and presented a contraption in front of them. It appeared to be a washing machine, with Tiddles on a conveyor and chasing the piece of the mailman pants. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present a brand new contraption of my own creation, an innovation in laundrification." Willy gestured to it. 

"Scrub, scrub!"

"Let me ask you a question. How does Tiddles want to spend his time? Running after mailmen! And what do I have to do all day? Dorothy, scrubbers, please?" He continued to explain.

"Scrub, scrub!"

"Well, with Willy Wonka's Wild and Wonderful Wishy-washy Wonka Walker," Dorothy arched an eyebrow in impressiveness; to how he had all that in a mouthful. "Please don't make me say it again." He said on the side to Dorothy and the others. The blonde giggled with a nod. "Tiddles gets to run while we can have fun."

"Scrub, scrub!"

Willy grabbed his long coat, top hat and cane; then grabbing Dorothy's hand and holding it tightly. Dorothy slightly felt red on her cheeks at the grasp of his hand, and a small smile was upon on her lips. What caused her to be feeling that way? She was then brought back to reality as she got dragged along with the chocolatier. "Dorothy and I are just popping out for a bit." Dorothy quickly grabbed her blazer and climbed into the laundry shoot with him. Willy took out two empty laundry sacks and handed one to Dorothy. "We'll be back by roll call, until then Tiddles had agreed to..."

"Scrub, scrub!"

~~~~~~~

"All clear!" Noodle's voice could be heard; the two adults coming out of the bags. "You sure?" Dorothy questioned and the girl nodded in reply. "We did it! Well done, Noodle, Dorothy!" Willy smiled, climbing out of the cart and helped Dorothy out. "I can't believe that actually worked." Dorothy crossed her arms with a smile. "And wait 'til you two see how much chocolate we made last night! We sell this and we're gonna..." He started, taking off his top hat and pulled out an empty jar. Dorothy and Noodle looked at the jar in confusion. Where had the treats gone? "What's wrong? What happened to them?" Dorothy asked him. "I don't know how to tell you this, girls. They've been stolen." He responded to the woman. "Stolen? Who by?" Noodle questioned. "The Little Orange Man." The woman and girl looked at the man as if he was insane. "What?" Noodle arched an eyebrow.

"The Little Orange Man. Didn't I tell you two about him?"

"No, you didn't."

"He's my nemesis! He's about ya high, comes in the dead of night, and steals all my chocolate." Willy told them. "Okay, even Charles wasn't this crazy." Noodle faced Dorothy, who gave a nod in reply with a tight-lip smile. "Been happening every few weeks for the past...three, four years now." The two looked at him, not falling for this story. "Sometimes I spy him in that strange realm 'twixt sleep and wake, green hair glinting in the moonlight." He began to gesture with his hands, describing the 'Little Orange Man'.

"Green hair?"

"One day, I shall catch him, girls..."

"Willy."

"...and when I do..."

"Willy!" The man looked to Noodle. "You don't really think me and Dorothy are gonna believe that, do you?" She questioned. "Of course! What other explanation is there?" Willy responded. "I don't know. That you go to sleep, dream about a little green man..."

"Orange man, green hair, yes."

"And while you're dreaming, stuff your face with chocolate!" Noodle exclaimed. "Stuff my...that makes a lot more sense. Have I been eating my own chocolate?" Noodle groaned and began to walk away. Dorothy sighed at the sight of the girl. This, for sure, wasn't the way they thought their days were gonna go. "Stupid Silver Linings." Noodle muttered. "Hey!" Dorothy yelled, catching the attention of both of them. "There's nothing stupid about his chocolate. We don't insult people." Willy smiled tenderly, in reply to her statement. Noodle slowly nodded as she was startled at the yells of the serenader. "Well, we can make more chocolate. The only problem is I'm out of milk." Noodle went over to a doorstep and picked up a glass of milk; gesturing it to the two. "A, that's stealing, and C, Willy Wonka do not use any old cow's milk. For this particular creation, we require the milk of a giraffe." Willy grabbed the milk from her and placed it back. "Okay, fine. As a matter of fact, there's one at the zoo."

"Bingla!" Willy then smiled gleefully at the woman and girl, beginning to walk down the alleyway; the wrong way, that is. "Okay, A," Dorothy pulled him back. "the zoo's not that way and B, they're not just gonna let you just walk in there and milk it." She crossed her arms. "That, dear Dorothy," He put an arm around her and they shared a gaze; the two feeling slightly warm at each other's touch but chose to ignore it. "is why we're very lucky the little orange man didn't find this." Dorothy ushered Noodle over and took the girl in her arms. Willy opened the top of his cane to reveal a tiny box, that contained a special kind of chocolate. What was it supposed to do to help them?