let it grow > once-ler

1. evergreen

san francisco - the mowglis

Ever 

The sun is shining gently this morning. The sky is a clear blue. The grass is a more vibrant green than ever. The breeze carries the whisper of the Truffulas. They tell me something is coming, something big. As I'm wandering through the Truffula forest, I notice an unfortunate stump amongst the forest. I kneel before it and hold both of my hands above it. I close my eyes and whisper, "Unless". I feel the power flowing on an imaginary wire flowing from me to the earth. As soon as I feel a rumbling beneath me, I stand and back away. A new Truffula begins to stretch towards the sky. I smile as I put my hand over my eyes to watch it grow. It's not as tall as the others, but it's alive. 

As I walk, flowers push out of the ground and I take in each one's spectacular beauty. Nature is prettier than any being could try to be. I hear the distant melodies of Humming Fish. I hum along to the familiar nameless tune as I wander into a part of the valley I don't think I've ever seen. As I venture further, I hear the sound of something foreign along with the Humming Fish. I follow the sound up a hill and look out upon the other end of the valley. My father warned me about this end of the valley, this is where the humans come if ever they find themselves here. I spot a house-tent, it looks nothing like my home, a comfy cottage built into the side of a hill. I cock my head to the side in confusion. A tall, long-legged man plays a strange looking instrument to a group of bar-ba-loots. They're eating what seem to be cotton balls. 

"That is The Once-ler," My father, The Lorax, appears beside me. I'm too stunned by this stranger to be startled by his sudden appearance, "The once-ler," I repeat, entranced by the way he strums his odd instrument. 

"You know the story of your birth?" Father asks. I nod, sitting down on the grass and watching the man feed the bar-ba-loots, "How you were born to keep our paradise peaceful and beautiful?" I nod once more, "Do you especially remember the part about the dark times before your birth? What you saved the valley from?" 

I look over at my father, we're slightly the same height now that I'm sitting. His face is stoic as he grumbles, "What you saved the Valley from lives at the bottom of this hill, in that tent, in that man, Evergreen. You saved the Valley from greed. You saved the Valley from The Once-ler." 

As I look down at the man at the bottom of the hill, Father's words are hard to believe. But he hasn't ever lied to me before, why would he start now? 

"I know you stumbled across the part of the valley on accident, but now you know why I asked you to keep away from it." Father rests one of his furry hands on my shoulder, but before I know it, he's gone. I'm not sure what to do with this information. For some reason, I'm not angry at The Once-ler, though I feel like I should be. I'm more afraid than anything. This is the man that caused the near apocalypse. This is the man that had my father shaking, from fear or anger, I'm not sure. I'm not sure which one I feel at the moment. I just have a feeling about this Once-ler. A bad one.