Starshine | Willy Wonka

vii

Thalia wasn't sure when her families misfortune had first begun, it had been something that had followed them long before her grandfather had lost his job. She assumed it was just a family curse of some strange sort, and she believed herself when her thoughts reminded her of this ill luck that as a Bucket she carried around with her. Her family had always been one close to the edge of poverty, it had been her grandfather's lack of work that had pushed them all over the line, and all her childhood she could recall telling her mother every day that she too would get a job. She would be the one to get her brother through all the years of his schooling when her mother grew to busy in sewing and mending clothes that they themselves could only dream of owning. 

Yet, one could only make so much at a toothpaste factory, so little to be made as a seamstress, and not much better luck at the candy store. It had only been with the recent series of events that Thalia was sure that Charlie was different than the rest of them. He knew they were poor, but his attitude never changed, he still carried his youthfulness, his childish hope that she herself adored. He had been awarded the luck, the last golden ticket of course. What were the chances of that, the winning action that had Thalia convinced. Her brother was one of a kind, and it was only through this tour that she would begin to see it show itself more. 

Though for now, Thalia followed her brother throughout the vast room they had arrived at. There were countless machines working around her, and for some, it was harder to see just what exactly their purpose was. Charlie's hold on her wrist prevented her from going very far to explore her own curiosity.

"Hey, Mr. Wonka! What's this?" Interested in whatever it was Violet had yelled for, Charlie tugged his sister along until they had all once again rejoined as a group. 

"These are everlasting gobstoppers," Mr. Wonka stated after an Oompa-Loompa emerged from a large tank and handing him a piece of the candy, "They're for children who are given very little allowance money. You can suck it all year, and it'll never get any smaller." The purple-clad man explained further, seeming to appear quite proud of himself in this invention.  

"It's like gum," Violet stated, unironically still chomping away at the same piece of gum for the last hour an a half. 

"No," Seemingly disgusted by the idea, he continued, "Gum is for chewing, and if you tried chewing one of these gobstoppers, you'd break all your little teeth off." Both Violet and Veruca stared at the man, appearing unamused, as an awkward silence followed for a few moments afterward. 

Eventually, they all began to move forward, both Thalia and Charlie being pushed towards the back, but not before Thalia received a cold glare from Mrs. Beauregard. Why was the woman mad at her for? She hadn't even spoken a word to the woman. 

They received a short introduction to a still-developing candy, hair toffee, followed by some cringe-worthy statements made by Mr. Wonka. She would have laughed, just by the looks the children were giving him, parents included, but she managed for once to keep it to herself. No one could move on quick enough. 

Then the group approached another large machine, Mr. Wonka stepped up onto a small platform surrounded by a questionable number of levers, his eyes scanned the group, before looking at Thalia, "Watch this."

He pulled one of the levers, grinning like a child as a series of alarms blared, and the loud sound of steam being released filled the air. The candy maker was quick to return to the group, their gazes following as the machine began to move. Now Thalia would be lying if she said she hadn't been expecting something a bit more spontaneous. Though that didn't make her any less intrigued by the small stick of gum.