Sweet Endings (Willy Wonka | Johnny Depp)

Chapter 8 - Spoiled Rotten

"Without the boat, we'll have to move double-time, just to keep on schedule," Willy said, leading us down a hallway. "There's far too much to see." Willy continued pulling me along right behind him, I'm honestly not sure why he's so attracted to me. "Mr. Wonka?" Charlie asked. "Yeah?" Willy answered.

"Why did you decide to let people in?" Charlie looked at him. "Oh so they could see the factory, of course," Willy answered. "But why now, and why only five?" Charlie continued interrogating him, eyeing Willy's hand holding mine. "Charlie," I furrowed my eyebrows at him. "Just be grateful that Mr. Wonka is even doing this and you get to be apart of it."

"What's the special prize, and who gets it?" Mike jumped in. "The best kind of prize is a surprise," Willy answered, laughing at the end. "Will Violet always be a blueberry?" Veruca asked, shoving Mike out of the way. "No. Maybe. I don't know. But that's what you get for chewing gum all day. It's just disgusting," Willy answered, making me giggle. 

"If you hate gum so much, why do you make it?" Mike asked. "Once again, you really shouldn't mumble, 'cause it's kind of starting to bum me out," Willy said, not skipping a beat. "Luckily, I have Lexi here to cheer me up." I blushed at his statement as Charlie asked, "Can you remember the first candy you ever ate?"

Willy stopped walking as he answered flatly, "No." He was lost in another flashback, making me look at Charlie. "Charles, what did we discuss earlier in the boat?" I placed a hand on my hip. "Not to ask about his childhood anymore. But Alex I was just curious," Charlie looked up at me. I sighed and let go of Willy's hand, bending down to Charlie's height, "Charlie, Mr. Wonka probably had a rough childhood. You shouldn't make him talk about it when he's clearly not comfortable doing so."

"Sorry, Alex," Charlie sighed, and I ruffled his hair while scrunching up my nose. "Just remember from now on," I smiled at him. I stood up straight as Willy snapped out of his memory. "I'm sorry, I was having a flashback," He said, still sounding dazed. He snapped out of his daze and looked at me. I gave him a worried look when Mr. Salt said, "I see." He pulled Veruca away from him.

"These flashbacks happen often?" Mr. Teavee asked. "Increasingly. Today," Willy said nervously, and started walking again. I grabbed his hand as he continued walking, "Willy, are you going to be okay?" He looked at me and nodded, "I'm fine, Lexi." We walked past the nut sorting room and Mr. Salt said, "Ah, this is a room I know all about. For you see, Mr. Wonka, I myself am in the nut business."

Mr. Salt handed Willy his business card and Willy tossed it over his shoulder when Mr. Salt wasn't looking, without even looking at it, making me giggle quietly. "Are you using the Havimax 4000 to do your sorting?" Mr. Salt asked. "No," Willy laughed. "You're really weird." Willy escorted us into the nut room, and we were met by the sounded of chittering squirrels. We got to the ledge, Veruca leaning against it as she excitedly said, "Squirrels!"

"Yeah, squirrels. These squirrels are specially trained to get the nuts out of the shells," Willy informed. "They're so cute," I gave a light giggle, looking at all of the squirrels. "Why use squirrels?" Mr. Salt asked, looking at Mr. Wonka. "Why not use Oompa-Loompas?" "Because only squirrels can get the whole walnut out almost every single time," Willy answered. "You see how they tab each one with their little knuckles to make sure it's not bad?" 

One squirrel in particular tried to get a nut out of the shell, and started banging it on the edge of the table when it wouldn't come out. "Oh look, look!" Willy said, and pointed to the squirrel. The squirrel listened to the shell. "I think that one's got a bad nut," Willy explained. The squirrel threw the nut over their shoulder, and the nut went rolling down a large hole. 

"Daddy, I want a squirrel. Get me one of those squirrels. I want one," Veruca told her father. "Veruca, dear, you have many marvelous pets," Mr. Salt looked down at her. "All I've got at home is one pony and two dogs and four cats and six bunny rabbits and two parakeets and three canaries and a green parrot and a turtle and a silly old hamster! I want a squirrel!" Veruca demanded.