Mad Chocolate (short tale)

Chapter 3

Willy Wonka wasn't only a candy maker, he was also a little bit of an inventor. He walked around the mill, collecting old junk, closely watched by Hatter. By the time Willy Wonka was content with his treasures, he had collected five old wooden planks; or what was left of them, have a wagon wheel, three sharp looking nails, the head of a statue, some wire and a lot of broken tea cups. In his pockets he had found several cacao beans; and also jelly beans, two bananas, a lighter, a piece of glass and a small bicycle horn. He honked the horn, laughed and than threw it over his shoulder. Willy Wonka whistled a song and started to build. After a while he had made a chocolate maker that could fit into your pocket. 'Look' he said and Hatter looked. They stared at each other for a while and then for another while. Willy Wonka laughed nervously. 'Well then haha here it is, now I need some more native ingredients, I already have these mushroom pieces. They are very shiny, mm very shiny they are'. He stared at something invisible for a while. Than he looked at Hatter again, who hadn't stopped looking at him 'Do you know anything else that tastes like it could me made into something that might be something that could taste pretty well? Yes' Hatter said. 'Do you want to show me where it is?' Willy Wonka asked 'yes' Hatter said. 'Are you going to? Yes. Like now?' Hatter jumped of the table he had been standing on. 'Yes' he whispered in Willy Wonka's ear, than he laughed and hopped towards the mill. He opened the doors violently and Willy Wonka followed him inside. It was dark and the air smelled like mould and dust. It was weirdly warm. Hatter danced around the empty room towards a large crack in the wall. He pointed at a plant that grew through it. 'Those berries' he said 'paint your tongue purple!' Willy Wonka took a closer look at the plant and took one of the orange berries between his fingers. A purple fluid dripped out of it as he squashed it between his fingers 'fascinating'. He smelled and than tasted the berry 'fascinating, fascinating' he echoed. He tasted like noting he had ever tasted before and he had tasted a lot. It tasted like spring, literally spring, with a hint of summer. He took a hand full of berries and carefully put then in his pocket, next to the chocolate maker. He smiled at Hatter and he smiled back, both of their lips and teeth completely purple and they laughed. And they laughed some more. 'I think' Hatter said ' that I like your muchness. Thank you' Willy Wonka said 'though I'm not entirely sure what that means haha!' Hatter ran around the mill jumping up and down. With a loud 'quraa bam!' he disappeared through the floor. 'Hatter!' Willy Wonka shouted running towards the spot Hatter had fell through. The floor was very weak over there and Willy Wonka fell through the floor as well. He landed on top of Hatter, who just got back on his feet again. 'Oof' Hatter said. 'My apologies, but you shouldn't stand underneath me, when I fall through a floor.' Willy Wonka said. They looked each other in the eye and for the first time since they met Willy Wonka saw a shy smile on Hatters face instead of a happy, mad one with lots and lots of teeth. Willy Wonka got up stiffly and extended a hand to pull Hatter up. Hatter got a little jar with some fireflies out of his pocket, that glowed in all kinds of different colours. It looked like they were standing in a long tunnel. Willy Wonka couldn't see the end or beginning. There was no way back up, so they just started walking in a random direction. They walked for hours and hours. Willy Wonka was used to working for hours, but walking was something different, he didn't like it so much. He yawned. 'We could stop if you want' Hatter said 'it's probably dark outside and most people sleep when it's dark.' Willy Wonka nodded and sat down on the cold, hard floor, that was a little wet as well. He shivered when he laid down on it. Hatter, who didn't seem to be tired or cold, or anything other than happy and mad, offered him his coat. It was a nice gesture, they only knew each other for half a day, but it felt like Hatter knew exactly what he needed. Willy Wonka accepted it gratefully. He took off his hat, closed his eyes and fell asleep. Almost immediately.