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CHAPTER 6 – Folktale The clock on the wall chimes once. Willy glances nervously at the clock; fifteen minutes until Starshine arrives. He had told her to arrive earlier than the actual time just in case she wanted to test out a few things in the Eatable Room or in case she requested a tour. Of course, if the latter is the case, there are a few rooms that he definitely wouldn’t be showing off. Willy has the same horrible feelings that he had the day that he opened the factory to the five lucky kids. This time, he doesn’t have cue cards to help him if he gets stuck for words, and just knowing that makes his nerves worse. A smile and a giggle worked well last year for the kids and their p-parents, but for Starshine? He couldn’t predict one way or the other. I did most of it without cue cards, right? He tries to reassure himself, even though it doesn’t work. A soft knock on the door makes him jump. After composing himself and fixing his top hat, he says, “Come in.” An Oompa-Loompa enters and signs an update on the preparations for the party. “Oh really? Groovy!” Once the worker has left, Willy peels off his purple rubber gloves. Ew… He wipes his sweaty palms on his pants to dry them off, snatches a fresh pair of gloves, and places them on his hands. What would he say to her? “Improvisation is a parlor trick. Anyone can do it.” His own words come back to haunt him… * * * You stand in front of the mirror, inspecting your outfit. The baby-blue shirt hangs off your shoulders. Although you’d rather wear your black slacks, they happen to be dirty, and you don’t want to wear something dirty to the party. Instead, you are wearing black, khaki-style Capri pants that hug your hips. You’re also wearing black one-inch heels. After trying several different styles, you have settled for a simple ponytail. After one final glance of approval, you snatch the golden ticket, the card that you made, your jacket, and your gloves and walk out of the apartment. You stuff the ticket into your jacket pocket and nod to the man at the front desk as you pass. While walking down the street, you put your gloves on your hands, not watching where you are going. “Oh, sorry,” you automatically say, but as your eyes lock with the stranger’s, you instantly regret apologizing. There stands the very man who robbed you of your happy ending. You bite the inside of your cheek to keep from spitting at him. “Hello, Kat,” Slugworth greets. Through gritted teeth you say, “Hello, Freddie, what can I do for you?” “Oh, I was just wondering how things are going with Derek,” he smirks, yet doesn’t allow you to retort. “And I have some advice for you, Kat. You better start believing in Faerie Tales.” “I already do,” you snap. “And in case you didn’t notice, they always live ‘happily ever after’ in faerie tales.” “Ah, but one party always suffers so that the other party can ‘live happily ever after’. Don’t be so quick to assume that you will be the winning party.” “Why can’t you just leave us alone? Do you enjoy making our lives miserable?” “Us? From what I heard Willy is still single,” he smirks. “Have fun at your lil’ birthday party. Say hello to Willy for me.” Slugworth nods his head slightly, turns on his heel, and walks briskly away, leaving you gaping. How does he know about the party? After taking a few seconds to compose yourself, you hurry towards the factory. * * * “I thought that you said one of your workers was going to let me in.” “Well, if I had told you that I was to be letting you in, the press might be here ‘cause of your nosy lil’ boss. And the press is terribly annoying. Now c’mon, we’ve got a party to attend!” he giggles and then opens the door. You trail behind him glancing at the puppets as you pass. No song this time? You wonder briefly if they are broken or just turned off. Willy pulls back a black curtain to reveal a hallway with a red carpet leading down the middle of it. With the heat of the factory being so high, you are glad that you hadn’t worn the black pants like you had wanted. “Just drop your coats anywhere,” Willy instructs. You skim around the hallway and decide to hang it on the nearest post. You take out the card, but before you can give it to Willy, he says, “C’mon, Starshine, we mustn’t dilly or dally, everyone will be waiting for us!” He turns and walks down the hallway; you follow at his heels. You glance at the hallway confusedly… Is everything shrinking? Although Willy has stopped in front of the doorway to the chocolate room, you hadn’t, being too busy trying to figure out what was happening to the hallway. Willy’s stance doesn’t waver as he sorts through the keys to find the one to the room. “We stopped.” Embarrassed, you whisper, “I noticed.” “This is an important room; after all, it is a chocolate factory.” Willy’s voice cracks as he explains and unlocks the tiny door. “We’re not going to fit through that door, Willy,” you protest. “Don’t mumble,” he scolds, pushing the door open to reveal his chocolate room. His stepping aside allows you to see the room. “Oh, my, god,” you gasp. Willy Wonka didn’t need to give any further explanation of the room; you are willing to bet money on what it is called. Of course, Willy had always talked about creating a room like this when he finally had his own factory, but you never thought that you’d actually see it done. It’s exactly as you remember him describing it, right down to the grassy-bridge that leads across the chocolate waterfall. You glance around the room in awe. Small pastel-colored mushrooms litter the ground around red and white, umbrella-like trees. Weeping willows hang over the chocolate river, their cherry fruits prominent against the tan branches. “You actually have the waterfall,” you whisper. “How else d’ya think my chocolate is the best in the world? The waterfall mixes it up and makes it light and frothy! By the way, my chocolate must not be touched by human hands; if you do, you’ll contaminate it.” The chocolatier shudders, recalling how Augustus Gloop had fallen into his river about a year ago. It took far too long for him to cleanse the river, and far too much chocolate was wasted. “Can you eat the grass?” “Of course you can! Everything in this room is eatable…” “Even me,” he grins goofily. He continues to walk through the room, and you follow closely behind. Every so often, Willy pauses to explain something to you, repeating a few things several times. At the edge of the grassy banks are large candy canes. Willy Wonka leads you past them to a small hill. You and he walk around the base of the hill to where a large, round entrance is. After glancing back at you for a second to assure that you are still behind him, Willy takes off his top hat and enters the hill. As you trail behind him, you glance around at the tunnel. Along the wall to your left is a glass (“made from sugar, like the ones in movies,” as Willy explained). Surprisingly the glass does not show the chocolate river; rather, there is water with little orange fish swimming around. “Why do you have goldfish?” “They’re tangerine smoothie fish,” he corrects. “Goldfish aren’t gold, that’s false advertising. And I couldn’t make fish of gold in an eatable room ‘cause gold wouldn’t taste very good, now would it?” “Oh,” you say. “O is the fifteenth letter of the alphabet.” The rest of the walk through the tunnel is silent. * * * “This is where my Oompa-Loompas live. Unfortunately it took them a while to get used to living on the ground rather than in tree houses. The grass is eatable here, but it’s much sweeter than the grass up there,” he explains as he climbs out of the tunnel. The room looked as though Willy had created a second Eatable Room within the original, except this one is not nearly as brightly colored as the one you were in just a few moments ago. There are more Earth tones in this one, rather than the bright reds, greens, and oranges in the previous one. Willy leads you down a dirt path that you suspect to be brown sugar. Contrary to the river in the Eatable Room, the sea in this one isn’t chocolate. Larger than life lollipops stand in the sea. Several trees with twisted trunks stand not too far from the grassy shoreline. As you walk by them, you can see the boughs of the trees are littered with marshmallows, gumdrops, chocolate kisses, and peppermint canes. Between two of the trees is an archway that the path goes through, leading to tiny huts. A small dark chocolate cat rushes past you followed closely by a gingerbread dog that is barking like mad. The cat scampers up the tree, knocking down a few candies on its way up, and the dog stands at the base of the tree, still barking. “You have some imagination, Willy.” He giggles and walks down the path into the village. As you pass under the archway, the soft cooing of birds draws your attention upwards. “C’mon, Starshine!” The sound of Willy’s voice spooks a few of the birds, and when they flutter past, you notice that their wings are made of licorice. You laugh in disbelief, but hurry to catch up with Willy. Around the fire sit the Buckets and some of the Oompa-Loompas that aren’t dancing or playing music. Willy immediately sits down next to his heir, who smiles and waves at you. “What are they doing?” you point at the Oompa-Loompas as they pause in their ritual-type dancing. The percussionists gradually change the beat, signaling the start of a new song. “They’re going to treat us to a lil’ song.” He is right of course, for the Oompa-Loompas would never pass up the opportunity to sing for a fresh audience. The percussionists begin to beat to a familiar tune. The Oompa-Loompas exchange glances, counting the beats so that they begin at the same time. Some of the younger ones join in, singing parts that they know of the folktale, but mostly it is the elders that sing and dance. “The gingham dog and the calico cat The gingham dog went "bow-wow-wow!" The Chinese plate looked very blue, Next morning, where the two had sat Willy and the Buckets clap as soon as the song is finished, and you join in tentatively. “I love that folktale, one of my favorites. They really treated you, Starshine.” You nod mutely, unsure of how to respond. “I’m gonna wander around this room a little bit.” “I’d really rather you didn’t. I…” “Don’t worry about it, Mr. Candy-man, I won’t go far, I promise. And if you’re so worried about it, then perhaps you could just accompany me and give me a tour?” you hint, wanting to get him alone. Not that the Buckets and the Oompa-Loompas aren’t friendly, you just aren’t comfortable with the whole ‘meet-the-family’ situation, even if they aren’t Willy’s true family. Willy forces a small smile, desperately wishing that he had his cue cards. “’Kay,” he whispers, rising to his feet. Although he had anticipated having to give a tour, now, that the time has actually come, he isn’t so sure that he wants to give one. * * * * * [a/n] I wish that I had written it, but I didn’t. Eugene Fields did so that means he owns it; I only borrowed it for this chapter. As usual, thanks for reading. ((hugs and Hershey kisses)) A huge thanks to Charli for beta reading for me! * * * * * Willy leads you back through the tunnel with the gold—sorry, tangerine smoothie fish and through the chocolate room. “This room is what you were talking about when we were younger. What about that seahorse boat? Do you have that too?” “Yes, but the great glass elevator is quicker.” He leads you towards the right of the chocolate waterfall, to the gray concrete structure with three rectangular windows beside the door. Willy glances back at you for a second before pressing a small round button. Ding! Both the gray door that separates the chocolate room from the elevator doors and the glass doors open. “Whoa,” you look around the elevator at all the buttons. “How many floors—?” “Not floors, Starshine, rooms! All you have to do is push a button and whoosh you’re off,” he explains, pressing the closest button. The elevator jerks, knocking you off your feet and into Willy. “Heh, sorry,” you say as you stand back up. “Y-yeah,” Willy says. He points to his left. “Oh, look,” Along the walls are all of Wonka’s Candy Wrappers. Before you can ask, Willy says, “They’re my record. Before any candy goes on the market I take one of the wrappers and put it here.” “Why?” “Y is the twenty-fifth letter of the alphabet.” “Y is the eighteenth most frequently used letter in the English language.” The smile on his face fades. “Frequency? Cipher?” He blinks and smiles at you. “On with the tour!” You glance at the button he pressed to see where exactly you and he are going. Surprisingly, the space next to the glowing red button is blank. “Where are we going anyway?” “Room two-point-seven.” As he says this, the elevator jerks again to change direction, causing you to lose your balance, though this time you slam into the doors. Willy laughs. “You’ve got really bad balance, Starshine.” Moments later, the elevator stops in front of a circular door labeled: 2.7—What a random number. You think as Willy opens the door and ushers you inside. While skimming the room, the name for the room begins to become clear. A random number for a random room. Gumballs of every size and color litter the room, on round tables, in clear tubes, and on the floor. The walls and floor are made of colored glass, while the ceiling is a collage of various road signs and traffic signals. Some parts of the walls and floor are red or orange, and others are yellow or even white. Paint is splattered on the reflective glass, randomly. Willy steps up to one of the tables and picks up a green and white polka dotted gumball. “If you chew this one, you can sing in six different languages,” he explains, placing it back into its place and picking up another one. “And this lil’ bugger tickles you turquoise.” “So I guess there’s no ordinary gumball flavors in here?” you ask, glancing around at the tables. To your right is something about twice your height and covered in a piece of tarp. “Hey, Willy, what’s…” It was a bad idea to bring her here. Willy thinks, knowing exactly what your next question would be. “Of course I have ordinary flavors, but these are more fun!” His laugh falters when you slowly begin to walk towards his machine. “Uh, Starshine, we really mustn’t dillydally; there’s far too much to see.” “What is this?” you ask, pulling at the tarp. Willy rushes over to it and pushes the tarp back down. “It’s not finished,” his eyes flicker around the room, nervously. “Obviously, but what is ‘it’?” “Not finished,” he repeats, heading back to the elevator. * * * * As you and Willy enter the glass elevator again, you inquire, “Can I pick a room?” “Okay…” Willy mutters, hoping that you won’t pick the Inventing Room. Last year, he had been so proud of the Everlasting Gobstoppers that he didn’t entirely mind allowing the ticket holders to explore the room, but that didn’t mean that he was completely comfortable with showing it off to anyone, especially someone who has already betrayed him once. You crouch down to press a button, reading “Black and White”. The name of the room had sparked your interests, so you figured why not press it? This time you brace yourself for the jerk, or try to anyway. Although you didn’t slam into anything this time, you still stagger a few steps to keep your balance. The elevator shoots upwards until it reaches the next set of metal poles, where it changes direction. While the elevator glides through a room with pink sheep in pens, Willy quietly says, “Don’t ask.” There is no time for you to even respond, for the elevator has moved into the next room. “Welcome to Fudge Mountain, Starshine,” Willy says. The elevator never lingers in any of the rooms you pass by until it has reached its destination. Again, it dings and the glass doors open. Willy steps out first and opens a wooden door, holding it open so you can precede him. Once inside the room you blink several times, unsure if you’re seeing things correctly. You hold your hands in front of your face; they are a light shade of gray. Around the room are old-fashion stores, most selling candy. You glance back at Willy, who is no longer colorful either. Even the purple of his eyes are a dark shade of gray. “What is this room, Willy?” “Well, it’s an old fashioned room ‘cause I wanted to make old fashioned candy. But the candies didn’t sell very well.” “Do the stores actually open?” you gesture towards them. “Of course, and they sell candy too. But…” he trails off. “But?” you prompt. “I made this room right after I opened the factory to the five kids and their p-p…” he gulps, “…their moms and dads, and I always made whatever candy I felt like, but I felt awful, so…” “The candy was horrible too,” you finish. “Well can I still look around at least?” Willy nods. You walk down the cobblestone street, vaguely wondering why the old fashion candy wouldn’t sell well, but when you peek into a shop, the reason becomes clear. When Willy said ‘old fashioned’, he meant old fashioned, not retro or candy from your childhood. Nervously, Willy curls and uncurls his fingers, which makes the rubber gloves squeak. “Starshine?” he calls. “We have more stuff to see, c’mon.” He turns around and walks right into the glass elevator. You rush up to him. “And you said I had bad balance. You okay?” you ask, handing him his hat when he gets back on his feet. “Gotta remember where I park it,” he mutters, pressing the button on the outside to open the doors. * * * * “Why doesn’t this room have a button?” you ask as Willy leads you back through the tunnel. Willy opens his mouth and closes several times before actually answering. “Well,” he pauses, “’Cause it’s still part of the Eatable Room.” You nod in understanding. When you and he enter the Oompa-Loompa village, you can see the Buckets dancing to the tribal beats along with the Oompa-Loompas. Willy glances back at you and opens his mouth as though to say something; instead, he grins goofily and continues to walk towards the party. “They speak both sign language and English?” “Sign language? That’s Loompaish*.” “Loompaish?” you repeat, incredulously. “So that’s like a secret language that only you and the Oompa-Loompas understand? Like a code?” “Yeah!” His voice cracks like a teenager’s. You giggle. “Your voice still cracks?” A few moments pass before Willy pipes up again. “I’d like to buy a vowel…” he says softly, making sure that his voice doesn’t crack again. Ah, so he doesn’t remember the code. “You don’t have enough to buy a vowel. You have to guess the correct consonant first.” He wrinkles his nose. “A hint then?” “All right, one hint. Your name is in one of them as is my nickname, and that is all I’m telling you. You’re a clever lil’ candy man; you can figure it out. Happy Half-Birthday, Willy!” You reach up to kiss him on the cheek, letting your lips linger there for a few seconds. He tenses at the gesture, which gives you the opportunity to slip your card into his coat pocket. You tap Charlie on the shoulder, “Hey thanks for inviting me to the party, but I’ve got to go.” Charlie glances at Willy, who is lost in his own little world again. “I’ll show you out, if you want.” “No, that’s okay, enjoy your party. I just go through the tunnel, through the eatable room and the shrinking hallway, and then I’m out by the puppets,” you chuckle at the absurdity of the sentence. * * * * Willy Wonka sits cross-legged on his bed with the notes from his Starshine spread out in front of him. “Your name is in one of them…” Five letters… two would have to be the same. Again he glances over all three of the notes. A small grin pulls at the corners of his mouth and soon breaks into a full toothy smile. On the outside of her only English note is the inscription: 26 11 4 4 20 which fits perfectly as W-I-L-L-Y. “‘I see’, says the blind man to the deaf man on the phone!” Willy exclaims, overjoyed that he figured out part of the code. All that is left to do is find the book that had the number-letter code to decode all the rest of the notes. He hurries out of his room and into the glass elevator, pressing the button that reads ‘Chocolate Room’. “Charlie? Do you still have that book with the number code?” Willy asks as he enters the lopsided house. Charlie looks up from his work. “Yes, why?” “I need to see it!” Charlie runs upstairs to grab the book and tosses it back down through the holes in the floorboards. Willy quickly flips through the book, looking for the code. “Aha!” he places his index finger under the text and begins to read aloud: “ ‘Now, in English, the letter which most frequently occurs is e…’ Charlie, d’you have paper?” Charlie nods and gives Willy a piece of scratch paper and a pencil. Willy Wonka graciously accepts them and scribbles the frequency onto the paper. Charlie watches over his mentor’s shoulder. 1. E “’Kay,” Willy reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out the notes. After glancing from the notes to the scrap paper and back several times, he exclaims, “Fudge muffins! That’s not right. Stupid book!” “How do you know that it’s wrong?” Instead of answering verbally, Willy copies the inscription from the note onto the piece of paper. 26 11 4 4 20 “Zloob?” Charlie tries to sound out the word. “Is that some sort of codeword?” “It should read my name,” Willy says, frustrated that their key isn’t right. “How do you know that it will read your name?” “’Cause she wouldn’t let me buy a vowel.” Charlie takes the pencil and paper from his mentor and quickly scribbles ‘15 5 11 11 18’. “That’s your name,” he protests. “Your Starshine would have had to really mess up to be that off.” After a moment, Charlie comes up with an idea, “Didn’t you say that you wrote the alphabet twice?” Mr. Wonka nods, watching as his heir writes something else onto the scrap paper. Z-L-O-O-B Charlie glances up to me the glazed eyes of his mentor. “Mr. Wonka?” Without coming out of his trance, the chocolatier slowly says, “I think you’re onto something.” * * * * * Well, there’s half of the code. Thanks for reading! ^_~* *I don’t believe that there was ever a mention of the actual name of the sign language that the OL’s use, but if there was, feel free to let me know. I’ll change it. TBC... |