Velvet

Velvet’s P.O.V.

I was very observant as the rest of the children walked forward with Mr. Wonka. I looked at my surroundings with delight but also with a hesitation. Mr.Wonka was clearly up to something. It was just strange how all these kids were disappearing. What was he doing with them?

Where were these kids going?

I mean its obvious that the first kid was fat and greedy, the second one was overconfident but who was going to be the third kid that disappeared?

It seemed there was a pattern.

The longer I thought about it, the more I got it. If I was correct, Wonka knew what these children were going to do simply because during the interviews on television did he figure out whether these children were greedy, spoiled, or really really overconfident in their abilities?

Something was up. He had to have been doing this on purpose because any time a child disappeared he didn't seem that upset about it. There had to be some ulterior motive. The only thing I hoped was that Charlie wasn't going to be one of the disappearing children.

As we followed Mr.Wonka I just made sure Charlie was right by my side and watched my surroundings. This place did seem really cool but I wanted to figure out what Willy was up to before I could actually enjoy the tour so I just stood back and waited for the next place we were going to visit.

-

We followed Mr.Wonka into a small space that looked like it expanded out. And boy did it expand.

I walked to the railing where everyone was at right next to Mr.Wonka who snuck a smile at me which made me go red with nerves. The room was huge. There were blue and white stripes in the room and as I looked down, I saw tons and tons of squirrels sitting on a stool shelling nuts.

Huh! How…unique. That was an interesting use of….squirrels.

“Squirrels!” The British girl sounded off which took Mr.Wonka’s attention.

“Yeah, squirrels! These squirrels are specially trained to get their nuts out of their nutshells.” He said excitedly but almost like he was afraid of what these people thought of him using animals to do this job.

Then Mr.Salt piped up and said “Why use squirrels? Why not use oompa loompas?” He asked with his sophisticated tone.

“Oh because only squirrels can get the whole walnut out almost every single time.” I thought about that and it did make sense so I nodded in delight and he noticed, winking at me.

I smiled back at him and went back to looking at the squirrels.

“Oh look look!” Mr.Wonka pointed all of a sudden and we all looked down at what he was talking about.

The squirrel that he pointed to looked like it was holding the nut up to his ear for some reason.

“I think that one has a bad nut.” Wonka said with a weird tone.

Then interrupting everyone looking at the squirrels, the British girl said “Daddy, I want a squirrel. Get me one of those squirrels. I want one.” She demanded her father who looked down at her almost like he was scared of her.

If I was her parents all she would be getting is a spanking for acting like that. This girl was spoiled and I mean spoiled rotten!

Her dad looked down at her and said “Veruca dear, you have many marvelous pets at home.”

That comment made her snap and go on a rampage and I just wanted to cover my ears. “All I’ve got at home is one pony, two dogs, four cats, and six bunny rabbits, and two parakeets, and two canaries, and a green parrot, a turtle, and a silly ol hamster!”

My eyes bugged at how many pets she had. This girl was beyond spoiled. I don't even know what to call it as I watched Mr.Wonka and the spoiled rich girl.

Her father then said “Alright dear, daddy will get you a squirrel just as soon as he can.” But nope, that didn't pacify her. She just had to have more.

I watched as she slapped the railing and said “But I don’t want any ol squirrel, I want a trained squirrel.” The way she demanded the squirrel would have earned me a backhand in the mouth for being like that. I don't understand why her father tolerated it.

“Very well..Mr.Wonka, how much do you want for one of these squirrels? Name your price.” I was shocked as I was sure everyone else was at the audacity for him to ask Wonka to sell him one of his squirrels but I just kept my mouth shut.

“Oh they’re not for sell. She can’t have one.” The way Wonka said that made me want to laugh but I had to keep it in.

“Daddy!” I jumped back as Veruca yelled which grabbed Willy’s attention. He looked back at me with concern then turned back to the Salts.

“I’m sorry darling…Mr.Wonka is being unreasonable.” I watched in awe as Mr.Wonka mimicked Mr.Salts voice. Mr. Salt’s face was priceless and I stifled a laugh.

Veruca turned towards the railing and said “If you won’t get me a squirrel, I’ll get one myself.” And that is when she opened the gate and when stalking down the stairs.

“Veruca!” Her dad called out but she wasn't listening. I watched as she continued to climb down the second set of stairs as Willy called out. “Little girl!” And that still didn't deter her. She had reached the bottom and was looking around at the squirrels.

“Veruca come back here at once!” Her father demanded but yet again, she ignored her father.

I couldn't imagine being that disrespectful to my father, this girl just did not have any respect or manners for anyone.

We all watched as she walked towards a group of squirrels to the right and all the squirrels stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her. It was funny watching the squirrels. It was like they knew what was about to happen.

“Little girl! Don’t touch that squirrel’s nuts! It’ll make them crazy!” Mr.Wonka called out and that is when I spoke up.

“What’s going to happen Willy?” He turned to look at me and said “Just watch. This little girl is just too spoiled for anything. She is about to get what is coming to her.”

I just raised my brows at that. It was weird hearing that come from his lips. He was definitely up to something.

I turned my attention back to the little girl and watched as she reached her arms out.

“I’ll have you.” She simply said, reaching out to the squirrels but the squirrels weren't having that.

I blinked and all of a sudden all the squirrels ran off of their stools and went running at Veruca who screamed in fright as they crawled all over her.

“Veruca!” Her father called out as the squirrels scratched her and pulled her hair, directing her to the hole in the middle of the floor.

Oh no…something bad was about to happen as I watched the squirrels crawl all over her like she was a oak tree.

“Mr.Wonka! You have to do something!” Her father demanded and we all watched as Mr. Wonka fiddled with his keys.

Surely he knew which key was which. I mean, he built this factory, he had to have known the exact key. Maybe he was doing this on purpose, he had to have been.

“There it is!” He said in delight then tried to open the gate but the key didn't fit. “There it isn’t.” He said glancing down at me and I just gave him a slight smile.

“What are they doing?” Mike Teavee piped up. I almost forgot he was here. Mr. Wonka stopped fiddling with the keys and watched what the squirrels were doing.

They knocked on the girls head and then turned their ear to her face. “They’re testing to see if she is a bad nut.”

What? How could they….

One of the squirrels made a noise then Willy said. “Oh my goodness…she is a bad nut after all.” He said with fake horror.

I took a step back and watched Wonka. Now I knew this was a set up so I just crossed my arms and watched what happened next.

The squirrels seemed to be pulling her to the center of the room, they all gather underneath her and walked to the hole. “Where are they taking her?” Mr. Salt asked in horror.

“Where all the other bad nuts go…the garbage shoot.” He said matter of factly.

“Where does the shoot go?” Mr. Salt asked, almost running out of patience.

With a dark look, Mr. Wonka said “To the incinerator.” The way he said that was almost creepy, almost like he was enjoying what was happening but I didn't say anything. I didn't want to let the other people in on what I was thinking.

“But don’t worry, we only light it on Tuesdays.” He then said with a more upbeat tone and that is when the Mike Teavee character said “Today is Tuesday.”

I watched as Mr.Wonka made a weird face and finally found the key to the gate.

“There’s always the chance that they decided to not light it today.” He cringed as finally the squirrels threw her down the dump and we all made a frightened noise but it was Mr. Salt who you could hear the most.

Then suddenly out of the white doors that were in the nut room slammed open, bringing about a group of oompa loompas who was humming a tune.

I looked at Mr.Wonka who was smiling brightly as he let Mr. Salt go down the ladder and the oompa loompas sing their song.

“Veruca Salt, the little brute, has just gone down the garbage chute,

And she will meet, as she descends...

A rather different set of friends, a rather different set of friends!

A fish head, for example caught this morning from a halibut.

An oyster from an oyster stew.

A steak that no one else would chew.

And lots of other things as well, each with it's rather horrid smell!

Horrid smell!

These are Veruca's new found friends, that she will meet as she descends

These are Veruca's new found friends!

Who went and spoiled her, who indeed?

Who pandered to her every need?

Who turned her into such a brat?

Who are the culprits, who did that?

The guilty ones, now this is sad, are dear old mum and loving Dad.”

And that was when one of the squirrels ran of their stool and came and kicked Mr.Salt into the hole as he peered into.

His screams were heard from all the way up on the balcony and that was when everyone looked at Mr.Wonka who was clapping.

They had a worried look on their face.

A moment of silence passed when Mr. Wonka suddenly said “Let’s carry on.” And he let everyone file out of the room before him. So Charlie and I walked past him, me being the nervous one that I am, managed to trip on my own two feet because I wasn't paying attention and felt myself falling down to the ground when two strong arms caught me and held me up.

“Careful…wouldn’t want to lose that pretty head of yours now would we?” I looked up and saw Mr.Wonka looking down at me with an amused look and my heart fluttered.

I cannot believe I just did that in front of Mr.Wonka, I thought as he lifted me back up on my feet.

This time, I walked out of the door without any accidents, highly aware of the chocolatier walking behind me.