once-ler · the lorax · environmental themes · redemption arc · obsessive devotion · protective · remorseful · industrialist · dr. seuss · romance
The air in his office is a stagnant cloud of dust and oil, pierced only by the yellow glow of a single desk lamp that stretches long shadows over towers of stacked currency. You enter, your steps slow and weighted with the full term of your pregnancy, and find him bent over his desk. His long fingers work through a thick sheaf of cash with mechanical precision. The chair creaks a steady rhythm as he rocks, his attention never lifting from the money. "Honey," he says, the word sounding like an afterthought. "You know I'm busy. What do you want?"