A/N: If you've read my profile, you know that I want to write original stories but Mary-Sue fantasies keep taking over my brain. This is the most dominate one and I want to purge it as soon as possible. The only characters I own are the ones that haven't been in the Lorax movie. I know I'm a little late to the game but, when the Nostalgia Critic reviewed The Lorax movie, I was so enchanted with the Once-ler that I ended up watching the actual movie. Just so you know, the Pipsqueak in Theresa's time is not the same Pipsqueak from the movie, it's his grandson. I also think baby Bar-ba-loots are called puppies like baby skunks are called kittens.
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Ten years passed since Thneedville planted the very last Truffula seed. Ted Wiggins was getting his Phd in business and Audrey was in graduate school, studying to be an environmental lawyer. Once-ler still lived in his Lerkim as the self-appointed caretaker of Truffula forest and occasionally visited Thneedville. Their hatred towards him was diminishing but the people felt that he still had to make up for his past deeds. The animals moved back in and the Lorax continued to act as the voice of the trees and guardian of the forest.

Theresa Williams laid stomach side on the grass, drawing the Truffula trees and the little bar-ba-loot playing with his friends in her sketchpad while taking in the scent of butterfly milk. Theresa brushed her golden blonde hair out of her ocean blue eyes as the bar-ba-loot came to her.

"Hey, Pipsqueak," she said, using the sweet voice she reserved for animals and showing him her sketch. "You like it?"

Pipsqueak made a noise of approval.

"You wanna see the rest, little guy?" she asked smiling.

Theresa put her drawing utensils in her backpack and her sketchbook on the ground, flipping the pages and explaining each drawing to Pipsqueak. Then she turned her head to make sure no one was nearby and removed a pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

"Don't tell Grandpa, or the Lorax," she whispered to him and then lit the cigarette in her mouth, inhaling smoke into her lungs.

Then she got to her fanart, something that needed far more explaining for Pipsqueak than her forest drawings.

"And last but not least, the guardian of nature herself, Mothra and her two fairy companions," Theresa said to Pipsqeauk.

"I thought I was the guardian of nature," a scratchy annoying voice said.

Recognizing that voice as the Lorax, Theresa quickly got to her feet, put her cigarette out and stomped on it as hard as she could.

"Mothra's the guardian in the fictional Godzilla universe and you're the guardian in real life," Theresa hastily explained, returning to her normal voice.

"Yeah, I've heard of Mothra, and I already saw you smoking so don't bother hiding it," The Lorax said, crossing his arms and leaning on a tree trunk.

Theresa dragged her foot with the cigarette under it back and nervously laughed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Theresa said.

Pipsqueak tickled Theresa's leg causing her to laugh and lift it up, revealing the cigarette she was trying to hide. Then the puppy grabbed the cigarette and gave it to the Lorax.

"How did that get there?" Theresa said with feigned innocence while glaring at the puppy.

"River, you're better than this," The Lorax said while throwing the cigarette into the river.

"Look, just don't tell Grandpa, okay?" Theresa pleaded. "He already thinks I'm enough of a screw up as it is."

"Beanpole doesn't think you're a screw up," The Lorax reassured her. "He thinks, just like I do, that you've got a lot of promise and you're not living up to it, and your parents are no help with that."

The Lorax was right about that. Theresa's parents weren't cruel but they did believe that rules and discipline were destructive to a child's growth. Therefore, they usually left Theresa to do what she wanted while they went off doing their own thing. Once-ler, on the other hand, actually took an interest in her life. She could tell her parents that she was eloping with the leader of a biker gang and carrying his baby and their only response would be, "okay, Sweetie." If she told the same to Once-ler, he would have a heart attack.

"Please, don't tell him," Theresa continued pleading. "Grandpa's got enough to worry about, he doesn't need me making things worse."

"All right, I won't tell Beanpole," The Lorax reassured. "That reminds me, Beanpole sent me to get you."

"What does he want?" Theresa asked.

"He wants to get breakfast started and needs your help."

Theresa made her way to Once-ler's Lerkim, thankful that he turned off the traps during the day, especially when she or Ted stayed there. On the outside, the place looked like a three story dump with the house on the very top. On the inside, it was little more than a long line of stairs connected to the top floor, which was just a tiny room with a kitchen sink, a refrigerator, a bed and a dining room table. The walls were decorated with pictures of Theresa, her parents (Rose and Darren, the latter of which Theresa got her straight golden blonde hair and oval shaped face from), her grandmother (who died before Theresa was born and, like Rose and Theresa, had almond shaped ocean blue eyes. Like Rose, she also had a heart-shaped face), Helen Wiggins and her son, Ted, and the Once-ler when he was young (where Rose got her black hair and freckles from, while Theresa only inherited the freckles). The Once-ler also had a few books written by her grandmother, Katrina Johnson. When Theresa started staying there, Once-ler installed a guest bedroom on the second floor with a painting easel, a TV and a bed. It wasn't exactly a five-star hotel but it was better than being at her house when her parents went insane, which was often. Ted used it when he stayed over which, thankfully, was never at the same time as Theresa.  Audrey would sometimes visit but she never stayed longer than a couple of hours.

Theresa went to the top floor to see Once-ler turning on the stove and putting pancake batter in the frying pan with his sleeves rolled up. She took a handful of marshmallows from the glass table and stuffed them in her mouth when Once-ler wasn't looking, enjoying the soft texture and sweet sugary taste of one of her two favorite foods in the entire world.

"Theresa, good timing," Once-ler told her, not looking up from the sizzling pancakes.  "I need to inspect the security systems and I was hoping that you'd look after the pancakes while I was gone."

Theresa swallowed the marshmallows and laughed.

"Grandpa, you already inspected it yesterday morning," she said.  "I don't think your equipment's going to break that fast."

"Forgive me if I don't want psychopaths sneaking in here at night," he said sarcastically, rolling down his sleeves, removing his coat from a nearby chair and putting it on. "Remember to -,"

"Flip the pancakes when they boil, I know," she said, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

"Actually, I was going to tell you to take your jacket off so you don't accidentally burn yourself," Once-ler said firmly while putting his gloves on and leaving the Lerkim.

"Oh, right," Theresa responded while taking her red denim jacket off (it used to be leather but that pissed off the Lorax) and putting it around a chair, leaving her in a black short sleeved shirt and black skinny jeans that accentuated her soft curvy pear shaped figure and black tennis shoes to finish the look off.

The fermented smell of buttermilk combined with the sweet smell of chocolate, Theresa's other favorite food, filled every inch of the Lerkim.  Theresa kept her eye on the pancake batter and confirmed that Once-ler put chocolate chips in it. Either he was really happy to have her visit, or he had something he really needed to talk to her about. Theresa flipped the boiling pancake, hoping it wasn't the latter. That's when the door creaked open.

"I'll take over from here," Once-ler said, taking his gloves and coat off.
Theresa moved away from the stove as Once-ler rolled up his sleeves and continued cooking the pancakes.

"An art fair's coming to Thneedville," Once-ler told her.

"Yeah, I heard about that," Theresa said, checking her fingernails for imperfections.

"The Lorax tells me that you've been drawing the forest in your spare time," Once-ler continued while putting the pancake on one of the nearby plates. "And that fair's taking submissions, so I thought you could set up a booth."

Theresa got her purse out of her backpack and took her filer from it.

"Thanks for the suggestion, Grandpa, but I'm not sure if I really have the time," Theresa said while filing her nails.

"After your third suspension, you have all the time in the world," Once-ler said, flipping the pancake.

Theresa looked up from her nails.

"Did Rose and Darren tell you about that?" Theresa asked.

"Yes," Once-ler said, putting another pancake on a plate. "They said you were caught skipping class to smoke in the alleyway. They also told me that you were caught shoplifting at the drug store."

So that's why the Lorax was so quick to agree to not telling Once-ler about the smoking.

"Surprise Rose and Darren know that much about me," Theresa said, turning her attention back to her nails.

"They know more about what goes on in your life than you think," Once-ler said and added in a harsh whisper. "They just won't do anything about it."

"Look, I don't know what all Rose and Darren told you, but I only took one cheap bottle of perfume. How bad could I be?" Theresa said, putting her filer back and pulling up a chair to sit in.

"That's how it starts," Once-ler said, setting both plates with five pancakes on the table. "You tell yourself that you're only skipping a few classes and you're only stealing things no one cares about, it can't be that bad. Then you move up to expulsion and armed robbery and, before you know it, you find yourself sentenced to life in a jail cell."

"Grandpa, I don't plan on committing armed robbery any time soon," Theresa said, rolling her eyes.

"Then what are your plans?" Once-ler asked, taking a bite of his pancakes.

Theresa said nothing.

"I asked you what your plans are," Once-ler repeated firmly.

"I don't have any plans, so I didn't say anything," Theresa explained, taking a bite of the pancakes and getting lost in the sweet taste of buttermilk and melted chocolate.  "What does it matter? I'm only 15."

"Because, right now, I only see three options available for you in the future," Once-ler said while moving his left arm in dramatic gestures. "Career criminal, street walker and professional artist. Only the last one will keep you from spending your life in a prison cell."

"Not if I become an art counterfeiting kingpin," Theresa said nonchalantly.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" Once-ler said, his voice getting harsher.

"I just think you're making a big deal out of nothing," Theresa said, giving an exasperated sigh. "Also, there's no guarantee that the first two would send me to a jail cell. Maybe I'll be a hit man for the mob, or a high-class call girl that's getting a doctor's degree."

"So your future is one big joke to you," Once-ler said, the anger seething in his voice.

"Don't you think you're overreacting?" Theresa asked. "So I break a few rules, it doesn't mean I'm doomed."

"You will be if you keep behaving like this," Once-ler told her.

"Well, if you think I'm such a screw up, you can always rely on Ted," Theresa said, eyes narrowing and bitterness seeping through her voice as she thought of her cousin, the "hero" of Thneedville.

"You're missing the point," Once-ler told her.

"Okay, what's the point?"

"My point is that you can't live your life taking whatever you want and doing whatever you feel like," Once-ler said.

Theresa scoffed.

"That's rich, coming from a guy who caused ecological genocide to fill his own greedy pockets," Theresa stated.

Once-ler sprang from his seat and practically slammed his hands on the table.

"What was that?!" he practically screamed at her.

"You heard me; you have no right lecturing me on my decisions when you've done things that even a delinquent like me isn't capable of!" Theresa said, standing her ground.

Before Once-ler could say another word, he grabbed his left arm and his breathing got more erratic.

"Grandpa!" Theresa said, worry replacing hostility in her voice and she shot up from her seat.

Theresa got her phone from her purse and quickly dialed 911.

"911, what is your emergency?" the operator said.

"You've got to send someone here quick! My grandpa's in trouble!" Theresa yelled into the phone.

"Ma'am, calm down," the operator told her. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the Once-ler's Lerkim outside Thneedville on the top floor," Theresa said, taking a few deep breaths while praying that she wasn't talking to anyone who hated Once-ler.

"Ma'am, we'll send an ambulance truck straight to your location. Try to keep your grandfather calm until help arrives," the operator instructed.

"Okay, thank you."

Theresa hung up and ran to Once-ler's side.

"They'll be here soon, Grandpa, just try to relax," Theresa said, walking her grandfather to his bed and fighting back tears.

"Theresa, look at me," Once-ler said through deep breaths.

Theresa looked into Once-ler's eyes.

"Grandpa, I'm sorry!" Theresa said, unable to hold back the streams of tears any longer. "I didn't mean what I said, I was just angry! Please don't die!"

Whether Once-ler heard Theresa she would never know. He passed out right while she was talking. Theresa heard the door bust open and turned around to see the Lorax with Pipsqueak right behind him.

"River, what happened here?!" The Lorax exclaimed, seeing Once-ler lying on the bed and Theresa standing nearby bawling.

Pipsqueak jumped on the bed, nudging Once-ler's head and slapping his face when he wouldn't budge.

"I-i-it's Grandpa, w-we were arguing and h-he-," Theresa tried to say between her tears.

The Lorax put two fingers on Once-ler's neck.

"He's barely got a pulse. Did you call the ambulance?" The Lorax asked.

Theresa nodded her head. At that moment, she heard a siren wail and two paramedics came in with a stretcher. They put the Once-ler on it and took him to the ambulance truck. All Theresa could do was pray that he was going to be all right.

A/N: So, what did you think?  No, Theresa's not religious.  She's just in a state where she's worried beyond all hell and it's the only thing she can do.