down that tree I had just summoned a mystical creature as old

as time itself. The legendary, slightly annoying guardian of the
forest. The Lorax.

Hey!

Whoo!

Did you chop down this tree?

Uh… No.

Who did it?

What’s that? I think he did it.

Leave! Vacate the premises! Take your ax and get out!

And who are you?

I’m the Lorax! Guardian of the forest. I speak for the trees. So
you’re telling me, you just didn’t see me magically appear out of
that stump? With all the lightning and thunder and stuff. You
didn’t see any of that?

No, but that sounds amazing. Can I see some of that?

Uh, yeah, I could show you. But that’s not how it works.

Okay. Um… Didn’t really happen. Oh, I know what you want!
I’ve got one of these for the cutest little guy I ever saw! Yummy,
yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy…

How dare you! Give me that! Mmm. I’m going to eat this, but I
am highly offended by it.
What are you… Hey, Mustache! Will you stop that? What’s your
deal, man?

Pull them right out Time for you to go, Beanpole!

Just going to put them right back in.

We can do this all day.

Stop right there! Stop it! So you would hammer one of nature’s
innocent creatures?

What? No! I would never hit this little guy. You, on the other
hand, I would gladly pound you and your mustache into the
ground!

Behold! The intruder and his violent ways. Shame on you. For
shame!

All right, you know what? That’s it! You listen to me, you furry
meatloaf. I’m going to chop down as many trees as I need.
Okay? Newsflash! Not going anywhere! End of story.

Then you leave me no choice. If you’re not gone by the time the
sun sets on this valley, all the forces of nature will be unleashed
upon you and curse you until the end of your days! You have
been warned. Thanks.

Yeah, okay.

You have been warned.

But I didn’t listen to his warning. And you won’t believe what
happened that night.

What?
If you want to hear more, come back tomorrow.

Hey, wait, wait! Tomorrow?

Whoa!

Whoa-ho-ho.

Are you serious right now?

Ah! You live in the middle of nowhere!

It stinks out here. Don’t make me come back!

I guess you don’t really want to hear the rest of the story.

No, no.

I do. I really do. I want to hear the story. I just…

Nah! You don’t have what it takes. Goodbye.

Wait, wait! I have what it takes. It’s all right. It’s okay, I’ll come
back. It’s no problem. See, here I am, leaving. Walking away
now. I’ll see you tomorrow.

Mmm. Maybe. Just maybe.

***

What did you wish for, Audrey?

Well, I would love to tell you, but, sadly, according to the

universal wish laws, I cannot I know what she wished for.
Was it, perhaps… This?

Ted, you didn’t.

Oh, no. I totally did. Happy birthday, Audrey.

Kiss him! Kiss him!

Ted. Ted. Tedster.

Huh!

You’re kissing the cereal again, hon. What?

I just… I like this cereal.

What one is this? Yeah!

Okay.

Well, I’ll make sure to buy extra next time for you.

All right, cool. Hey, I got to run. I got to go do a thing. So, I’ll see
you guys.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! You’re not going anywhere, young man.

It’s Sunday. You know what that means? Family time, and we’re
all playing board games!

But…

Hmm. Mmm?

Oh, man.
Mom, seriously, every turn?

Hey, back off! Ooh! No.

Okay! Family time is over. It is now personal time. I’ll be in my

room.

Okay, dear. Have fun.

I knew I could break her. Go.

Huh?

Go see him!

Oh, yeah! You rule! Thank you, Grammy.

***

Whoa!

Hey! Ted, right?

Um, Mr. O’Hare?

So, I hear you have become interested in trees. What’s that all
about?

Oh. Um… Where did you hear that?

Oh. Teddy, there’s not much that goes on in Thneedville that I

don’t know about. Here’s the deal, I make a living selling fresh
air to people. Trees? They make it for free. So, when I hear
people talking about them, I consider it kind of a threat to my
business.
I don’t even know what you’re talking about.

You listen to me, boy. Don’t go poking around in things you

don’t understand or I’ll be your worst nightmare. I’m
Frankenstein’s head on a spider’s body!

Yeah, um… Okay, my mom is expecting me. So, I’m just going
to…

Of course, of course. Now, go back to your family game time.

Grandma just finished her turn.

How did you know?

Please. I have eyes everywhere.

Huh!

You got a beautiful town here, Ted. Lots of fun stuff to occupy
your short attention span. Why, I can’t think of any reason you
would ever want to go outside of town again.

Even.