The new Guardian of the forest prt 2

"Hey Once-ler!" Ted called the next morning. He was excited. Today was the day the Once-ler was to meet Audrey and he was finally supposed to come with Ted into town. It had taken a good bit of conversing on Ted's part to finally get The Once-ler out of the outskirts of town.

"Come on Once-ler you got get up if you want to get to town before the musical number starts. You do not want to drive through that traffic." Still no reply.

"Something is wrong." Ted mumbled to himself. Ted made his way  to the door of the lerkim and rushed in.

"Hello! Once-ler, are you okay?" Ted  shouted to the Once-ler.

"NO YELLING MY HOUSE!"  Once-ler roared from upstairs.

" Never mind. He's alright." Ted smirked but he noticed something a little strange.

Once-ler began to lift himself up from his bed. For some reason his sleep didn't feel all that restfull.

"That kid is going to be the death of me." He growled as got up.

"Hey you okay up there man? Your voice sound different." Ted called.

"What do you mean my voice sounds…" But the Once-ler trailed off having heard his own self talking.  He looked down at his hands. They weren't wrinkled or covered in age spots.

"No… there's no way." he whispered. He stumbled over to a mirror and what he saw shocked and horrified him to the point of screaming. His hair which had once been grey and somewhat thinning now was jet black and thick as ever. His face no longer wrinkled. His Once great mustache was gone without a trace. He was young once more. He didn't even look a day over twenty-two. The only thing that seemed to carry any proof of his esteemed age was his eyes. Though still blue and shining they looked worn all the same.

"Hey are you okay up there!?" Ted called again after hearing the high pitched shriek.

"Uh, yes! I'm fine!" The Once-ler said trying to make his voice deeper. He couldn't explain this to Ted.  Hell, he couldn't even explain this to himself.

"Er, listen Ted. I'm going to have to reschedule our little outing. Some things have come up." He yelled in his made up old man voice.

"Really? But Audrey is waiting and I promised I'd bring you today! Man, you can't flake on me right now!"  Ted was a bit steamed at the Once-ler for canceling but then he thought of something.

"You're just trying to get out this aren't you!?" Ted accused.

"What!? No! Something has happened that I have to deal with! I'll meet your girlfriend later." The Once-ler explained. He poked and prodded at his own face just making sure this wasn't some dream or hallucination.
But Ted wasn't taking the Once-ler's excuses. So he decided to storm up stairs and force the Once-ler to come with him even if he had to drag the old man out of his room and all the way back to Thneedvile. Ted fumed up the stairs and the ladder all the way to the tippy top of the lerkim where the Once-ler's room stood. Ted barged into the room.

"Alright old man, you are coming with me to Thneedvile even I have to…." Ted's voice trailed off. There was a man in the Once-ler's room  whom he didn't know. He had big blue eyes and dark hair. He stood much taller than Ted and had a rather goofy look on his face. Ted and the stranger stared at each other for a moment of what seemed like infinite awkwardness for the Once-ler.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ONCE-LER!?" Ted screamed.

"Ted, just give me a second to explain…" The Once-ler started.

" HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME!?" Ted yelled. "ARE YOU KIND OF CRAZED MURDER OR SOMETHING!? YOU KILLED THE ONCE-LER DIDN'T YOU!?"

"I didn't kill the Once-ler-" He started but Ted charged at him before he could get a word out. Ted tackled the stranger and pinned him to the floor.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" Ted deamaned of the stranger.

"GET OFF OF ME!" The Once-ler yelled back at Ted. He forced himself up off the floor and threw Ted off of his back.

"I am far to old far to old to be tackeled like-" The Once-ler looked back back at the mirror hanging on his wall and caught his reflection.

"Oh right I forgot." The Once-ler mumbled. He looked over to Ted who was sitting on the floor dazed from being thrown off.
"Now listen kid…" The Once-ler took a step towards Ted . Ted scrambled to his feet .

"Please don't hurt me like you did to the Once-ler." He backed up until he was right at the edge of the door frame.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you! I am the Once-ler."  He professed.

"What?" Ted said in disbelief.  He looked closely at the stranger.  The Once-ler shrugged a bit.

"You are him..." Ted realized.  He felt his knees go weak.

"No, no, no! Don't faint!" Once-ler yelled as he ran to grab ted before he fell down the stairs but the Once-ler tripped over one of the loose floor boards. He went flying with Ted as the both fell down the long flights of stairs and the one ladder.  The Once-ler and the comatose Ted landed in the sitting room of the Once-ler's lerkim. The Once-ler got up from the floor.

"I should have had him bring me two nails." He said as he shook off the fall.

"Ow, my head!" Ted moaned as he tried to stand up.

"Hey don't stand up too, fast. You don't want to pass out again do you?" The Once-ler said concerned.

"Me passing out is the least of the problems we have right now? Why are you young? Was it something you ate? "

"Do I look like I know how I turned 22 over night?" The Once-ler then thought for a moment. "But ,I bet I know a certain fuzzy meatloaf who does know how this happened though."

"The lorax?" Ted questioned. "But why would he make you young?"

"Maybe it's because I just became the new guardian of the forest."

"What?"