The Obsession

Charlie was obsessed. He couldn't even remember when it had all started, but even in the beginning it had run deeply. Standing out in the cold winter air, peeking through the twisted metal gates up at the factory. Charlie couldn't recall when he had not done this each day, he found himself taking routes just to go by the factory. Going obscurely out of the way even to just catch glimpses of the towering structure, he had been berated for being late on more then a few occasions. His grandpa Joe had laughed it off, stating that children had their heads in the clouds, and that Charlie was like every other boy his age. His parents had had that shared worried look that they often got, without ever realizing they were doing it. Luckily the issue was dropped, but his mother still gave him funny looks each time he was late from school.

Then his father had brought home something new for charlie to focus on, it had been a innocent gesture on his fathers part. He had been working at the toothpaste factory like every other day when he had come across a oddly shaped lid. This hadn't been the first time this had happened, but this one, it was really quite deformed in shape. They were instructed upon finding these sorts of lids to toss them out, useless to the company, but just this once the lid was slipped into his pocket instead.The little gift was bestowed on Charlie when he returned from school that day, late as he always was, and as his father held it out Charlies brain went to work. He took the lid and rushed up to his room, pulling out some scrap paper and pencils he had for school and began to draw.

Charlie drew nonstop for quite some time, until his parents managed to get him to come down and eat his supper. It was then he showed his parents, with a proud smile, the plans to his very own Wonka factory. His mother had been unsure, though his father saw this as perhaps a way to help Charlie finally overcome his obsession. It made sense, that a young child would dream of owning something so luxurious, especially considering where they lived. His father promised Charlie to help him find each piece, determined to help him grow beyond this childish obsession with the factory. From then on Charlie waited out by the Wonka factory less and less, and spent more time waiting for his father to come home. As time passed on his sculpture grew, and before Charlie and his family knew it, he had finished putting on the last piece, Mr Wonka's head.

His father seemed confident this would end it, after all Charlie now spent much more time at home, but none could foresee that this was only the beginning to it. The contest announcement was what brought their worry back, Charlie had excitedly dashed home and explained in detail what he had read. From then on Charlie was barely ever focused, all he could think, talk, dream about was the possibility of seeing the inside of the factory. Grandpa Joe made it all the worse, telling Charlie stories of when he had worked in Wonka's shop, filling Charlies head with more to obsess over.

They still had hope though, it was highly unlikely Charlie could afford more then one bar, let alone get a golden ticket. His parents figured once the contest was over things would go back to the way they were before, if only they knew just how wrong they were. Things went out of control when Charlie brought the ticket home, Grandpa Joe was the only one who really was happy for Charlie that day. Grandpa Joe escorted his grandson to the opening, returning later scaring them all as they crashed through the roof. Charlie happily showed his home off, even the small sculpture, his eyes shone to finally be in front of the man who made the factory. It was short lived though, his parents were immensely relieved as well, when Charlie chose his family over the factory.

Things settled down again when Wonka left, His mother and father deemed that Charlie had finally gotten it all out of his system. Charlie moped around the house for awhile, he really seemed to be getting over it all, but it seemed Charlie had made an impression on Wonka. Charlie returned one day, very late in the evening with Mr Wonka. It seemed Wonka had thought it over and decided Charlie could in fact bring his family, they had been resistant at first, but when he moved their entire home into the candy room how could they complain? Charlie was now the heir to the Wonka factory, his parents couldn't say no to giving their child a better future, and though it was strange in the factory they were living much better off then before.

The spark seemed to return to Charlie at once, he was really in his element, and now it seemed the only time they saw Charlie was at the odd meal. When he did come around he often brought Wonka, it was obvious now that it wasn't just the factory that Charlie was obsessed with. Only Charlies parents seemed to forget, that obsession can go both ways, and though Charlie was focused only on this place, Wonka seemed to only focus on Charlie. As time went on, Charlie grew more and more distant, and it was made very clear. Though Charlie had told Wonka he had chosen his family over the factory, Charlie had long ago chosen Wonka and the factory over everything.