This is such a sad story. Charlie is in the worst position possible - he has adapted to the bizarre world of the factory but still longs for the world outside, even though he can no longer relate to it. I think this is a very realistic outcome when he has spent so long in that world even though we like to think he loves it all. I would have liked another chapter where he talks to Wonka about his conflicted feelings but this is still good.

Lovely and sad- nicely done. Thanks for sharing.

"Dorian winced, and looked round at the grotesque things that lay in such fantastic postures on the ragged mattresses. The twisted limbs, the gaping mouths, the staring lusterless eyes, fascinated him. He knew in what strange heavens they were suffering, and what dull hells were teaching them the secret of some new joy. They were better off than he was. He was prisoned in thought. Memory, like a horrible malady, was eating his soul away. From time to time he seemed to see the eyes of Basil Hallward looking at him. Yet he felt he could not stay…"

Dorian Gray? You win, my friend. You epic win. (Has never read the book but is obsessed with the 1945 film haha)

This was REALLY well written, and explores a side of Charlie many would not expect! LOVE it!

Nicely done character sketch of Charlie- I enjoyed this.

I relate. D: And this is beautifully done. I do hope you write more for this category as I'm becoming addicted to your style!

1-Sad, expected, inevitable. Wonderful! He's turning into Wonka. I love those stories where Charlie de-socializes becoming foreign, an outcast. Like Wonka.

2-Creepy is more like it.

1-Shut up! It was a good story.

2-Yeah...sure. But it was creepy!

1-Stop being so mean, that story was awesome! Well written, and did YOU see any grammatical mistakes?

2-Meh...No.

1-Hah!

Sorry about that random outburst. I'm trying to make all my reviews interesting and unique.

That was creepy . . . AWESOME! But creepy. It appealed so much to the philosophical side of me but . . . it was still creepy . . . KEEP IT UP, YOU'RE SO AWESOME! My only slight pet peeve was the lack of Wonka, but . . . I have to . . . come to grips with the fact . . . that Willy Wonka was not to only person in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Anyway, I done with theatrics . . . I think . . . so. Thank you, and keep on WRITING! . . . please . . .

Superb. Indeed the dark side of this very much sugar-coated movie-if not book-is rarely explored in such a fascinating way. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Cheers!

~The Lady of Light~

I love stories that explore the more serious ramifications of Charlie's decision to stay in the factory. This was sad, but very believable. Well done!

Intense. Powerful idea, well written.

Thanks.

Alana: poor Charlie and Poor Willy!

Evo: meh!

oh wow. That was.. intense and so real. poor Charlie.

I hate the idea of a misreable Charlie, but you wrote this very well. I like seeing things from different points of view and this totally offered that. CatCF exists in a wonderful bubble of reality, but should our points of view seep in, the we can't help wonder about such a future for Charlie can we? That's why I love the fantasy of it. I'm sure Charle will end up as incapable of counting the years inside that factory as Wonka himself. I do believe in the magic of Wonka, a man who embodies imagination and Grandma Georgina's statement, "Nothing is impossible, Charlie". However, Dahl always has an element of dark, so I'm always up for darker interpritaions.

update soon i want to read more of how charie's changed

ooh, well-done and intriguing, nice slice of life... you've done what i've been thinking about a lot lately but have never had the guts to do myself, of putting forward a story that doesn't end on some high or low note that will supposedly set the tone of the rest of the characters lives... it was all very open-ended, saying only what charlie knew at that time, without trying to imply how the future charlie would feel about anything... nice encapsulating of an ambiguous time.