(Once is still puzzling it out too. It'll take a few decades.)
"I eradicated an entire ecosystem. I wiped an entire species of tree off the face of the earth, ruined the food source for countless animals, and have polluted the local water source to the point where it could literally catch fire and burn for the next fifty years.
The land is poisoned. Nothing is ever going to grow there again. The kids in the city I built are never going to see real nature, only the fake things I designed and built to put in their place."
Once-ler shook his head and grit his teeth. He hadn't intended on sharing quite so much, but, no....no, he deserved having everyone know his shame. Everyone knowing his absolute folly.
"I'm working on ways to fix it, of course..." he muttered. "But, the damage is too severe. The soil kills anything I try to put into it. What I've done is going to take years....at the very least."
It's the word the Lorax left for him--
"I eradicated an entire ecosystem. I wiped an entire species of tree off the face of the earth, ruined the food source for countless animals, and have polluted the local water source to the point where it could literally catch fire and burn for the next fifty years.
The land is poisoned. Nothing is ever going to grow there again. The kids in the city I built are never going to see real nature, only the fake things I designed and built to put in their place."
Once-ler shook his head and grit his teeth. He hadn't intended on sharing quite so much, but, no....no, he deserved having everyone know his shame. Everyone knowing his absolute folly.
"I'm working on ways to fix it, of course..." he muttered. "But, the damage is too severe. The soil kills anything I try to put into it. What I've done is going to take years....at the very least."