[Ted gets pulled up by a rope and pulley to the second floor window where the Once-ler confronts him angrily.]
Who are you? Who are you and what are you doing here?!
I'm Ted. I'm Ted. I can't breathe. Are you the Once-ler? Oh, man.
Didn't you read the signs? No one is supposed to come here. Get out of here and leave me alone! And don't let the boot hit you on the way out.
The boot? [gets kicked by said boot from behind] Hello! Ow! Listen! People say that if someone brings you this stuff that you will tell them about trees. [gets grabbed again] No, no, no!
Trees?
Yeah, real ones. You know, that grow out of the ground? [pause] Hello?
Sorry, it's just... Well, I didn't think anyone still cared about trees.
Well, that's me. The guy who still cares. I'm here. [gets put back down] Hey! What?
You wanna know about trees, about what happened to them, (and) why they're all gone? [softly] It's because of me.
Wait, what? [A Whisper-ma-Phone chutes down to him. He leans in to hear.]
(shouts)
IT'S BECAUSE OF ME! [Ted coughs] And my invention, the Thneed. It was an amazing product that could do the job of a thousand.
All right. Sounds ridiculous, but I mean, that's cool.
You're darn right it was cool! [starting to explain what happened to the trees] It all started a long time ago.
Can we start not so long ago, maybe?
Do you want a tree?
Yes, yes.
Then it all started a long, LONG time ago. [scene flashes back to the Once-ler as a young man] I was a young man leaving home.
