I never meant to start a revolution. I just wanted to impress Audrey. She said she’d kiss me if I showed her a real tree. So I went to the edge of Thneedville, past the gates, into the dead zone where the wind carries ash instead of leaves. That’s where I found the Once-ler, curled in a chair like a ghost. And that’s where I heard the voice.

'You shouldn’t be here,' it said. Small. Sharp. Angry.

I turned. Nothing. Then—reflection in a broken window. Orange fur. Wild eyebrows. A mustache like a tornado.

'I’m the Lorax,' it said. 'And you’ve got something that doesn’t belong to you.'

He meant the seed in my pocket. The one I’d stolen from O’Hare’s vault.

The Lorax stepped out of the glass. 'Plant it, and the forest returns. Plant it, and they’ll call you a terrorist. What’s it gonna be, kid?'