"A Series of Unfortunate Events" fan fiction
Written by Valerie Fowler
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Mama, Papa forgive me
Out of sight, Out of mind
Out of time, To decide
Do we run?, Should I hide?
For the rest, Of My life
Can we fly?, Do I stay?
We could lose, We could fail
In the moment, It takes
To make plans, Or Mistakes
Thirty minutes, a blink of an eye
Thirty minutes, to alter our lives
Thirty minutes, to make up my mind
Thirty minutes, to finally decide
Thirty minutes, to whisper your name
Thirty minutes, to shoulder the blame
Thirty minutes, of bliss, thirty lies
Thirty minutes, to finally decide
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It's funny how thirty minutes can decide your fate...how it can alter your future and send you out in peril, or into the loving arms of another. It can kill you, or save your life. Bring you home, or steal your sanity. Take your soul, or set it free.
Thirty minutes...
It had all started out so perfectly. Our new 'parents' where the most kind people we'd ever met. Since Olaf had finally been put to justice, we seemed, for a time, to have no worries. Sunny would chew her things that our new parents had given her, Violet had all the space she needed to make some of the most extraordinary things I'd ever seen…and I? I buried myself in their extensive library. Who would've thought that living with Librarians could be so wonderful?
With our luck, however, we where destined to come to a time when we would meet with our misfortunes again. Our lives where changed in that sparse amount of time. It still amazes me what thirty minutes can do to your future… It still amazes me what thirty minutes can do to your soul… what thirty minutes can do to alter everything that you ever thought was real.
We'd been in our rooms on a Thursday evening, enjoying our various activities. We'd come downstairs to make lunch for ourselves around twelve. Our parents would have made it, but they where out at a library conference and wouldn't be back until twelve thirty. We'd talked just like nothing had ever happened to us…like we'd never had dead parents and thousands of misadventures. We talked like we'd lived in this house forever. Nothing was wrong in our lives now…and nothing ever would be.
A noise from downstairs had jolted us out of out conversation. The doorbell. I wondered for a moment who could possibly be ringing doorbells in the middle of lunch. Had our parents been expecting someone? Perhaps it was the neighbors, bringing over a pecan pie like they so often did. Either way, I got up from my plate and went to the door to answer.
You might call it a sixth sense that kept me from opening the door immediately. A growing sense of danger and peril of what could be on the other side. So many times had I opened a door to find out something terrible, and this time might not be any different. This time hadn't been any different. Violet had come by my side, and Sunny next to her. I'd opened the door, and we'd all stood gaping at what was before us. It was a long, thin man with a strange cap and bright white smile. He had a clean-shaven face, but there was no denying it…
"Children, I've come to tell you of some horrible news. Your parents…they where on their way to a library conference, when they where killed in a freak accident involving catnip, vodka and a golf cart. I'm extremely sor-" He began, but I cut him off.
"-Where is Mr. Poe?" I demanded, fists clenched. It was then that I'd noticed the man behind him. It was indeed Mr. Poe, looking frightfully upset. He waved his handkerchief half-heartedly and coughed into it for a little longer than a minute. His face was sweating, as if he where very nervous about something. Looking a bit beyond Mr. Poe, I noticed a small man standing behind him with a wide grin.
"Please listen to Mr. Driggers, children. Let us in, would you?" Mr. Poe asked. His voice was tinged with a peculiar amount of nervousness, and at the time I didn't understand why. It wasn't until they came in that I realized that the man behind Poe had a knife to his back. Violet let out a gasp of surprise, covering her mouth. Sunny, who was still a bit too young to understand, simply gaped at the men. We hadn't a clue what to do…
"You children have got to get packing, so we can bring you to your new home," Mr. Driggers said quickly. I pulled myself back two steps before he could pat my head. Driggers didn't seem fazed by this, and just continued talking as if nothing was wrong. "You'll be staying in my care until a suitable home is found."
"Why not Mr. Poe?" Violet had the courage to ask. Driggers tilted his head to the side with a smile.
"Why, Mr. Poe's house is all filled. His cousins have come in from the country." This situation was only getting worse. Mr. Poe shook his head nervously and rapidly with something between a grin and nervous laughter. Mr. Driggers shrugged his shoulders and pointed towards the stairs. "You children have half an hour to get packed before we have to go. We've got to catch the plane!"
"Zout!" Sunny declared, her eyes narrowed in baby anger. I suppose she meant something along the lines of "We're never going with you!" Mr. Driggers laughed, and would have put a hand on her head if she hadn't snapped at his fingers.
"Cute little monkey you have."
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We stalked up to our rooms, all dreams shattered of a perfect life. Mr. Poe was being threatened by Olaf's minions, and there was nothing we could do about it. Violet was holding Sunny to calm her, trying not to cry herself. I wanted to punch a hole in the wall, or a hole in Olaf's head…his head would be more preferable. Instead I sat on my bed, glaring at the wall while Violet leaned against the wall. After all the work we'd gone through, all the good times we'd finally had, Olaf was back again.
"Mutfa!" Sunny whined. I'm sure it was "What are we going to do now?" I sighed, putting my head in my hands. It had only been a moment of silence before I'd finally decided.
"We're going to run away."
"Klaus, are you out of your mind?" Violet quickly interjected. Sunny squeaked something unintelligible. I had made up my mind, though, and didn't back down. I stood to my feet and started pacing the room, watching the floorboards, then turning my eyes towards the clock. We only had thirty minutes…It's funny how thirty minutes can seem like an hour on a bad day…on our day, thirty minutes wasn't enough.
"All we have to do is get out of this house and somewhere else! We can get away in the woods-"
"We can't do that! Where are we going to live? What are we going to eat!" Violet continued to combat every bit of idea I could come up with, and Sunny would put in a word here and there. I finally growled, raising my hands in the air wildly.
"Do you have any other suggestions, Violet? Do you WANT to go with him?"
"No…But there has to be another way!" I sat down with a huge sigh and leaned against the wall where my bed was placed.
"Well, I'm not seeing any other options here."
Eventually she'd agreed, but we still had no idea how to get out, and we only had fifteen minutes to decide how to do it. Every so once in a while, we'd stop and listen to the voices downstairs, and the tapping of feet. Olaf was saying something about roast beef, and why the children where taking so long. Did we really have that many things? Violet shuddered and sat on the ground, leaning her head against the opposite wall. I came over to her and shook her shoulder gently.
"Come on, Violet! Tie your hair up and think of a way to get us out of here!" She looked so sad sitting there. She looked so lonely. It was almost more than I could bear to see the look of dread upon her face. I watched her eyes skim the room, and a look of purpose on her face as she stood up and tied her hair up like I'd asked. I didn't even ask her what she was doing as she ripped the sheets off of my bed and threw them to Sunny. She ran off for a moment and came back with Sunny and her sheets as well.
"Sunny, bite these into pieces…long ones, okay?" Sunny grinned and began chewing. As the bed was torn into long strips, Violet looked to me.
"I'm sure you've read a book about knots. Help me tie one. A very strong one!" I came by her side immediately, wracking my brains for any information I'd read…yes! There was a book about knots in the boy scouts manual I'd picked up! I taught her how to tie them and began tying myself. Eventually we had a rope. Violet opened the window and lowered the rope, tying it around my bed stand. We'd climb out…
Olaf's steps could be heard on the landing below us, coming up to our rooms. His whistling flowed through the house, freezing us. Violet started to move more quickly, making a small wrap for Sunny and put the baby on her back.
"You first, Klaus." She told me, and beckoned me towards the rope. It was at least three stories down to the ground, but Olaf's ever louder footsteps moved me into action. Lucky for me, there was no wind and I didn't have so much trouble getting down. When I'd gotten halfway, I looked up to see Violet on her way down. Sunny had her eyes shut tight, and clung to Violet like a lifeline, babbling incoherently. I'd gotten to the ground when our bedroom door had opened. I imagine that Olaf's look was one of complete bafflement, because when he'd leaned out our window, his face was redder than a beet.
"Oh no you don't! Not THAT easily!" He yelled, and began pulling up on the rope. I was already safely on the ground, looking up at Violet…the rope began swinging wildly, and my sister screamed, grappling with the rope and trying to get down as quickly as she could...The rope was coming back up…
"JUMP!" I yelled to her. She screamed, letting go… I threw out my arms, hoping to catch them. They'd fallen straight on me…I guess I'd broken their fall…and their fall had felt like it had broken the arm they'd landed on. I'd gotten up with Violet's help, and together the three of us dashed off into the forest, never looking back upon the evil that shouted curses after us. We ran as fast as we could into that forest until we came to our usual hiding spot, a small cave that Sunny liked to play in. We all huddled in, completely scared out of our minds, and unknowing of where we would go next…
It's funny how thirty minutes can change your life forever…how it can decide between living with an evil man, and living in the forest, hiding for the rest of your life. Nothing looked well ahead of us. We had no food, no real shelter, and Olaf's minions where sure to be on our tails, with bloodhounds, no less. They'd catch us eventually, I'm sure, but for now…twelve-thirty was beeping on my watch, and there was nothing but there here and now.