Lost In Translation
This story basically explains itself. I do not own Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. I did however create the girl with the honey blonde hair, who is a more streamlined version of me! Please enjoy my one shot! No offence to any chavs reading this – this is simply how I see them.
They were in Liverpool, they knew that much. The problem was, they had no idea how or why. Violet, Klaus and Sunny wandered around what they believed to be the city centre. They walked past a huge, glossy, blue and white building; labelled PRIMARK Sunny took everything in slowly. She had never been in a place with so many people. She couldn't believe that some of these buildings were single shops. They were huge! There were all sorts off odd smells. Fruity and floral fragrances coming from a smaller store named 'Lush'. Doughy and salty smells coming from little green stands dotted around on the grey concrete.
'Look, Klaus' Violet whispered. They were certainly not inconspicuous as it was. Their darkened and faded Victorian clothing did not manage to mingle with the bright colours around them. Violet pointed at a huge multicoloured banner attached to and even huger building. It said:
LIVERPOOL CAPITAL OF CULTURE, 2008
'So it's 2008. We better speak to someone. Find out if they know of any VFD related organisations around here, or if there is a place we can send a telegram to Mr Poe.' Klaus worked out.
He looked around at all of the different people, and lots of them. There were a few old fat balding men loitering outside grimy-looking coffee shops, but the majority of the crowds he saw were young girls. He wondered if the young girls in this city were all part of some strange cult tribe. Nearly all of the teenage girls had oddly coloured skin, tinted an orangey colour. Their hair was tied up into spiky ponytails, or hung loose, looking ragged and unkempt. Nobody seemed to have curly hair. Most of the hair was blonde. Even the girls' odd looks did not excuse their even odder clothing. They layered clothes in a weird fashion – dresses over jeans, very short skirts over leggings. Many wore thick Eskimo-style boots, although it was nearly summer. The boots made their feet look huge – surely that was not an attractive trait? These peculiar specimens spoke in high pitched, sometimes undistinguishable dialogues, using words in new ways, ways in which Klaus was sure was grammatically incorrect. A pair of shoes could not be 'boss' or 'sound' could they? And how could the huge fur boots be called 'cool'? They looked the exact opposite of that!
Klaus's eyes raked through the rabble, looking for someone, anyone, who looked the slightest bit normal. His glance stopped on a particular girl, wandering by herself. Violet seemed to have spotted her too. They glanced at each other for approval, and sidled cautiously over, careful not to get too close to any of the tribe girls.
This girl looked about thirteen, and seemed to be alone. Her clothes were the closest to normal that Violet, Klaus and Sunny had seen all day. The girl had thick honey blond hair, tied back, and a thoughtful, if not vacant expression on her face. She wore skin-tight denim trousers in deep purple and a bobbling navy blue cardigan. She had pale yellow skin and very green eyes. She glanced up at them, a puzzled look on her face.
'I'm sorry to bother you, but do you know of any VFD branches around here?' Violet began. Sunny gurgled at the girl's feet.
'My name is Klaus Baudelaire, and these are my sisters, Violet and Sunny.' Klaus added.
'Pleased to meet you, I'm Jess.' The girl said, in an accentless voice. 'Wait...'
Her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed. Her face lit up as she realised something.
'You are the Baudelaire siblings, right?' The other children nodded.
'The characters from the Lemony Snicket books! I love that series.' Jess beamed.
'Oh, dearest Lemony... you know him?' Violet questioned.
'Course not! I love his books though.'
The siblings realised that they were getting nowhere with the whole VFD thing. They decided to begin on their next task.
'Well then' Klaus started 'have you any idea where we can send a telegram from?'
Jess snorted and gave them a pitying look. 'You want to contact Mr Poe don't you?'
'Yaaa.' Sunny gurgled.
'Well you can't send telegrams anymore. The best I can do is point you in the direction of an internet café.'
Klaus had read futuristic books on ideas about this 'internet'. He had no idea it would actually happen, and that he would be able to use it. The thought excited him a great deal. The internet was a huge network of information, priceless of course, to him. The amount of new information he could discover was infinite.
'No use, I guess. We are probably bending the time space continuum as it is. We are years into the future, and have no idea how we got here. We have no money or place to stay, no way of contacting 100 years ago. All in all, there is no hope.' Klaus's pessimistic tone dampened the dull sun that beamed onto them. Jess pulled an unreadable face.
'I suppose you might be able to stay at Alice's. I'm sleeping at hers tonight. Her mum's pretty nice.
'Really? But how on earth will we get there? Surely you can't drive...?'
'No. Of course I can't. Follow me.'