My name is Sunny Baudelaire.
My friend Lemony Snicket wrote a series of books about my siblings and me, but he never finished. I was only an infant when the series began, and now I am 12 years old. In 3 days I will be 13. I've never really remembered my life, and I didn't even know about the books until I was 10 years old. My sister Violet told me about them at my birthday party, and it came as much a surprise.
"Sunny, I know you have little memory of your life before living with Emily, and I believe that may be because of trauma." I looked confused. What in my life could have caused me trauma, even with my parents dying? That was only one thing when I was a small girl, and I had coped with that.
"I think you should know about your past, because though it was filled with fire and fear, it was also filled with noble and loving people, such as the people sitting here."
I looked at the people about me, so happy. Both of the newlywed J.S's, Kit and Lemony, the Quags (my nickname for the Quagmires), and Hal, so kind, and always there for me. I was insanely curious as to what Vi was talking about.
"I want you to understand all of our mysterious past, so for your 10th birthday I want to give you the gift of this book." And she handed me a book, with a small bow tied around it. It was small, and a hardback, with a dark blue binding. I pulled off the ribbon and gazed at the cover. There was a slightly sinister picture, and the words 'a series of unfortunate events book, the 1st, and The Bad Beginning" but the most shocking where the 3 words I nearly overlooked. 'by Lemony Snicket' I nearly shrieked.
"Lemony? You wrote this?" I asked.
"I did." He conformed.
"When?"
"When you where 3 years old."
"That's amazing." I said, and threw myself on Violet. "Thank you so much!"
"Your welcome" She laughed, and hugged me back.
I looked at the book with a certain degree of longing. "Could I read it?" I asked.
'Why don't you read the first chapter out loud?" Klaus suggested. I agreed happily and began.
"If you are looking for a book with a happy ending, you would be better off reading some other book…"
So that's how it started. Violet kept buying books, and I kept reading them. I was obsessed, completely obsessed. If is was some work of fiction I would have liked them, but I always had it in the back of my head that all of this was Me. Me, Trapped in a birdcage, me, playing with the Incredibly Deadly Viper, me, working the tiller of a sailboat, me, becoming a administrative assistant, saving the Quagmires, climbing up an elevator shaft, reviving my sister, dressing up as a freak, spying on Count Olaf, exploring underwater passages, and becoming a flaneur. Me, unraveling all the mysteries in my life that I never even knew about. It was amazing. No, I am not big-headed, but the thought of all of this surrounding me was fascinating.
And I learned about Lemony. Before it all I was good friends with him, and I knew he and Kit had a difficult past, but the books opened up a whole new understanding. I knew about Jacques, and about kits baby, who she gave up for adoption when he was born, and I knew about Beatrice, as soon as he told me. I understand all so much more now. And I feel filled with knowledge unlike I've ever known.
But now my life is feeling more difficult. Count Olaf is still at large, though since we life at the Hotel Denumont now he is much less likely to bother us, and he has no followers. The whole mess with the Dailey Punctilio is cleared up, but I doubt life will ever be the same. And at the very beginning of the unpublished 13th book, Olaf threatens to kill me, and that is some weight to carry on my young, cute shoulders.
I guess I decided to write in you for that reason. I'm only 12, and this is too much to hold without some kind of outlet. So I'll write here, to express how I feel and what is going on with my life. Maybe something exiting will happen. Maybe this will be worthwhile. It is fun, in any case.