Chapter 2:

The sea is described by some members of our world as 'tedious', by others 'dull', and even by some 'deep' and 'blue'. All of these people are somewhat right, but most likely the best word to describe the sea is, 'the sea'. Something so big, so ambiguous in all senses, cannot be described in one word. The sea we Ican/I say however, is a 'kind devil' which may seem a tad oxymoronish, but is a rather fair generalization. The sea takes as much as it gives us, and no-one ever will truly be able to control it. You may think your controlling the sea when you fish, but you cannot control when a sea causes storm surges or coastal erosion. You may think your controlling the sea by swimming through it's depths without a scratch, but you can't possible prevent the sea from warming in the tropics and assisting the hurricane formation process.

The Baudelaire's also knew you could not control the sea, and they especially knew you could not control how rough it was. After just three or so hours on the ship, Violet began to get increasingly ill, as the ship swayed in the choppy waters. Sunny kept losing her grip on the centre poles of the ship and continuously slid from the bow to the stern. Even Olaf looked tired of how rough the sea was getting for he took it upon himself to yell rather foolish things at it.

"You're a sissy you idiot water! You couldn't knock a buoy over!'

" Your pathetic! I've seen potatoes stronger than you?"

"Who says fire can't beat water in element games? Your useless!"

Despite his incessant insults, the water was not getting any calmer; in fact, it seemed too becoming more aggravated at Olaf's words, knocking the boat harder and harder as time went by.

Klaus peered over at his pale sister and gently guided her over to Sunny. They all sat down on the slightly wet deck and began to whisper to hide their dialogue from Olaf.

"So what do you think Olaf's really planning to do with us?" Klaus asked.

"I don't really know." Violet said groggily, holding her stomach, " But I know that if we don't get somewhere soon, I'm going to be horribly sick. Then I'll be useless to help you both if Olaf tries something on us."

"Overboard?" Sunny suggested rather half heartedly, meaning something along the lines of 'Should we just jump off the ship and swim back to the city?"

"No that would be foolish." Violet said. "You can hardly swim Sunny, and besides even if we did make it back to the city, what would happen to us there? We're wanted for murder, arson, fleeing from the scene of a crime; and we can't really say were innocent to any of the charges can we?"

The other Baudelaires nodded gloomily. However much they didn't want to admit it, they had fled from the authorities numerous times, and Ihad/I, voluntarily, committed arson and inadvertently murder. They couldn't go back and just face the police and society. They were in for the hard yards, a phrase which here means 'Stuck with Olaf until they could find somewhere safe from everyone who could hurt them'.

"So after we go to this island with Olaf, where do we head for then?" Klaus said looking at Violet and Sunny.

"Parents. Snicket File. Mystery." Sunny said which really didn't need translation.

"Sunny's right about this Klaus. We need to find out if one of our parents Iis/I still alive, for they are the only ones who are going to get us out of the mess we've gotten ourselves into. Whether we like it or not, there is no-one new who can help us. People have tried helping us before, but it all ends in tragedy for them or for us. We have to find out the mysteries of our lives ourselves, and the first one is the matter of our still living parent."

"But how do we do that Violet?" Klaus demanded, though he wasn't really mad at his sister.

"We go to this island, and see what information it can give us. Then, if we can we should take the boat and try to find the Quagmires, without Olaf. They alone may help us in some way. They are sure to have some new information in their commonplace books.

"And maybe Fiona and Fernald can help us too. They did steal that submarine from Olaf." Klaus added

"Yes but Kit said they were after the Quagmires, too you know Klaus. Just because Fiona kissed you doesn't mean we owe her anything.

Klaus looked at Violet angrily.

"Well don't pretend your wanting to see the Quagmires just because you think we need their help. You want to see Quigley again, don't you?"

"We all do Klaus! I'm just trying to make a plan of action that seems logical!"

"Well you don't need to insult my plans either!"

"Quit it!"

The two Baudelaires stopped speaking and looked down at Sunny who was standing up and facing them with sad eyes.

"We family, not enemies. We stick together. We work together. We no fight." Sunny said quietly this time.

The Baudelaires looked at their younger sister with equally sad eyes, and thought of how much their baby sister had grown up in such a short time. She was being the smart one, the noble one for once, and she had spoken in such a clear and un-baby like voice. She had truly grown up, and was no longer a baby, but a girl, with a strong will and good culinary skills.

"I'm sorry Sunny. You're absolutely right, we shouldn't be fighting each other. We're all we have, and we need to stay strong to get through this." Klaus smiled at Violet, and all three Baudelaires hugged each other tight, enjoying the moment.

Suddenly the boat slammed to the right, knocking all three hugging Baudelaires over and on too the deck. An enormous wave washed over the ship soaking their already damp concierge uniforms. The Baudelaire's stumbled up in fright, and wandered towards one of the centre poles on the ship. Sunny suddenly pointed to the sky.

"Black sky!" she cried.

The Baudelaires all looked up and saw indeed that the sky was blackening, with clouds almost covering the sun now. They had not noticed it before, but now they could se clearly that sky was beginning to model it's sea counterpart. The sea was so choppy now that the Baudelaires all had to hold on to the centre pole tight, or else they would be flung overboard, or into the rails. Olaf had hit the deck hard, and was sliding across the deck, trying to stand and prevent himself from being hurt any further. The clouds now began to almost shudder, and suddenly a cold front fell upon the children. They desperately tried to huddle next to each other, all shivering. A storm was brewing, and they all knew it.

This storm, which may seem like another dip in the road for the Baudelaires, was in fact a terrible tragedy for another family as well. For, while a storm can roughen the water and shake up seamen, it can cause damage to those in the air as well, and while the Baudelaire's clung for their safety on the ship, a poor man clung weakly to a rope dangling from a large basket in the sky, and although I terribly wish it weren't so, this man was not going to make it through safely.