Dear Reader, I offer you a special gift this holiday weekend, a secret which has held the interest of many volunteers over the ages, the sugar bowl, but... be warned, the truth is sometimes both a blessing... and a curse.
Seven
There is an old saying that goes "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" and it is used as a word of encouragement for someone who perhaps is tackling a rather large feat or is intending to go on such a trip.
However as inspiring as this may be for someone who is going on such a trip, there are still quite a few factors that need to be considered. For example, even though the journey does indeed begin with a single step; you should consider all of the steps that must be taken after that one seeing as a thousand miles is a rather far distance even for the most stalwart and noble volunteers to attempt to cross and then there is footwear to consider because if you chose to wear steel toed boots, although convenient for working in the sand or in construction, I can assure you if you wanted to travel a thousand miles you wouldn't want to wear this type of footwear because they can become quite uncomfortable after about twenty miles or so.
There are also obstacles that you must go thru, such as weather, traffic, oceans, trained crows, cities, detours and cow fields and each of these can make the journey of a thousand miles seem considerably longer and more daunting and cause some to give up before even considering such a trip. So even though this inspiring phrase may make you think you can undertake such a trip, you might want to reconsider; especially whenever you realize that the destination you're headed to isn't that great after all.
The reason I am beginning this chapter with this old saying is because the Baudelaire's journey did begin with a single step, quite some time ago whenever they turned from standing on Briny Beach to hear Mr. Poe tell them that their parents had perished in an unfortunate event and they have been traveling ever since thru miserable circumstances that have ranged from being stuck in the Orphan Shack at the Prufock Preparatory School to hiding in the back of Olaf's trunk after escaping the Heimlich Hospital all the way to escaping the blaze of the Hotel Denouement alongside their ominous opponent in a small boat and winding up stuck on an island for over a year.
But that single step that the Baudelaire orphans made so long ago that sometimes they forgot about that awful day considering everything that has happened since, was the beginning of a long journey for the children; that may or may not be a thousand miles seeing as I've never actually calculated the distance that Klaus, Sunny and Violet actually traversed.
The children may have thought therefore that when they sat there in the cold floor of the Anxious Clown diner and discovered the hiding place of the sugar bowl, behind the heavy stove that the three children had just shoved out of the way; that their journey was now coming to an end and they had arrived at the answers they'd been seeking. A
fter all, whenever they'd first heard of the sugar bowl; ages ago atop Mt. Fraught and the two treacherous thieves whom I refuse to name seemed rather interested in finding it and Count Olaf had also apparently spent most of his life searching for it; and many of their fellow volunteers had even died trying to protect it such as Kit and Jacques Snicket, Dewey Denouement, Justice Strauss, and others that they had never met or might never get the chance to thank properly.
And the Baudelaires no doubt considered their own personal struggles such as the time that they spent with Captain Widdershins searching for the sugar bowl, or how they'd tried to ascertain whether Frank had assigned them to locate the sugar bowl; unless of course it was Ernest.
So now that the sugar bowl was there right in front of their eyes, the children could hardly believe their eyes and Sunny, Klaus and Violet stared at it for a long moment and no one said a word. Finally, the eldest Baudelaire remarked, "Well, I guess we should open it up."
Klaus however stated in hesitation, "I'm not so sure… you know they say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; and now we've found the sugar bowl. Do you think we should open it?"
"You said it yourself, Klaus; all of the answers we're searching for maybe inside this," Violet answered. Sunny slid the sugar bowl over to her siblings and said, "I guess it is time to find out."
The former infant slowly undid the lid of the sugar bowl, and once it was unfastened; all three of the children looked inside and stared down into the sugar bowl. Klaus, Violet and Sunny didn't say a word as the middle Baudelaire reached inside and took out the contents of the sugar bowl, that had been partially covered with sugar some time before.
Shaking off the sugar, Klaus carefully took off the rubber band that surrounded the small parcel and then slowly unfolded it in front of his siblings. Once he had finished doing so, Sunny and Violet stared at him just as hard as he did; and each of the Baudelaires felt quite confused.
If you have read this far into the story of these miserable children, I'm sure you are just as eager to discover the contents of the sugar bowl as they are.
But there is an old saying, similar to the one that I have mentioned about a journey that starts with a single step; although this phrase is slightly different in its meaning. The phrase is "better left unknown" and it's quite easy to understand whenever you consider that there are many things in this world that shouldn't be learned.
For example, it is quite likely that you agree people should learn to read and write because these tasks are important for survival unless you live in the rainforest. But there are other things that sometimes we shouldn't learn, such as how to be vicious or how to operate a handgun; seeing as these activities are dangerous and can lead to problems.
So whenever I am referring to the phrase "better left unknown" in reference to the sugar bowl, it means that I feel that the contents of it are better left unknown just as the Captain of the Queequeg once told Violet that young people don't need to be aware of the Great Unknown. This being the case, I encourage you to
STOP!
Read no further in this story, relating to the Baudelaires or their tragic tale at the Anxious Clown diner; and go back to whatever it was you were doing and leave the contents of the sugar bowl better left unknown.
STOP!
From learning just as Klaus, Violet and Sunny did what was inside the parcel that they found inside the sugar bowl, and just in case you do feel you need to find out what was inside; let me remind you again that this is not the end of the Baudelaire's journey at all but rather another step in a trip that would not be over for quite some time to come.
STOP!
Klaus finished unfolding the parcel and studied it carefully as his siblings looked over his shoulder and finally the middle orphan declared, "It looks like it's a map."
In fact that was precisely what it was that the orphans had found inside the sugar bowl and as Klaus, Violet and Sunny examined the map; they heard a soft sound from the outer portion of the diner and the siblings stopped from looking at their discovery and listened as they heard glass shatter.
Suddenly, Beatrice was awake and Violet hastened to keep her adopted sister from making any noise and glanced out the double doors of the kitchen and saw what was going on, which caused the oldest orphan to nearly stop in her tracks. There reaching thru the dark shattered glass of the door to the Anxious Clown, was the Baudelaire's nemesis; Mister Dominic.
"Klaus! Quickly! Hide that map!" she told her brother as her youngest sister cried softly, upset that her sleep had been disturbed. Mister Dominic's shiny eyes heard her and glanced around the diner, to which Violet turned to Klaus and said, "Hurry! Hide it anywhere!"
The middle Baudelaire didn't hesitate and stuck the map into another pot before muttering, "What're we going to do?" But before anyone could make any suggestions, the dangerous villain stepped thru the double doors of the Anxious Clown and stared down at the four siblings with a sinister smile.
"Well, well; Baudelaires. Why am I not surprised that you are here at this time of night?" Mister Dominic muttered as the doors swung closed behind him and he stood before Klaus, Sunny, Beatrice and Violet; towering over them and pulling out his comb to comb his shiny hair before remarking, "I must admit I didn't expect you to survive the blaze that I set at the Ned H. Rirger Theater, but then again; you children are rather resilient; much like roaches can be."
"You can't beat us, because you may think you are smarter than us but we've managed to survive so far!" Sunny countered and her siblings wished that their younger sister hadn't been so brave. Mister Dominic laughed and remarked, "If it hadn't been for me, all of you would be long gone by now! Those two that I met with for brunch aren't the most jovial sort; as you children have probably guessed by now."
Sunny Baudelaire grew silent at this as Mister Dominic took another step closer and then noted what Klaus was holding and laughed again. "It looks like you four orphans have once again inadvertently helped me, now I don't have to waste what little time I have left searching thru this dismal diner," the villain remarked with a sneer.
Klaus stared down at the sugar bowl and stated, "We'll never give this to you."
"Oh but I think you will," Mister Dominic said, no longer smiling as he glared down at the Baudelaires and added, "I can dispose of all four of you right now if I so wished."
"Klaus, just give it to him," Violet told her brother.
"But we've worked so hard to find it," the middle orphan stated.
"It's not worth more than our lives is it?" Sunny asked.
"But we have no idea whether or not he'll even let us live!" Klaus pointed out. Mister Dominic was regarding all of them and then said, "I promise I will do you no harm if you give me the sugar bowl, Klaus."
The middle Baudelaire held firmly to the sugar bowl, but also recalled that he had already hidden the map elsewhere in the kitchen of the Anxious Clown, so reluctantly; he passed the small vessel from the tea set to their adversary.
Mister Dominic held the sugar bowl in his hands, and then asked the children, "Have you looked inside it?"
Violet shook her head and replied, "No, we only found it whenever you arrived."
The fiendish foe smiled and then did something that none of the Baudelaires were expecting, and I'm rather sure if you had been there at the same time that Klaus, Violet, Sunny and Beatrice you would've shouted the same thing that the four orphans did whenever Mister Dominic suddenly raised the sugar bowl above his head and then smashed it down onto the floor of the kitchen.
"Stop!"
All of the orphans declared at the same time, but it was too late as the sugar bowl shattered into a million pieces and the contents of it went in every direction.
As the loud crash of the sugar bowl deafened the children's ears, it is my sad duty to report that all of the answers they'd been seeking within it were gone as well.
For had they only had ten more minutes, perhaps Klaus would've thought to pour the sugar out of the bowl and if they had had a little time before Mister Dominic arrived perhaps Violet would've wondered if the map was the only thing inside the sugar bowl and if they'd stopped to think about it Sunny might've thought to look inside the sugar bowl once the sugar had bee poured out and to look and see the engraving there, but sadly the children would never learn of this just as you will never be able to now that Mister Dominic has dashed all of our hopes and dreams into a million tiny pieces that were scattered across the floor of the Anxious Clown.
The villain cackled at the children's surprise and then stated, "I'm sorry children, but that was better left unknown. Now… will you please tell me where the contents of the sugar bowl are at?"
"Why did you do that?" Sunny asked. "
Was there something there inside it?" Violet pondered to which Mister Dominic turned to Klaus and stated, "The map, if you please; Klaus."
The middle Baudelaire; still too stunned from the devious act that Mister Dominic had just performed looked up at their nemesis in defiance and stated, "First you tell us why you smashed the sugar bowl."
"I was ordered to do so," Mister Dominic said simply and then added, "The information contained within it was too dangerous. It managed to clear his name and might've caused a disruption in our plans already. I couldn't allow other volunteers to learn what was inside, lest things go awry."
"Those two wicked judges instructed you to do that?" Sunny asked in surprise, to which the villain said, "The hour is growing later than I expected so I believe that time is short, Baudelaires. Give me the map now, Klaus."
"You won't destroy it?" the middle orphan asked. "I promise I won't," their adversary answered, and carefully Klaus passed it to Mister Dominic; who unfolded it and then asked, "Do you know where this leads, children?"
"We didn't get much time to examine it," Violet remarked. "We were interrupted," Sunny answered. Mister Dominic ignored their complaints and then walked over to the ice machine that was on the far side of the kitchen, crunching the sugar beneath his shoes as he went; and stated, "I'm sure when you first arrived at this diner you noted that this device isn't functioning properly."
"How did you know that?" Klaus asked. "Because it is in fact not an ice machine at all; but rather a Visually False Distraction, created by V.F.D. to hide what was behind it," Mister Dominic said pointing to the map and explaining, "This is a blueprint of the secret passageways that V.F.D. used throughout their organization, and according to it; there is one right behind this ice machine."
Smiling as if he were considering something amusing, the dangerous and deceitful arch-enemy of the Baudelaires declared, "You three children managed to shove that stove out of the way to find the sugar bowl; so it shouldn't be hard for you to do the same to this ice machine."
Before they could object, the villain snatched Beatrice from Violet's grasp and remarked, "Hurry up too, orphans; we haven't all night you know."
"Leave our sister alone!" Sunny yelled.
"No harm will come to her if the three of you speed it up," Mister Dominic assured them as Beatrice cried louder. Klaus and his sisters began to push the side of the ice machine, working their hardest to do so; but Violet said, "This is twice as heavy as the stove."
"Don't test my patience," the villain warned. Suddenly, the entire Visually False Distraction began to move and the Baudelaires stood back as it slid out of the way, revealing just as their nemesis had claimed; a secret dark tunnel leading away from the Anxious Clown diner into the sewer system below.
"That's more like it," Mister Dominic snarled, passing Beatrice over to the oldest orphan and proceeding down the tunnel without hesitation. Klaus was still staring down at the mess that the sugar bowl had made on the floor as Violet tried to comfort their adopted sister and Sunny said, "We should follow him!"
"I'm sure it would only lead to more uncomforting discoveries," Klaus lamented as he stared down at the fragments of the sugar bowl, but Violet said, "We need to catch up with him, even if we're not on the same side; he knows more about this then we do so we have to discover why he shattered the sugar bowl."
Klaus nodded reluctantly and then followed his sisters into the corridor.
The children began yet another journey, and this one seemed to last for quite a while as well. It wasn't a thousand miles, but as they traveled, the Baudelaires could tell that they were moving farther below the surface of the ground and farther away from the diner into the unknown.
Somewhere ahead in the murky passage, Mister Dominic was waiting; or walking ahead of them so the children were cautious as they traversed the tunnel and then came to an abrupt halt whenever Klaus bumped into their nemesis, which caused Sunny to trip and fall into the water in front of all of them. Mister Dominic reached in and snatched her out before she was sopping wet and then turned to the children as he ignited his lighter and remarked, "Why am I not surprised that the four of you chose to follow me?"
"Why did you stop?" Violet asked as she cradled Beatrice closer, who had just now begun to relax again. "
I think it should be obvious, Violet; I would've proceeded but this is as far as I can go," Mister Dominic replied and then gestured to what was in front of them and the children realized that their adversary was telling the truth.
For this was actually not the end of their journey, as I already explained; but an obstacle in their way. Just as the sugar bowl had fallen and shattered now they stood in the darkened path and in front of them, the tunnel was flooded; blocking further passage. It was just as their adversary had said, for now they had gone as far as they could go.
Disappointment is for dinner! Read and review please! Are you disappointed? Shocked? Have more questions than answers? :P then I've done my job!