★ 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕲𝖎𝖗𝖑 𝖂𝖍𝖔 𝖁𝖔𝖑𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉 ★ (𝓐𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓮)

The Slippery Slope

Like handshakes, house pets, and raw carrots, many things are preferable when not slippery, and the least preferable slippery thing is a slope, which is why I implore you to look away. "It's a slippery slope" is an expression that refers to the way even small, seemingly harmless actions can set you down a path to something wrong. My name is Lemony Snicket, and I am sorry to say that in the lives of the Baudelaire children, every path led to something wrong. The Baudelaires chose to make new friends, which led to unhinged villainy, unnecessary physical fitness, a kidnapping. Their attempt to rescue their friends led to more villainy, a long fall in the dark, and something fishy, which, when investigated, led to the death of, false charges of murder, and life on the lam, which led to more things, too horrible to mention, such as underage driving, hot air balloon mishaps, medically suspect surgery, a career in the circus, astonishing revelations about and a possible survivor of the fire that destroyed the Baudelaire home, lions, and finally, a runaway caravan plummeting down a mountain, for, as the children had discovered, a slippery slope can also be literal.

The caravan is titled to the right lifting the left side of the caravan up and back down causing the children to scream for their lives.

"What just happened?" Klaus asked.

"The real question is "what's going to happen in a moment?" Nadia snapped. "We are going to die." The caravan bumped into the side making the children fall to the ground, screaming. The caravan was rolling down the mountain.

"How do we stop this caravan?" Klaus asked.

"We have to invent some sort of a braking system!" Violet yelled.

"But first get out of your disguises!" Nadia suggested. "There's no use pretending you are a two-headed person anymore, and you both need to be as able-bodied as possible."

In moments, the two Baudelaires wriggled out of the oversized clothing they had taken from Count Olaf's disguise kit and were standing in regular clothes, trying to balance in the shaky caravan. Violet was tying her hair up in a ribbon to keep it out of her eyes, a sure sign that she was thinking up an invention.

"Violet now would be a great time for an idea. Violet, hurry! We're running out of the road!" Nadia yelled panicking.

"Search the caravan for anything long enough to reach the wheel," Violet ordered. Nadia quickly picked up a paddle. "What about this?"

"Perfect. Now use it to jam the wheel. I'm gonna tie these together and create a drag chute." She reached up to the banner and quickly detached it from the wall. "Klaus jam the wheel," Violet said as she noticed Nadia's face turning an ugly shade of white. "Nadia, help me tye this," Nadia snapped out of her daze and with her hands and legs feeling like jello helped Violet tye the banner. Klaus started to jam the wheel.

"Make it fast! This road won't stay straight forever," Klaus said worriedly. He tried to jam the wheel again. "I think I've got it. I just need to apply more friction."

"How's it going?" Violet asked as she tied a knot. Her eyes flickered from Nadia's pale face to Klaus's.

"Not great," Klaus said, showing her the broken paddle. Nadia's face turned paler.

"That's okay. You bought me time to make this." Violet said as Nadia helped her shakily bring the banner up the door. 

"Nadia kick the door open," Violet ordered. Nadia tried not to think about dying and kicked it with all her might. The door broke. Violet released the banner. The banner immediately caught the rushing air and swelled out behind the caravan like enormous cloth balloons, which slowed the caravan down quite a bit, the way you would run much slower if you were dragging something behind you, like a knapsack or a sheriff. Klaus and Nadia screamed when they fell off the edge. The drag chute held back the caravan, which held the caravan onto a dead tree near a cliff. The children got out of the caravan just in time.