ᴅᴀɴᴅᴇʟɪᴏɴꜱ ( 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐁𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞 )

ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴏʀʀᴏᴡꜰᴜʟ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ

OPHELIA DARLING  nervously clutched her basket close to her chest. She had been heading over to Hector's house, to deliver some bread and cookies, as a welcoming gift. However, the thought of meeting Violet made her heartbeat fast. The first thing she saw, as she walked was a large, sturdy-looking house, with a pointed roof and a front porch big enough to contain a picnic table and four wooden chairs. The second was an enormous barn, right next to the house.

Nevermore Tree was gargantuan, a word which here means "having attained an inordinate amount of botanical volume," a phrase which here means "it was the biggest tree the Ophelia had ever seen." Its trunk was so wide that Ophelia could have stood behind it, along with an elephant, three horses, and an opera singer, and not have been seen from the other side. Its branches spread out in every direction, like a fan that was taller than the house and wider than the barn, and the tree was made even taller and wider by what was sitting in it. Every last V.F.D. crow was roosting in its branches, adding a thick layer of muttering black shapes to the immense silhouette of the tree. Because the crows had gotten to Hector's house as the crow flies, instead of walking, the birds had arrived long before the Ophelia, and the air was filled with the quiet rustling sounds of the birds settling in for the evening. A few of the birds had already fallen asleep, and she could hear a few crow snores as they approached their new home.

Ophelia walked closer to the Nevermore tree, as she stared in fascination at the birds. Even though she had seen the crows roosting every day, something about them fascinated her. She had painted several paintings of the crows, roosting. Something landed on her head, as she shook it off. A piece of paper slowly landed, on the ground. Ophelia regarded it curiously, as she picked it up. On it was written.

The first thing you read contains the clue: An initial way to speak to you. Inside these letters, the eye will see nearby are your friends and V.F.D.

Ophelia furrowed her eyebrows, not understanding what was written. Feeling as if it were important, she put the piece of paper in her pocket. She gathered her courage, temporarily forgetting about the strange message, and knocked on the door.

No one answered.

She knocked again. No answer.

As no one answered, Ophelia's spirits sank, and she gloomily walked back home. Not being able to introduce herself to Violet, made Ophelia feel sadder, even though she didn't know why.

Fowl Fountain was made in the shape of an enormous crow, and stood in the middle of the uptown district, in a courtyard with many different streets leading out of it. The crow's metal body, which was covered in carvings of feather shapes to make it look more realistic. Its metalhead, which was facing straight up and spitting a steady stream of water out of a hole fashioned to look like its mouth as if the enormous bird were gargling and spitting water all over its own body. The effect was hideous, but the V.F.D. crows must have thought differently because the fountain was covered in feathers that they had left behind during their uptown morning roost.

Ophelia saw the children, scrubbing and cleaning a donkey. She walked with an extra bounce on her steps and approached the fountain. 

"Hello," Ophelia said politely, as the children turned their heads. " I'm Ophelia Darling. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I'm Violet Baudelaire." The girl replied. "And these are my siblings, Klaus and Sunny. I'm-I mean we are pleased to meet you as well." She turned a little pink.

Ophelia smiled brightly at Violet, and she said sympathetically. "Doing all of the village's work must be tremendously tiring."

"We're used to strenuous exercise," Violet replied. "When we lived in Paltryville, we debarked trees and sawed them into boards, and at Prufrock Preparatory School we had to run hundreds of laps every night."