Chapter One

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It was a dull day. The three Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny were at Briny Beach. Violet tied her hair up with a purple hair ribbon. Violet loved inventing, and was probably the finest 14-year-old inventor. She tied up her short black hair when she wanted to think.

Klaus was her brother, and enjoyed reading, because of the information he got from books. He had a wide vocabulary, and in the rare event that her sister got stuck on an invention, there was no better person to help than him. He adjusted his glasses and turned the page of his book.

Violet took a raw carrot out of her pocket and passed it to her sister. "Sunny, here's a carrot."

Sunny was the youngest Baudelaire, and enjoyed biting hard things, particularly carrots, her favourite food. She was an infant, only 8 months old, and often spoke in shrieks that were hard to understand. She accepted the snack from her sister, shrieking, "Hatja!", which meant 'thank you!'. Suddenly, Sunny stopped biting, shrieked "Look!", and pointed to the mist.

A figure was walking through the mist. Violet stood up and picked a rock off of the sand. She was just about to throw it when Klaus lowered her arm and said, "Violet, stop. Look, it's just Mr. Poe, from the bank."

"Oh, Mr. Poe!" Violet said, when Mr. Poe reached them. "Sorry, I didn't recognise you."

Mr. Poe just smiled and nodded. Klaus and Violet exchanged looks.

"Um, hello. It's a nice day." Klaus said awkwardly.

"It is a nice day." Mr. Poe agreed at last.

"Howdo?" asked Sunny.

"She asked 'how do you do'." Violet explained to the banker.

"Fine, fine."

Violet and Klaus exchanged looks once more.

Klaus cleared his throat. "Well-." he began.

"Children, I have some bad news." Mr. Poe interrupted sadly.

"Oh." Sunny said.

"Children... your parents have perished... in a terrible fire... that destroyed your home... I'm sorry... children. Perished means-"

The children did not speak every time Mr. Poe paused. Sunny stopped biting her carrot, Violet had dropped her rock in shock, and Klaus had not done anything. But now, he reluctantly finished, "Killed. Perished means... we know what perished means."

Mr. Poe smiled. Sunny and Klaus's eyes dropped to the floor, and Violet had to blink to stop tears from coming.

"Would you... would you like to see the... you know... ruins? Of your home?" Mr. Poe asked gently.

"Ye." shrieked Sunny, which, of course, meant, 'Yes.".

Violet and Klaus looked at each other, nodded, then looked back at Mr. Poe.

"Yes please." Klaus nodded.

"We would like that." Violet added.

The trip to their destroyed home had not been a pleasant one for the Baudelaire's. They had sat in the back of Mr. Poe's cramped car, Sunny confused but sad, Klaus silently crying, and Violet trying to comfort him whilst trying not to cry herself. But the short visit to the Poes had been even less pleasant. Mr. and Mrs. Poe's children were two extremely unpleasant boys who believed the Baudelaires had set the fire. And if that wasn't bad enough, at the start of the trip they were wearing comfortable clothes - Violet a purple dress with grey tights, Klaus a red jumper and black trousers, and Sunny a pink dress and yellow coat - but by the end of the trip, all three of them were wearing tight khaki jumpers and itchy jeans.

"They're trying." Klaus whispered half-heartedly as they fell asleep in their one bed one night. "And we shouldn't complain. But I want to."

"Children, children!" Mr. Poe's wife shouted, coming up the stairs.

Klaus sat up, rubbing his eyes and putting his glasses on. "Yes?"

"It's the day!"

Violet bolted upright in bed. 

"Are you alright?" Klaus asked.

"I had a nightmare." she said. "What's going on?"

Klaus shrugged, just as Sunny woke up.

"The day you meet your guardian!" Mrs. Poe explained, her voice excited, as if she was pleased to get rid of the children.

"Oh, right." Klaus nodded, not as thrilled as Mrs. Poe was expecting.

"Who is he? Or she?" Violet asked.

"What are they like?" Klaus asked.

"Loca?" Sunny asked, which meant 'Where do they live?".

"Arthur - Mr. Poe - will give you details in his car." said Mrs. Poe. "Get up, get up, have some breakfast.

"Are they going?" the youngest Poe son asked, getting out of bed.


The eldest Poe son got out of his bed, and said, at his mother's nod, "Thank goodness. I don't want our house burning down."

"Albert." Mrs. Poe warned, but she didn't seem bothered.

"His name is Count Olaf." Mr. Poe explained when they were in his car on the way to Count Olaf's house.

"Count?" Klaus asked, curious.

"Olaf." Mr. Poe said.

"Count Olaf?" Violet asked, racking her brain. "We've never heard of this Count Olaf."

"Now, now, Violet, don't be silly." Mr. Poe said. "Of course you have. He is your... hm... fourth cousin three times removed. Hm, no, maybe he's your third cousin four times removed. Closest living relative."

"I think we have closer relatives." Klaus said, partly to his sisters and partly to Mr. Poe.

"No, Klaus, Count Olaf is your only relative living in the city."

"But that's not what closest..."

"He's an actor!" Mr. Poe interrupted as if Klaus hadn't spoken. "Isn't that exciting? He was so excited to meet you and adopt you."

"I'm glad about that." chuckled Violet. "I was worried that we'd get placed in the care of someone rotten."

"Estacount." Sunny said, which meant, 'I'm actually rather excited to meet this man.'.

"I've always been interested in theatrical performances," said Klaus. "Although I would rather write the script than act."

"Then you will be thrilled to meet this man." smiled Mr. Poe. "Oh, I completely forgot."

"What?" questioned Violet.

"Count Olaf has adopted another orphan. His parents were killed in a fire too, but I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

The Baudelaires didn't think much of it. After all, fires occurred every day, destroying homes and lives.

"His name is... oh, I can't remember. He's been with Count Olaf for three years, I believe, since he was ten." Mr. Poe explained. "Ah, here we are!"

The children turned around in the car.

"What a beautiful house!" Violet exclaimed.

Klaus didn't say anything, but smiled, pleased about his new home.

"Yeka." Sunny smiled, which meant 'It's lovely.'.

A/N: I'm sorry if this story is bad, but please understand that this is my first published chapter on Wattpad and the story will hopefully get better. <3

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