A Tale of Wretched Occurrences: The Beginning

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓕𝓸𝓾𝓻

"Remember: if you work extra hard, you get to go to the ball. Room. Which is even grimier." Count Olaf glares down at the four of you, arms crossed. "Hang onto your toothbrushes. You'll need them for your teeth."

The doorbell rings its warning chimes, and both you and Klaus move to get up from the dirty bathroom floor.

"Stay here," Count Olaf orders. "And not a peep."

He slams the door, leaving the four of you alone. Well, alone with the rat.

You open your mouth to say something, but a yawn comes out instead.

Violet frowns. "Oh no, Millie, your medication. I doubt Count Olaf will let you get more."

You sigh. You haven't given your medication a thought since Mr. Poe arrived at Briny Beach, and somehow, your narcolepsy hasn't caught up to you yet. But it seems like your luck is running out, evident by the fact that you suddenly feel exhausted.

"Yeah, definitely not. But he probably won't let me take a nap either. I'll just, um, I'll be fine."

"We can do your part for you," Klaus volunteers.

"You don't need to do that. I'll be fine."

Both Klaus and Violet look doubtful, but you ignore them, and start scrubbing the inside of the bathtub.

A couple moments pass before Count Olaf returns. Inexplicably, he's carrying a large leg of lamb. He looks over the work you've done, his eyes quickly falling on you.

"You missed a spot." He motions to the tub with his lamb.

Klaus glares at him, and Count Olaf glares right back, tearing a hunk of meat off the lamb with his teeth. He chews noisily as he slams the door again.

㊋㊋㊋㊋

The four of you flop down on the squeaky bed. Both you and the bed sigh.

You ended up taking two naps during all those chores, but somehow you're still exhausted. But you can't tell if that's a narcoleptic thing or a massive chores list thing.

"I never want to use a toothbrush again." Klaus looks down at said toothbrush with disgust.

The door to your bedroom slams open and Count Olaf strides in with his usual gusto. "Why aren't you cleaning? My list was very specific."

"We finished it," Violet explains.

Count Olaf snatches the list out of Klaus's hand, looking it over. He becomes increasingly agitated with each crossed off item, trying to find one you didn't do.

He flips the paper over. "No, you didn't." He begins to scribble something down.

"We even washed your underwear," Klaus insists.

"You missed one. You still have to prepare a large meal for myself and my theatre troupe." He thrusts the list at Violet.

Violet glares down at the new list item. "We don't know how to prepare a large dinner."

Count Olaf gives her an exasperated look. "Plan the menu, purchase the ingredients, prepare the food, set the table, serve dinner, clean up afterward, and stay out of our way."

"How can we purchase anything?" Klaus asks.

"We don't have any money," you add.

Count Olaf sighs and reaches into his pocket. He pulls a small bag and shakes it, making the jingling noise of coins clinking together. He throws it at you. It jingles even louder when you catch it.