A Tale of Wretched Occurrences: The Beginning

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓽𝔂-𝓣𝔀𝓸

That night, you and your siblings ponder over what Sir told you. Unfortunately, you don’t have peace or quiet to ponder over it. The workers’ quarters building is smaller than the building housing Sir’s office, despite there being a need for more space. Bunk beds are shoved up against the walls with tiny night stands separating them, and a bunch of wooden cafeteria-style tables run down the center of the room, leaving very little walking space. The workers’ quarters do have electricity-powered lights, but they’re so dim there are a couple drippy candles on each table.

You pick at the lumpy casserole with unidentifiable ingredients in front of you, trying not to catch any of the workers’ eyes. It doesn’t matter much, though, because you’re already the subject of their attention.

“Did you hear about the new recruits?” a middle-aged woman at the next table over asks. “They’re Baudelaires.”

“I hear their folks were arsonists,” an elderly man reading a book chimes in.

“I hear they checked out library books and never returned them,” a man with spiky black hair gnawing a carrot adds.

“I hear they drank blood from the skulls of chupacabras,” the woman informs the men.

“You mean they drank from baby skulls like chupacabras,” the spiky-haired man corrects.

“I know what I heard,” the woman argues.

“That’s ridiculous,” Violet snaps. “Did any of you actually meet our parents?”

The spiky-haired man jerks his head towards the elderly man. “I think Jimmy did.”

“Norma Rae has been here longer,” Jimmy says without looking away from his book.

“Don’t look at me, look at Cesar,” Norma Rae says defensively.

“Do you know anything about what happened to this town?” Klaus asks.

“We’re not allowed to talk about it,” Jimmy informs you dismissively.

“It’s too terrible,” Norma Rae adds.

“Also, we don’t know,” the spiky-haired man — Cesar — says.

“Then you shouldn’t be spreading rumors,” you say bitterly.

“I never believed those rumors anyway,” a cheerful voice says.

You and your siblings look to the other end of the cabin, where another man is walking through the door, carrying a stack of fabric. He plops it on the table and sits down next to Violet.

“So, where are your parents now?” he asks.

“We’re orphans,” Klaus says quietly.

You expect the man to turn sad, but to your surprise, he grows even happier. “Lucky you! The unsupervised life. No curfew, no rules.”

A PA system in the corner of the room crackles to life. “Lights out. Two seconds,” Sir’s voice announces.

The lights shut off, leaving only minimal dots of light left from the candles.

“But it’s only six o’clock,” Klaus complains.

“Oh boy, more time for dreaming!” The man chuckles. “I’m Phil, and I am excited to work with you kids.”

“Thank you. I’m Violet, and these are my siblings Klaus, Millie, and Sunny.” She motions to each of you as she introduces you.

“Listen, I know things seem dark. But you have to look on the bright side. So your parents burned down towns. You don’t have to be like your parents. My parents were Olympic athletes, and look at me. I work in a lumbermill!” Phil laughs. “So, who wants a welcome package?” And he gives a welcome package to each of you without waiting for a response.