the forgotten story of lily angof ➳ klaus baudelaire ( asoue )

one ➳ the (very) bad beginning

MOST OF YOU MAY BE FAMILIAR with the Baudelaire orphans, and the unfortunate events that they lived through. You may be familiar with Lemony Snicket's accounts of them, trying to understand what happened to them. But, I am here to tell you that what you know is wrong. For I should know, I was there. From the moment the awful news was delivered, to the final moment they left, and Lemony lost them.

Hello, my name is Lily Angof, and I present the true accounts on the life of the Baudelaire orphans.

To begin this story, I must start at the beginning of our story. Klaus, Violet, and Sunny's parents had always been close friends with my parents. So, since we were babies, we were all the best of friends.

Near the time of the fire, I was 12 years old, the same age as Klaus. Unusually, we both shared the same birthday: February 14.

Because our parents spent so much time with one another, we were constantly together. Occasionally, I would help Violet with her inventions, switching the angle at which the gears would turn by a fraction of a degree, or scour the house looking for something Sunny could chew, but I spent most of my time with Klaus.

We seemed to both have an understanding of each other. We both had a love for reading, as we often picked our favorite spots in the library and read all day. Being with Klaus made me happy, and we didn't even need to talk to make me feel this way. We were both aware that the two of us felt more than just friendship for the other, but nothing pushed us together until the day of the fire.

Our parents had spent the day together, per usual, and sent us off to the beach. As we took the rickety trolley there, we discussed why they might have sent us, but we  came to no conclusion. We set up our picnic blanket, and Violet set Sunny down so we could skip some rocks. I enjoyed it, although Klaus and mine kept colliding, while Violet had a record of seven skips.

Sunny let out a startling, "Arrrrrrr" which meant: "Look at the shadowy figure emerging from the fog."

The three of us turned to find that Sunny was correct. We grew worried when he approached us. He had a cheesy smile plastered on his face.

"Hello there!" The man started, "My name is Mr. Poe".

"Hello Mr. Poe", responded Violet, "My name is Violet Baudelaire, and these are my siblings, Klaus and Sunny. And this is," she said pointing to me, "Lily Angof, a close family friend."

Mr. Poe coughed, then returned his face to his usual smile. "Well, I regret to inform you that your parents have died," he said, still smiling.

His words put me in a state of shock. I took a step back and nearly fell, but Klaus put his hand on my shoulder to steady me. I looked at him, his eyes were glassy, and his mouth was wide.

"I'm sorry, what?" I questioned, turning back to Mr. Poe.

I refused to believe it, there had to be a mistake. I had just seen my parents this morning. Still, I could not stop myself from crying.

"There was a terrible fire at the Baudelaire Mansion, and both of your parents were there. Baudelaires, I'm afraid to inform you that your home also burned down. Your parents were very specific that you were supposed to go to your closest living relative. And you, Lily, your parents directions were that you were to live with the Baudelaires."

He smiled, trying to lighten the mood, but failing.

Klaus glanced in my direction, and grabbed my hand. I looked over to him, and gave him a weak smile. We walked to Mr. Poe's car, all four of us piled in the back. He explained that they hadn't found a guardian for us yet, and that we would be staying at his home. I didn't listen. I was to busy thinking about my parents- they were really dead. A single tear slipped down my cheek as I laid my head on Klaus' shoulder, and fell asleep. It had been a long day.