Lemony Snicket
*Beware how sad the unfortunate events are.
and the unfortunate incident that occurs when one reads spoilers*
The Vile Village
Have you ever heard the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child"? Well, that's the case for the children now.
They are being sent to a program where villages have agreed to raise orphan children. Mr. Poe gives the children a list of Villages to pick from ... and one stands out to them: The Village of V.F.D
*insert dramatic music here*
Figuring that this may be another clue, the children are excited to be going to this village... until they get there. The villagers are quite unique, have thousands of rules (most of which contradict themselves), and they allow their day to be dictated by the murder of crows that never seem to leave.
While Violet, Klaus and Sunny are technically being taken of by the whole Village, no one in the community is willing to take them in, so they are forced to go live with the handy man, Hector. Luckily, Hector is quite nice, even if he is quite shy.
The children feel comfortable with Hector and open up to him about why the decided to pick the Village of V.F.D (which doesn't stand for what they thought it did) and about their friends who are still missing. Isadora, the poet and Duncan, the journalist.
At the mention of Isadora the poet, Hector remembers he found a piece of paper that morning, in his backyard, by the big tree with the crows, that had a poem on it.
and the hunt begins ...
Then a man comes to town who is happy to see the children as he has a message about their parents.
The Hostile Hospital
After running away from the Village of V.F.D, the children find themselves in the middle of nowhere.
and then they find a General Store.
They have also found out that they are wanted for the murder of Count Olaf, which we all know is untrue. But now that it is in the newspaper, they must be careful in public.
So, they are on the run. and while running, they come across a group of folk singers that are called the V.F.D and so they join them and end up at a hospital, as these V.F.D are Volunteers Fighting Diseases by singing to those who are sick. They also hand out balloons.
Of course, when they get to the hospital, the children realize they need to hide. They manage to find a job in the Hall of Records... but nothing with them is ever good for long.
When there is a new director in charge, told by a voice that the children will never (and could never) forget, they realize they are now in danger.
More so than before.
In an effort to save her siblings, Violet makes a choice ... and it puts her right in Olaf's slimy hands.
Now it's up to Klaus and Sunny to save their big sister.
Before she is decapitated.
When the hospital goes up in flames, the children have only one place that is safe for escape ... the trunk of Olaf's car.
More clues about what V.F.D really is - or could be -, the Snicket file that only contained page 13 which Klaus managed to stick in his pocket before escaping the hospital, and the prospect of more danger lurking ahead! What page turners.
The events get more and more unfortunate as you go along. If your wee hearts cannot take anymore, I do not blame you.
No one could.
Unfortunately for the children, we have the option to put the book down (or bury them in the backyard and may they rest in peace) but the children still must go through these events and Lemony Snicket still must record them. At least he tells it with wit and does some side tracking of happy stories when it gets too sad... or when he wants to give us readers perspective of fortunate vs unfortunate events in the world.
It is sad to report that the more unfortunate the events get, the faster you want the story to happen ... 1) to see what happens, and 2) to hurry and get the children out of whatever mess they are in at that specific moment. We are getting into a deeper story, with many many secrets to be unfolded. The only way to go in forward, since it is impossible to read backwards when you have already read the story up until now.
You could also stop altogether, but where is the fun in that?
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