#gearsandlevers

       There is a scarlet letter. Impossible to ignore, it’s vibrant red draws the girl’s eyes, demands to be opened. It has a wax seal, a bleeding heart. Pull it open, read the parchment inside.

YOUR PRESENCE HAS BEEN REQUESTED IN THE ROYAL GARDEN. AS DECREED BY HER MAJESTY, THE QUEEN OF HEARTS.

The bright red letters promptly begin to melt from the page, and all of reality soon melted with it, for the floor beneath the poor girl gave way to the way to Wonderland- the rabbit hole. A vortex, deep and dark and then suddenly aglow with magic, a mess of things from inside the Baudelair’s head swirling down with her as she fell rapidly into the unknown. Even the spiral of light eventually gave way to the feeling of falling through a gray, cloudy sky-- miles high.

   “Why you, orphans?” he gives her a very unpleasant toothy smile, but the corners of his lips are curved in an expression of disgust. “Of course you didn’t do anything. But your parents, you see, they never cared to think before doing something. They never thought that one day you will have to suffer because of their dirty secrets.” Olaf is hesitant – it’s the perfect moment for the monologue, the villain revealing his motives at last, but this moment is supposed to be the one of triumph. It will never happen again, once he tells – there will be no second chance, and damn, he just wants to see the looks on their faces when they finally learn the bitter truth.

   It’s not uncommon for children to be at Muskrat Farm, it’s uncommon for them to appear at the gate uninvited, as Mason has been informed. This, however, is something new, something that excites him to the point of restlessness and boiling agitation. It’s been so boring lately, with no one but a few maids and his sister for company, they’ve learnt most of his tricks. They’ve learnt to take the damn chocolate when he offers it. 

   “Should I call someone to pick the girl up?”    “Please,” he grins, not realizing that walkie-talkies can’t transmit facial expressions, “do let her in. Into the stable.” Kids usually like horses. Mason doesn’t – it’s not that he’s afraid of them, but they make him a bit nervous. Pigs and horses detest each other, as his dear sister once said. 

           cheeks       speckled        with      freckles       grow      red   ,       annoyance       clear     in      her     expression.        why       was      it      that      the      Baudelaires      seemed      to     be     the     ones    to     QUESTION     her     the     most  ?       no    one      used     to    do     that.       PINK     was     a    very    adorable    color——        although       Carmelita       believes        she’s       the      only     one      who     pulls     it    off       BEST .  .  .     seeing     others    have     an      actual    sense    of     STYLE     in     this    stupid     school        would       be       a        RELIEF.        and     the      best      style      is       anything      PINK  !

“ it’s, uh------no problemo. ”

he smeared the back of his hand across his mouth, smiling thinly------almost pleasantly, unaffected. then, after a couple of seconds, he glanced down.

   “Therapy isn’t IN,” Esmé scoffs, dark lips twitching in revulsion, as if even talking about something so terribly, awfully OUT makes her sick. It does. What is IN is the pair of custom-made shoes she’s wearing, that also happens to be the figuratively literal knife she was referring to. Both in style and stuck in the tile on the floor. “Perhaps your mother never cared to give you advice on fashion.” Oh, she’s not feeling motherly at all – these kids are hopeless, besides, orphans are OUT now. She truly doesn’t care, but she’ll go after them until her sharp long fingernails can finally graze the shiny side of the sugar bowl. She’ll go after them with all she has, her boyfriend attached.