I'll Meet You There.

After much research, and more notes from L, I have concluded several things about the Baudelaire twins. For one, both young women were very intelligent. Secondly, they both had very pleasant facial features and were told that they were very beautiful. Finally, Violet and Rose Baudelaire cared very much for the people they loved.

A year before the fire, on Rose and Violet's 13th birthday, they asked their parents if they could have a party in the mansion. The parents, who were not ridiculously strict, allowed them to invite three friends each for a sleepover.

In the end, no one showed up. Violet and Rose had such a blast to be with their family. It was a pleasant birthday after all.

That day, was the day Beatrice and Bertrand decided to allow their daughters to marry whoever they wanted, but still wished for them to marry Quigley and Duncan Quagmire. Beatrice also wished for them to never have heartbreak like she did with my associate, L.

Finally, to bring this story forward, I must remind you that it is very unsafe to read this near a bus with a flag on it. There are lurkers everywhere...

The Baudelaire fire happened on a Monday, September 2nd. It was a gray and cloudy day; a perfect day for the Baudelaire children to be spent at the seashore. Briny Beach was a fabulous place for thinking of inventions, drawing the sea, reading up on the aqueous life, and biting on particular sticks.

Violet, the eldest by three minutes, liked to skip rocks. Like most fourteen-year-olds, she was right-handed(as was her sister), so the rocks skipped farther across the murky water when Violet(or Rose) used her right hand than when she used her left.

As she skipped rocks, she was looking out at the horizon and thinking about an invention she wanted to make. Anyone who knew her well, knew if she had her hair tied up in the ribbon her mother gave her, she was thinking of gears and pulley systems. Violet was one of the greatest inventors of her age. This morning, she was thinking of inventing a device to retrieve skipped rocks.

Rose Baudelaire, the second eldest child, had a real knack for drawing and painting. This also helped with Violet's inventing, as Rose could easily whip up some interesting blueprints. Rose also had a very keen sense of direction, and was never lost. She lived for adventure and seized the day. She also had a charm on people, and could easily distract them to get what she wanted.

Klaus, the middle Baudelaire and only boy, liked to examine creatures in tide-pools. Klaus often wore glasses, so he could read better. This made the twelve year old look very intelligent. The truth is, he was. Klaus' favorite activity was sitting in his father's chair, in the library, and reading as many books as he could. Also, he retained all the information from everything he read.

Sunny, our youngest heroin of this sad story, loved to bite things. She was a young child; almost past infancy. As she was young, she was very small. But what she lacked in size, she made up for it with her four sharp teeth. Sunny could not yet speak full sentences, although she communicates with her own language that many of her loved ones understand.

This morning, the Baudelaire children enjoyed the beach a little more because it was dark and cloudy. The tourists did not come to Briny Beach on dark and cloudy days. Sunny crawled over to her sister, Rose, and showed her the large stick she was biting. Rose smiled proudly at her younger sister, and caressed the top of her head softly.

Rose then looked over at her younger brother, Klaus, who looked very interested in his studies on the creatures in the water. Rose wished she could have had her art book with her, so that she could sketch Klaus in the shade.

"Gack!" Sunny shrieked. This meant something like, "Look at that mysterious figure emerging from the fog!"

Rose scooped up Sunny, and Klaus moved closer to his sisters. Violet peered over at her younger siblings, a rock still in her hand. The figure emerging from the fog turned out to be none other than Mr. Poe.

Now, there are many rumors of Mr. Poe, a reputable banker and excellent chef, but what I do know is that, this morning...Mr. Poe was not the bearer of good news. He looked at the Baudelaire children, and began coughing.

After he was finished, he looked at them once more.

"How do you do, children?" he asked kindly after a long pause.

"Fine, how do you do?" Rose answered first, while the rest followed suit.

"Fine, fine." Mr. Poe looked quite sad actually. The children found it very queer that a reputable banker was out here on the beach on a day like this.

"Children, I'm afraid I must be the bearer of bad news. Your parents have perished in a fire...a fire that has destroyed your entire home...I'm very sorry, my dears." Mr. Poe told them, feeling sobs in his chest that would not come out.

Violet looked over to her twin for a split second, then realized she had never heard Mr. Poe ever call them "my dears" before.

Was it all a joke?