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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Apr 23, 2017 14:13:48 GMT -5
Chapter 3
Once news broke of the golden pages, that was all anyone seemed to talk about. At school the next morning, children that Charlie suspected had never read a book for pleasure in their life bragged about how many Snicket books their parents were buying for them. And not even a full day had passed when news broke that the first golden page had been found, all the way over in Germany. Charlie, arriving at the library after school, was ushered over to the television set by Sophie, where an excited reporter was explaining the situation while standing in front of a house.
"Hello everyone, I'm Terry Craig and I'm here at the M. household where it's been said the first of the five golden pages has been found. As you probably know, just yesterday famed author and recluse Lemony Snicket announced his contest to allow five lucky children to come visit him, and by finding one of the golden pages little Anka here has just guaranteed herself a spot on this tour. Ah, here we are!" The front door opened to reveal a spectacled man with brown hair. "You're Mister M., I presume?"
"Yes, I am." The man stuck out his hand to shake Terry's. "Pleasure. Come inside." He led the reporter to a large room filled with wall-to-wall bookshelves and sat down on a squishy chair, pointing to a second for the reporter to sit on.
"Now, you are Anka's father-"
"Well, technically I' m not her father, I'm her boyfriend; it's just that for purposes of this story the author needed to age her down and age me up so I could accompany her on the tour..." Mister M could see the look of confusion on the reporter's face and backtracked. "Yeah, sure, go ahead and call me Anka's father."
"So from what I understand you own a bookshop yourself?"
"Yes, yes. When I heard the news I took all of our Snicket books out of my shop inventory and gave them to her. Anka already has them all, of course, as well as just about any other book you could imagine, but we can always use more books!" He gestured at the walls.
A small girl with long, sandy hair and freckles entered the room. "Yes, father brought me home a large crate of books last night. I immediately took them to my room to see how to best organize them on my bookshelves, but one of the copies of The Wide Window wasn't fitting properly and so I opened the book and spotted a big, golden foil sheet in the way. I tore it out of the book and then it fit perfectly!"
"What did you do then?" Terry asked.
"I finished organizing my books," Anka said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They look so pretty; would you like to see them?" Anka led the reporter to her room and began a long-winded explanation about which books were in her collection, where every book was kept, and why, until Sophie shut off the television with a sigh.
"Well, what do you think?" She asked Charlie.
"She didn't seem to care very much about winning the ticket," Charlie began, "But at least she likes books. Did you see how many books she and her father owned?"
"Yes, yes," Sophie said. "Listen, I feel bad that your family has no money to buy books. Some of the library copies are getting very worn, the first book in particular, so I've decided to order a new copy to replace it. I'd like you to check it for a golden page when it arrives."
"That's very kind of you, but I just couldn't."
"Nonsense. You deserve it more than anyone I know. Now promise me you'll come round once the new book arrives."
"Alright, I promise."
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Post by A comet crashing into Earth on Apr 23, 2017 14:24:22 GMT -5
"I finished organizing my books," Anka said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They look so pretty; would you like to see them?" I'm rooting for Anka.
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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Apr 24, 2017 14:08:09 GMT -5
Chapter 4
After the first winner, excitement over the remaining pages increased. Charlie and his family eagerly followed the news, and Charlie began to make it a habit of stopping and peering inside the Snicket gates whenever he walked past them, trying to catch a glimpse of Mr. Snicket.
It was eight days into the contest and his librarian friend Sophie had brought him over to tell him that the book she'd ordered had arrived when people on the street started shouting that the second page had been found, this time in the United States. She switched on her television set so they could see who the second winner was. They saw a large house in the background, and a reporter stood next to a short boy with long blonde hair. Behind him stood a tall man who seemed to have a perpetual scowl on his face.
"Hello, reporter Tryina Denouement here. I am standing next to the Bears, young Pepper and his father," the reporter began.
"Please, call me Bandit," the older one said. "Forgive me for not inviting you inside, but it's quite a mess. Plastic packaging and books everywhere."
"So how did Pepper here find the golden page?" Tryina asked
"Well, he heard about the contest and told me how much he wanted that golden page. I love my boy and I can't stand to see him unhappy so I bought up all the books I could get my hands on. I've been calling in sick to work, opening shrink-wrapped books for days now; I even hired a few helpers to unwrap books with us. Every time little Pepper asked me where his golden page was and I didn't have it he gave a little pout, and it broke my heart, knowing I had failed him as a father, but just a few hours ago we were opening a case of Slippery Slopes and I finally spotted a glimpse of gold. My little Pepper is such a special boy, I'm so glad he gets to be one of the five!" Bandit beamed at his son, who was getting impatient.
"Pepper, what is your favorite book in the series?" Tryina asked.
"Uh, I don't know. I never finished the books. Listen, when is this over? I need to go watch Atlanta. And Dad, can I have another Kanye poster?"
"Of course you can, Pepper. Now run along and let me finish talking to this reporter." Pepper flashed a huge smile and ran past them to go inside the house. Bandit, pride in his eyes, watched the boy go. "And my boy is going to win the prize, I just know it."
"Prize?" asked Tryina. "You mean, in addition to the tour?"
"Yes, of course." Bandit took the golden page out of his pocket and began to read from the fine print at the bottom . "You and four others will be invited on a tour, and at the end, one of you will be given a prize beyond your wildest dreams." He looked up at the reporter. "That prize is ours."
Sophie shut off the TV. "That boy seems worse than the first girl; spoiled rotten. He didn't even find it himself! And I don't like his father at all. Unfortunately, contests like these tend to be won by people like that." She sighed. "Well, I told you I wanted you to open my new library book, so here it is." She handed Charlie a shrink-wrapped copy of The Bad Beginning.
Slowly, taking care not to damage any of the pages inside, Charlie unwrapped the book. He carefully thumbed to page 13...just regular white. "Oh well," Charlie said. "The children will appreciate having a new book to read. Thank you for giving me a chance."
Sophie watched sadly as he ran home to tell his family. "Some things are just not fair," she said to herself.
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Post by Charles Vane on Apr 24, 2017 14:11:19 GMT -5
hey pepper i like atlanta too but i only saw the first two episodes.
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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Apr 25, 2017 11:19:24 GMT -5
Chapter 5
Two more weeks passed, and the buzz surrounding the golden pages grew even larger. Charlie's maths teacher, Miss Bee, began assigning them story problems related to the contest, and his English teacher, Mr. Teleram, announced they were going to read the first book in class (probably so he has an excuse to buy twenty copies himself, his father Sam said cynically). Charlie tried not to get his hopes up; he had no chance of winning, after all. But try as he might, he couldn't help but hang on to every scrap of news, every new development in the story. And so when he was running an errand for his mother and overheard some people talking-
"Did you hear the third page has been found?" "Another one in America." "Americans get all the luck, when are we going to get an Aussie?"
It was all he could do to finish his errand and then he was running, running to the library once again. Sophie, in what was starting to become a ritual between them, had already put out two chairs and was in the process of wheeling out the old television set when he arrived, breathless from his run.
"Are you ready?" she asked, hand on the power button. Charlie nodded, and she switched it on.
The first thing they saw was a short, confident girl looking directly at the camera. "Hello everyone, my name is Pandora Rhaldeen," she said in a surprisingly high-pitched voice. "I'm the winner of the third golden page mageees!"
The reporter, who had introduced himself as Ryan Trimble, asked how she'd found it.
"Well, normally I'm more of a tumblr reader, but when I heard about this contest I switched to books. Every day after school I was out visiting bookshops. We went to all the ones within a 50-mile radius and I was making plans to spread out even further when the last store had it. The winning book had a picture of lions on the front, which I like, even though they were all boy lions and lionesses are the ones who do all the work."
Her mother, also short, put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "My daughter Pandora is such a driven young woman. Once she puts her mind to it she can do anything." She led the reporter into a room full of trophies, framed photographs and certificates. "This is a medal she won for training dogs. Here is a photo of her backstage with the pop star Harry Styles. And this, this is the letter she received telling her she'd won a guest appearance on the television show Black Sails because of how convincing her essay was. There was no doubt she'd win this too, isn't that right hunnybunny?"
Pandora rolled her eyes. "Stop embarrassing me, Linda. But yes, I am the best. Tell Mr. Snicket he'd better not be thinking of giving that prize to anyone else!"
News broadcast over, Charlie trudged sadly home. That evening he was helping his grandpa Hermes do the dishes when the older man glanced furtively around to make sure they were alone. "What is it, Grandpa?" Charlie asked.
Hermes, instead of answering, silently slid a crumpled bank note out of his breast pocket. "I want you to have this, Charlie," he said. "Go buy your favorite Lemony Snicket book with it."
"But Grandpa, I can't-"
"Yes, you can. This is my money, I can spend it how I want. Please, Charlie, do this for me."
Charlie agreed, and ran straight to the nearest book shop. He couldn't pick a favorite so he just grabbed the first he could see (The Vile Village), paid for the book, and returned straight home. Soon the book was in Hermes' hands. "Let's open it together," Charlie said. "One, two, three!"
Then the shrink wrap was off and they were turned to page 13. Normal white. Hiding his disappointment, Charlie thanked his grandfather and the two of them went to bed.
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Post by Hermes on Apr 25, 2017 11:41:59 GMT -5
Ho, this is amazing. I'm sure your sweetheart will be delighted with it. (I did wonder at first if her short mother might be Bee, but clearly not.)
Peppermince as an American is a bit puzzling - should we suppose he was adopted?
And like Comet, I'm rooting for Anka (so far, at least).
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Post by Reba on Apr 25, 2017 13:58:53 GMT -5
who has a kanye poster? rappers aren't 80s popstars
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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Apr 25, 2017 17:26:40 GMT -5
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Post by trip on Apr 25, 2017 18:20:10 GMT -5
yezzy
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Apr 26, 2017 6:15:06 GMT -5
Linda, seriously, this is the best fic i've ever read. It's better than most books i've read.
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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Apr 27, 2017 8:27:49 GMT -5
Peppermince as an American is a bit puzzling - should we suppose he was adopted? I did have to take a few liberties with people's countries for various reasons. Like, Mister M and Anka being in Germany, even though they're both in the UK now, to parallel the movies. And making Trip Argentinian. I made Pepper American so that there wouldn't be two Australian winners.
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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Apr 27, 2017 8:28:53 GMT -5
Chapter 6
Two days later news broke that the fourth page had been found by a boy named Zortegus Tych, just outside of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Charlie, watching the newscast, saw a tall, thin boy sitting in front of a television and ignoring the cameras and reporters all around him.
"Moooom, make the people go away," he yelIed out. "I'm trying to watch RuPaul!"
"But Zortegus, they're here to talk to you!" His mother, Trip, yelled back at him.
"I don't want to talk! Wait till the show's over!" He pouted.
Trip angrily stalked up to the television set and shut it off. "Just tell them how you got the golden page and then you can watch your drag queens!"
Zortegus rolled his eyes and sighed deeply. "That old thing? It all started when RuPaul mentioned that there was a drag character named Shirley in book four of the series, so I went and bought a copy, and then I couldn't even read it properly because one of the pages was made out of foil and had the wrong words on it. I had to buy a second copy just to read the story! It was very disappointing, not even about drag at all but about these silly children hanging around a lumbermill and causing accidents, but I finished reading it and now I'm back to RuPaul. You go girl!" He shouted at the television screen, having switched it back on, and refused to say anything more to the reporters, no matter how much his mother threatened.
And then, suddenly, it was all over. An immensely rich philanthropist located in the UK, a old woman who simply identified herself as LSWannaBe, told reporters that she had found the fifth page.
"This is a contest open to children, and thus far, all pages have either been found by children or, in the Bears' case, by a parent for his child, but you have no children of your own, Ms. WannaBe," reporter Stewart Gilligan stated. "Have you decided who you are going to give the prize to?"
LSWannaBe laughed. "I'm not giving up my prize! I'm just as much if not more a fan of the Lemony Snicket books than those other little brats who won. Besides, the rules state that one adult may accompany the child on the tour, not that the child has to be the one who finds the ticket or that the adult must be the child's parent. If I must take a child it will probably be one of my nieces or nephews."
"Can we see your page?" The reporter asked.
"I'm afraid not, I've put it in my bank vault for safekeeping and banking hours are over," LSWannaBe replied. "Now, can I interest you all in donating to my latest charity? It's about providing iPads for pigeons-" Sophie shut off the television.
"How is that even allowed? She's not a child!" Sophie said angrily.
"Oh well. It's like you said earlier. The people who win these sorts of things are the ones who least deserve it. At least now that all the pages are found we can go about our days without the distraction of the contest." Charlie tried to keep the deep disappointment he felt out of his voice, but he was not sure Sophie believed him.
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coolcat667
Catastrophic Captain
Posts: 89
Likes: 16
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Post by coolcat667 on Apr 28, 2017 14:58:34 GMT -5
I want more!!
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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Apr 29, 2017 23:34:10 GMT -5
Chapter 7
Over the next few days things began to go back to normal for Charlie. Most of the hype around the Snicket books died down, and people went back to their daily routines. One day, however, he was walking home from school past the Snicket building when he noticed a piece of paper flapping in the wind. It was stuck to the gate. Always the environmentalist, Charlie walked over to the gate to pick up the litter, but as he got closer he gasped. It was a $50 bank note!
"Hello?" He called out. "Is there anyone there who's lost some money?" Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw something shadowy move in the window, but no one answered him. Carefully, he unhooked the money from the gate and stuffed it into his pocket. As he continued on his way, he began to think about all that his family could do with that much money. He would give the money to his parents, he decided; there were many things that they were in need of, but they would know best how to spend it.
Up ahead, one man was holding a newspaper and talking loudly to another. "It's a fake! A forgery! I knew that woman seemed fishy from the moment I saw her...who would do something like that to children?"
Charlie caught up to them. "Sorry, what's happened?"
The man looked at Charlie with sympathy. "That rich old woman, the one who claimed she had a the last golden page, turns out she forged it! So the fifth page is still out there. Why, you could walk right in there and find it." He gestured across the street at a little corner shop, Mr. Teleram's Books.
Charlie thought about it. His family needed this money badly...then again, no one would fault him if he bought one book. He would still have plenty of money left over. Making a split decision, he walked into the bookshop. He hesitated for a second at the row of books, eventually deciding on The End, and took it up to the front counter to pay.
Word of the forgery must have spread, as there was a line forming at the front of the store. Charlie moved to the end of the line and carefully removed the plastic wrap while he waited. When it was finally his turn, and he handed the book and money to the shopkeeper, the book tipped sideways and out slid a golden sheet onto the counter.
Both he and Mr. Teleram gasped. Several people behind him in line had seen as well and began to yell and shove. One man reached over to touch the page and was slapped away by the shopkeeper. "Go straight home, little boy," Teleram instructed, sliding the page back into the book and giving it back to Charlie with his change. "Don't let anyone try to take this from you."
Charlie obeyed, running home as quickly as he could. "Grandpa, Grandpa!" He shouted as he burst through the door, knowing his parents were not yet home from work. "I've found the last golden page!"
He handed the golden page to Hermes, who very solemnly inspected the front, then the back, then read every word. "This is authentic," he pronounced, then his face broke into a huge grin. "I knew it! I knew you would win! Oh, dear Charlie, I'm so happy for you!"
"Grandpa, the page says the tour is on May 1st. That's tomorrow."
"So it is," Hermes nodded, glancing at the wall calendar.
"So what I was wondering is, would you come with me? On the tour, I mean? Since you know so much about Mr. Snicket."
"Oh, Charlie, I would be honored."
Soon his parents would arrive at home, then reporters, who would pester them all with questions until late at night when Lemona insisted they all leave so that Charlie could be well rested for his tour in the morning. As for Charlie, he spent the rest of the evening in a daze, wondering if this was all some wonderful dream and he would eventually wake up. Could this really be happening?
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Post by Charlie on Apr 30, 2017 3:06:34 GMT -5
I love how at the time of posting it was 30th april in Australia, and 29th in the US. SUCH ATTENTION TO DETAIL
also i love this adaptation
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