A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Vile Village Read Free Page A

window, you can see the town coming up, folks!" "What does it look like?" Violet asked Klaus. Klaus peered out the window past the layer of dead bugs. "Flat," he said. Violet and Sunny leaned over to look and saw that their brother had spoken the truth. The countryside looked as if someone had drawn the line of the horizon, the word "horizon" here means "the boundary where the sky ends and the world begins" and then forgot to draw in anything else. The land stretched out as far as the eye could see, but there was nothing for the eye to look at but flat, dry land and the occasional sheet of newspaper stirred up by the passing of the bus. "I don't see any town at all," Klaus said. "Do you suppose it's underground?" "Novedri!" Sunny said, which meant "Living underground would be no fun at all!" "Maybe that's the town over there," Violet said, squinting to try and see as far as she could. "You see? Way out by the horizon line, there's a hazy black blur. It looks like smoke, but maybe it's just some buildings seen from far away." "I can't see it," Klaus said. "That smushed moth is blocking it, I think. But a hazy blur could just be fata morgana." "Fata?" Sunny asked. "Fata morgana is when your eyes play tricks on you, particularly in hot weather," Klaus explained. "It's caused by the distortion of light through alternate layers of hot and cool air. It's also called a mirage, but I like the name 'fata morgana' better." "Me too," Violet agreed, "but let's hope it's not a mirage or fata morgana. Let's hope it's V.F.D." "V.F.D.!" the bus driver called, as the bus came to a stop. "V.F.D.! Everyone off for V.F.D.!" The Baudelaires stood up, gathered their belongings, and walked down the aisle, but when they reached the open door of the bus they stopped and stared doubtfully out at the flat and empty landscape. "Is this really the stop for V.F.D.?" Violet asked the driver. "I thought V.F.D. was a town." "It is," the driver replied. "Just walk toward that hazy black blur out there on the horizon. I know it looks like, well, I can't remember the phrase for when your eyes play tricks on you but it's really the town." "Couldn't you take us a little closer?" Violet asked shyly. "We have a baby with us, and it looks like a long way to walk." "I wish I could help you," the bus driver said kindly, looking down at Sunny, "but the Council of Elders has very strict rules. I have to let off all passengers for V.F.D. right here; otherwise I could be severely punished." "Who are the Council of Elders?" Klaus asked. "Hey!" a voice called from the back of the bus. "Tell those kids to hurry up and get off the bus! The open door is letting bugs in!" "Off you go, kids," the bus driver said, and the Baudelaires stepped out of the bus onto the flat land of V.F.D. The doors shut, and with a little wave the bus driver drove off and left the children alone on the empty landscape. The siblings watched the bus get smaller and smaller as it drove away, and then turned toward the hazy black blur of their new home. "Well, now I can see it," Klaus said, squinting behind his glasses, "but I can't believe it. It's going to take the rest of the afternoon to walk all that way." "Then we'd better get started," Violet said, hoisting Sunny up on top of her suitcase. "This piece of luggage has wheels," she said to her sister, "so you can sit on top of it and I can pull you along." "Sanks!" Sunny said, which meant "That's very considerate of you!" and the Baudelaires began their long walk toward the hazy black blur on the horizon. After even the first few steps, the disadvantages of the bus ride seemed like small potatoes. "Small potatoes" is a phrase which has nothing to do with root vegetables that happen to be tiny in size. Instead, it refers to the change in one's feelings for something when it is compared with something else. If you were walking in the rain, for instance, you might be worried about getting wet, but if you turned the corner and saw a pack of vicious dogs,