Open: Well young lady, have you been good to your mother?

[biteybaby]

Sunny Baudelaire has been having quite an exciting time lately. For once, "exciting" means "filled with fun" and not "filled with terror, pain, panic, and an inordinate amount of running and hiding". Without the threat of Count Olaf and his associates finding her in an attempt to steal the Baudelaire fortune, Sunny has had more time for her studies. "Her studies" is a phrase which here means, "catching up on learning how to do things most people take for granted".

She has finally learned how to walk. She thinks the amount of words she is now able to say has increased. Magnu has even taught her a few things in sign language, which she finds is a little easier than speaking. The biggest news is that she now has five very sharp teeth, as opposed to the four she started with when she arrived.

Shortly before she arrived, Mr Poe had told the Baudelaires about an aphorism: It takes a village to raise a child. She wonders if that is why she has had so much time to grow. Her days are spent rotating around between several different guardians, babysitters, and friends, and it has been lovely. She hopes her siblings are having just as good of a time in the village of V.F.D.

Unfortunately I must report that her siblings are not having just as good of a time in the village of V.F.D., nor are they even still in the village of V.F.D. Sunny does not know this. It would probably be for the best if nobody tells her.

Comments

[kadewest]

"A school named Prufrock," Kade says, with a big, disarming grin. "My school was called Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. We taught kids who went to different worlds and then came back again."

[biteybaby]

Sunny's breath catches. To say someone's breath catches does not mean her lungs put on a baseball mitt and caught a ball, rather that she temporarily stopped breathing, rather involuntarily. There are many different situations in life which could cause this in someone. An unexpected present could cause your breath to catch. The sight of your wife in a pale blue vest, high waisted pants with suspenders, and rolled up shirtsleeves on your wedding day could cause your breath to catch. In this case, Sunny's breath catches because she did not think anyone here knew how to go between worlds.

"Back?" she asks, cautiously hopeful that this creepy man who keeps following her might be able to get her back to her siblings.

[kadewest]

"Back," Kade confirms. "My students were ones who went to different Worlds that were remarkably well-suited to them and their needs, and then somehow stumbled back to one that isn't as nice."

[biteybaby]

Sunny thinks this world is remarkably well-suited to her and her needs, but she desperately wants to somehow stumble back to the one that isn't as nice. Ideally she would prefer it if Violet and Klaus would come here, but since they seem in no hurry she thinks she might have to go find them instead. "How?"

[kadewest]

"It really depends," says Kade. "I have a friend who became a mermaid in her new World, and she got sent back because she woke up one morning missing sandwiches! Mermaids can't have sandwiches, you see. The bread gets too soggy underwater. I had another couple friends who got sent back just for a little bit, so they could make certain they really wanted to live in their Worlds forever."

[biteybaby]

Sunny thinks about this. Is there something in her old world that she can't have here? Just her siblings, but she wakes up every morning missing them, and has yet to be sent back. The problem is that she can't think of anything else to miss that she couldn't just get here by getting someone to open a cabinet for her. She's certain even Aunt Josephine's cold cucumber soup would show up if she thought about it hard enough.

[kadewest]

"You came here from another world, didn't you, Sunny?"

[biteybaby]

Sunny nods.

[kadewest]

"Do you remember how you got here?"

[biteybaby]

Sunny shakes her head no and then says, "Paweneo," which here means, "I was asleep, and then I woke up here by the welcome table," though she doesn't expect Kade to understand her. She does helpfully also sign sleep and then wake up, but she doesn't know if he will understand that either.

[kadewest]

Luckily, Kade's had a couple of lessons from Magnus, too! "Sleep and wake up, huh?"

[biteybaby]

"Uh huh."

[kadewest]

"That must've been a big surprise!"

[biteybaby]

She nods. "Briny," she says, which here means, "A terrible surprise".

[kadewest]

"Briny?"

[biteybaby]

She signs bad.

[kadewest]

Kade makes a commiseratory face. "You got stuff you miss from back home, Sunny?"

[biteybaby]

“Violet Klaus.”

[kadewest]

"Violet Klaus," Kade repeats. "Are those your parents?"

[biteybaby]

"No." Her parents aren't named Violet and Klaus, they're named B▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ and B▮▮▮▮▮▮▮ Mommy and Daddy.

[kadewest]

"Are they... your friends?" This is, to be clear, Kade being funny.

[biteybaby]

"Baudelaire orphans," she says, then turns to try and walk away again. He's not being very helpful, he's just getting her hopes up about being able to see Violet and Klaus, like the furby did.

[kadewest]

She's still a baby, and Kade is still a responsible adult, so he follows her. "I'm sorry," he says. He's also made the connection to her source material!

[biteybaby]

"Stop it," she says over her shoulder.

[kadewest]

"Until you're with another adult, I'm going to hang out with you," Kade advises.