The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket & Brett Helquist

Author:Lemony Snicket & Brett Helquist [Snicket, Lemony & Helquist, Brett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Action & Adventure, Juvenile Fiction, working, Children's Books, Ages 9-12 Fiction, Action & Adventure - General, Humorous Stories, Children: Grades 4-6, School & Education, Schools, Orphans, Family, Orphans & Foster Homes, Siblings, Brothers and sisters, Family - Orphans & Foster Homes, Baudelaire; Violet (Fictitious character), Humorous stories; English, Baudelaire; Sunny (Fictitious character), Family - Siblings, Baudelaire; Klaus (Fictitious character), Boarding schools, Humorous stories; American, Audiobooks Collection
ISBN: 9780064408639
Google: n-D8Kt8GDFIC
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2000-08-08T05:37:14+00:00

A Series of Unfortunate Events 5 - The Austere Academy

The last few rays of the sunset made the children cast long, long shadows as they walked, as if the Baudelaires had been stretched across the brown grass by some horrible mechanical device. The children looked down at their shadows, which looked as flimsy as sheets of paper, and wished with every step that they could do something else-anything else-other than meet Coach Genghis alone on the front lawn. They wished they could just keep walking, under the arch, past the front lawn, and out into the world, but where could they go? The three orphans were all alone in the world. Their parents were dead. Their banker was too busy to take good care of them. And their only friends were two more orphans, who the Baudelaires sincerely hoped had snuck out of the recital by now and were spying on them as they approached the solitary figure of Coach Genghis, waiting for them impatiently on the edge of the lawn. The waning light of the sunset-the word “waning” here means “dim, and making everything look extra-creepy”-made the shadow of the coach's turban look like a huge, deep hole.

“You're late,” Genghis said in his scratchy voice. As the siblings reached him, they could see that he had both hands behind his back as if he were hiding something. “Your instructions were to be here right after dinner, and you're late.”

“We're very sorry,” Violet said, craning her neck to try and catch a glimpse of what was behind his back. “It took us a little longer to eat our dinner without silverware.”

“If you were smart,” Genghis said, “you would have borrowed the silverware of one of your friends.”

“We never thought of that,” Klaus said. When one is forced to tell atrocious lies, one often feels a guilty flutter in one's stomach, and Klaus felt such a flutter now. “You certainly are an intelligent man,” he continued.

“Not only am I intelligent,” Genghis agreed, “but I'm also very smart. Now, let's get right to work. Even stupid children like yourselves should remember what I said about orphans having excellent bone structure for running. That's why you are about to do Special Orphan Running Exercises, or S.O.R.E. for short.”

“Ooladu!” Sunny shrieked.

“My sister means that sounds exciting,” Violet said, although “Ooladu!” actually meant “I wish you'd tell us what you're really up to, Genghis.”

“I'm glad you're so enthusiastic,” Genghis said. “In certain cases, enthusiasm can make up for a lack of brainpower.” He took his hands from behind his back, and the children saw that he was holding a large metal can and a long, prickly brush. The can was open, and an eerie white glow was shining out of the top. “Now, before we begin S.O.R.E., we'll need a track. This is luminous paint, which means it glows in the dark.”

“How interesting,” Klaus said, although he'd known what the word “luminous” means for two and a half years.

“Well, if you find it so interesting,” Genghis said, his eyes looking as luminous as the paint, “you can be in charge of the brush.

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