Written for the watsons_woes JWP day 09 prompt: Choose your own (mis)adventure. Use one or more of the following words in today's entry: pratfall, spit-take, faceplant, head-smack, double-take, slip.
Since I'm kinda particular about not using vocabulary before it actually occurred in the language, the only word available for Victorian 'verses is slip. So I decided to make use of as many meanings of the word 'slip' as I could. This isn't crack, but it's close. ;)
This has no details specific to any universe, but it is meant to be Victorian era.
I had just handed in my betting slip when I realized that Holmes and I were supposed to meet for dinner that evening; it had completely slipped my mind. Still, I remained to watch the greyhounds released from their slips and go charging 'round the track, hoping this last bet would turn around my fortunes. It did not, and I trudged away from the throng of people, wondering what Holmes would say about this slip in my resolve not to gamble.
On my way home, I nearly tripped over a slip of a girl who darted in front of me when I turned to gaze at the ships being repaired in their slips. Nearer to Baker Street, there was a woman selling slips of herbs for a kitchen garden and I briefly wondered if Mrs. Hudson would want any before I remembered I had no money. Slipping in some unidentifiable substance on the pavement just before I reached our door only added to my growing frustration with the day.
I arrived in the rooms only to find Holmes was not there; instead, there was a slip of paper upon the sideboard. 'Suspect gave the Yard the slip, gone to track him down' it said in Holmes' handwriting. Relieved that Holmes was not present to needle me for my vices, I slipped off my shoes and retrieved the book I was reading from its slipcover, then slipped into my armchair with a sigh.