"Take the word 'moral,' John," Sherlock instructed suddenly from his chair.
"And what'll I do with it once I've taken it?" was the impatient reply, followed by the sound of a turning page of a newspaper, which could be heard from the breakfast table.
"Hold it. Toss it around. Make it ricochet off the walls. Do something with it, and then tell me what it tells you."
"And why should I?"
"Your progress with that newspaper has slowed incrementally after you passed the advertisements. Familiar as I am with your reading habits, at this point you are desperate to be entertained. I have a question that needs answering. We can assist each other."
"Agreed," came the reluctant huff of a man who wasn't afraid to admit he was really bored. "What about 'moral' do you want me to explain?" The newspaper was at this point set aside.
"I never said it needed explaining."
"It's implied at this point in the conversation."
"I never wanted to ask for an explanation."
"And I don't find this entertaining."
There was an acquiescent pause. "Moral is an odd word, John."
"Yes, and?"
"Add an 'e' at the end, and it changes the word into something completely different."
"Moral and morale. Fine, I'll bite. What makes them different?"
"Think of it. Moral. A word that describes how human beings feel about treating other creatures, including each other. It is immoral for me to lie. It is moral for me to help a creature who is injured. Now add the 'e.' Morale. A word that describes the willingness to continue. A word that implies that you have a cause motivating your actions."
"Yes, I know all of that. Any time you feel like enlightening me as to what the problem is, let me know."
"Do you need morale to practice your morals? Morals certainly aren't necessary for one to also have morale – "
"I've got an answer, if you want it."
"Go on then."
"I think that morale and moral are similar in some aspects. Morale and morals are both found inside human beings. A deficiency in either can cause failure in one's objectives. If soldiers lacked morale, they would begin questioning orders, and would be less willing to risk their lives, getting the mission nowhere. If they lacked morals, and they were on a mission and treated other human beings wrongly, they would risk losing their comissions and there would be time lost replacing them. Moral is what we have to make decisions on every day. As is morale. How willing am I to do something, and am I willing to make that decision because it is right?"
There was a long lapse in the conversation, a heavy silence that wasn't uncomfortable for either of them. Finally the consulting detective asked, "Which is more important to you? Morale, or morals?"
The doctor took a reasonable amount of time thinking it over before he answered. "I'd have to say that I place a higher value on morale."
"But morale can be manipulated for the wrong purpose."
"So can morals. In all of our adventures together, fighting against the wrongness of the world, it is more important to be willing, to have the will, to see a task through. I have found that I am willing to sacrifice my morals, so long as my goal can be accomplished."
"But your goal is, in the end, to accomplish what is morally right."
"And I have to be willing to accomplish that in the first place, otherwise we would never succeed. We would never have saved so many lives if I refused to help just because a choice was morally wrong. If I have enough morale in me, I will have performed to the best of my ability, and I will be satisfied with my work…after all is said and done, at least. If I helped you only half-heartedly, you would never be willing to take me on another case again and we would lose so many people to violence and lunacy."
The detective mulled that answer over in his head, not offering any further avenues of dialogue. His friend observed him quietly, before finally asking, "Is that all?"
"For now, yes."
There was a creak from the chair at the breakfast table, signaling that its occupant had finally finished and was preparing to leave. The man still sitting in his chair on the other end of the room closed his eyes to prevent further distraction as his mind spun in a new direction. The doctor stared at his friend for a while, neither of them moving a muscle, before leaving the room.
Had he stayed for one instant more, he would have caught the proud smile that played around on the detective's lips. "All from one simple 'e,'" he mused quietly, and the man in the chair felt his perception of his flatmate shift slightly as a result.
Author's Note: So, writing this was quite fun. It was inspired by the title of the song "Moral Insanity" from the movie "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" soundtrack. What I ended up doing was writing this one first, and then I copied the text, did a page break, pasted the words, and changed the names at the very beginning to read: ""Take the word 'moral,' Watson," Holmes instructed suddenly from his chair. I found myself looking not at modern London anymore but the 221B Baker Street found in the Victorian era. I then tweaked the dialogue by two or three words, and it fit completely. It amazed me that just by calling them by their last names instead of their first, I completely changed my mental picture. AND YET THE ESSENCE OF THE CONVERSATION, THE FLOW OF THE WORDS THEMSELVES, REMAINED COMPLETELY UNCHANGED! So, I also published this same work, with my tiny tweaks, in the Sherlock Holmes movie section of FanFiction. Call it an experiment if you will. You can click on my author's name up top, find the story on my author's page, and read the tweaked story, if you like. It's the same thing - pretty much word for word - it's just the setting and time are different. I find that to be utterly amazing. Anyway, hoped you enjoyed this fic, and here's hoping my experiment goes well!