The first day of Hades Lord of the Dead's December Challenge of Awesomeness! Yay! Hopefully this year, I'll actually be able to finish it!
Prompt from I'm Nova: The ice was too thin to bear Holmes' weight. (Thank you so very much to KnightFury for inspiring this and allowing me to use it).
The ice was too thin to bear Holmes' weight. It cracked, snapping beneath him and sending the detective plunging into the dark depths of the lake.
"Holmes!" Watson cried. He scrambled out onto the ice, heedless of the danger. His feet slipping beneath him, he ran towards the dark gash marring the pristine surface; as he came closer, he could already see ice reforming around the edges, crystals as pale and fragile as glass gathering around the edges of the hole. They were encroaching the hole on all sides - except where Holmes' gloved hands were clinging onto the icy edge.
Watson grabbed Holmes's hands, already soaked through and freezing from their encounter with the frigid water, and pulled. The ice creaked beneath him. Slowly, Watson pulled Holmes out of the lake, continuing until they were both sitting, shivering, by the edge of the hole.
Watson got to his feet, holding a hand out for Holmes to take. "Come, my friend. We need to get you home." Holmes, too cold and exhausted to argue, acquisced, and they headed off towards Baker Street and a cosy fireplace, leaving the lake behind them.
In the freezing cold of this December night, it would take only minutes before the lake had frozen over again, leaving no sign of the tragedy that had almost occurred.