Written for the watsons_woes JWP day 29 prompt: Fraught With Possibilities. Use at least one of these as the inspiration for today's entry: brothers, cleaning house, tools of the trade, nightmares, friends in high places.
Technical note: The Granada TV series never adapted any of the retirement stories, so the circumstances of Holmes' retirement is left to our imaginations. Since they opted not to have Watson marry in the series, I figured he and Holmes would retire together, unlike in the original stories.
Despite Mrs. Hudson's periodic entreaties for us to be tidier tenants, the only time I witnessed Holmes truly cleaning house was in preparation for our removal to Sussex. While some yearn for their retirement, it was a melancholy time for Holmes. It had been difficult for him to admit his heart was no longer in the work, but the fact also remained that age was catching up to us both.
Thus the tools of his trade were carefully sorted. Long did Holmes linger over packing his chemical set, bound for Bart's and the next generation of aspiring chemists. The commonplace books and his extensive collection of articles and monographs were entrusted to his brother, to be put to good use before the collection was donated to an interested library. Personal papers were relegated to a trunk, along with those mementos he chose to take with us; for a man who claimed not to be sentimental, there were far more things in that latter category than some might have expected.
When it all our bundles and boxes were finally cleared out, the rooms looked terribly empty.