Prompt: 100 words – emotionally themed drabble prompts
Prompt word: Worthless
Here's another one that has been in my inbox since August. Now that writing post-canon Shelly is no longer depressing, I'm feeling inspired again. And I hope that the rude asshole who said that my post-canon chapters "don't matter because Shelly is dead" feels really stupid right now.
Shelly is roughly sixteen here. VERY slight, almost unnoticeable spoilers for The Return of Covid.
Shelly robotically went through the motions of getting dressed.
Her mind was swirling with emotions. Relief that her grandfather was no longer suffering. Anger that his suffering went on for much longer than it should have. Dread at the idea of having to greet the funeral guests with the rest of her family.
And of course, sadness. Her grandpa had been a husk of his former self during the last couple of years and Shelly had already mourned the man he once was before he had even died, but the despair kept coming in waves.
Shelly rifled through her dresser drawer for a pair of stockings. Her hand brushed against a small velvet box.
Mystified, Shelly opened the box to discover a pair of square jade and gold earrings. She choked back a sob. It was the last gift that her grandfather had ever given her.
At the time, Shelly had grudgingly accepted the earrings with a muttered "Thanks, Grandpa" and had shoved the box into her drawer, intending to forget about it. She knew from past experience that the overpriced junk jewelry he had gifted her was worthless.
These are actually kind of pretty, Shelly thought to herself. It would be a nice tribute to Grandpa if I wore these today.
Shelly fastened the baubles to her earlobes and examined her reflection in the mirror. The jade brought out the color in her eyes and the gold complemented her brown hair nicely.
Maybe the earrings weren't so worthless after all.
The reason I marked this as a spoiler is because those are the same earrings that the adult and gorgeous Shelly wore in "The Return of Covid".