September prompt: Suitcase
The suitcase sat at the foot of the stairs.
It was symbolic. It meant change. That life was never going to be the same.
Sherlock stood at the top of the stairs and stared down at the innocuous piece of luggage.
It wasn't anything flashy. No bright colours or patters. Not a fancy make or a designer label.
It was a plain blue suitcase. Dull blue. Well used. Old. Loved. The fabric was fraying around the handles were. He couldn't see the wheels from where he stood, but he knew that they were black. Plastic. Normal.
But the suitcase was anything but normal.
He wanted to go down the stairs and remove it. Put it out of sight. That old saying – out of sight, out of mind.
But the suitcase had a hold on him.
He could not take his eyes off it. He could not take a step forward. He could not take a step back.
It had been there for days. He had walked past it yesterday. The day before. The day before that. But today, today he was ensnared by the simple blue suitcase at the bottom of the stairs.
The suitcase at the bottom of the stairs.
Usually Sherlock could rise above his feelings, he was very practiced at that, but this time the change the suitcase heralded was a change that he was not prepared for.
'Everything changes, Sherlock.' His brother's voice mocked him inside his head.
'Of course it does, Mycroft. That doesn't mean I have to like it.' Sniping back, even in his head, didn't make it any better, and Sherlock sighed.
He walked down the stairs and grabbed the handle, hauling it upstairs to rooms he had never been in even though he knew that they existed.
The door to the flat was unlocked. He opened the door and simply placed the suitcase in the middle of the hallway. He closed the door and left again.
Even though the suitcase was no longer there, he could feel its presence.
A holiday had been planned. About to be taken when life took a turn and upended him. She'd never even said she'd been ill.
He'd never noticed and he would never forgive himself. That wasn't true. He had noticed, had mentioned in his usual subtle way, had been yelled at and had filed it away to deal with when the holiday was over.
The suitcase at the bottom of the stairs.
The suitcase that changed everything.
The suitcase that told him he had failed.
The suitcase that haunted him.
The suitcase that showed that Mrs. Hudson was not coming back.