221B

by KCS

CHALLENGE: Write a ficlet of exactly 221 words, the last word of which must start with the letter 'B'. 168 - Sherlock Holmes is a man of many talents, not the least of which is an indirect way of showing respect and gratitude.

15. Black

Black.

I have never liked the color, for it symbolises too many things over which I have no control…death, grief, sin, wickedness…and I very much despise anything that might control me rather than I it.

I have always hated the color black.

And I hate it more now, after seeing him in it.

How many months has my dear Watson had to wear that color in the last three years because of the cruel hand Fate has decided to deal him? I knew he would have mourned me as a brother, and now…seeing him just now, only recently transitioning from complete mourning to partial, shook me more than I should like to admit.

I was in Park Lane, inspecting the site of the Ronald Adair murder and making final plans as to the evening's events, preparatory to doing what I had been looking forward to for three years – namely, telling Watson I was not dead after all – when I had seen him, walking along the pavement and glancing up at the house as I was.

No doubt, his association with me had made him interested in crime, but that was not what drew my attention; rather his apparel, the deep mourning of one who has lost the dearest thing in the world to him.

I have always hated the color black.