December 31: "Watson's final straw" (from Michael JG Meathook)

Finally finishing this! A month late, maybe more than a dollar short, but hey, c'est la vie. Much love to everyone who has read my stories over the past couple of months & of course a huge thanks to Hades for hosting!


I had finally had it.

I walked into our sitting room from a long day sitting in my quiet practice, stewing over how on earth I would afford my share of the rent with so few patients. When I had left, Holmes was eagerly awaiting a client for what he anticipated would be an engaging case. It did not take a genius to deduce that the case must not have been so engaging after all, for now that I returned, the sitting room was full of foul, acrid smoke.

"Holmes, it is one thing to spend an entire day burning tobacco for your researches. That is bad enough. But it is quite another thing when you start burning other substances and objects in our sitting room! It is positively foul in here!"

Holmes slowly tore his attention away from the smoking ashes before him and met my gaze. "These researches are quite essential, if malodorous."

"If you keep this up, we are going to be evicted," I growled, throwing open a window. "If you must burn things, surely you can do it in the back garden, or somewhere else. Burn your wood planks or whatever the hell else you want to set on fire at the front steps of Parliament for all I care as long as I can come home to a flat with breathable air!"

I could feel my anger growing to unmanageable levels, and my eyes burned from the poisonous atmosphere. Without waiting for a response from Holmes, I announced, "I am going for a walk!" and stormed back into the street, slamming the front door behind me with much more than the amount of force required.