Fic: A little credit goes a long way: gen
Dec. 2nd, 2023 08:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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holmes_minorTitle: A little credit goes a long way
Rating: gen
Length: 300
Summary: Mrs. Hudson does a mother and daughter a good turn at Christmas.
“Your remaining credit is…”
The sum was enormous. The girl and her mother started.
“I have a credit?” said the mother.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How is that possible?”
The clerk’s head tilted toward the door, toward the woman exiting the shop. The clerk gave the girl’s mother a look which spoke volumes. Never slow to react, the girl’s mother hurried out into the street, and the girl dutifully followed.
“Madame! Thank you! How can I thank you?”
The woman stopped and turned. “You can thank me by making this one,” she looked kindly at the girl, “the prettiest star in the Christmas pageant.”
The girl smiled. Her mother smiled. The woman smiled.
“She will be,” promised the girl’s mother. “Thank you. It’s been so hard since, well…” The girl’s mother’s eyes became wet, and speech failed her.
What was there to say? Their story was commonplace.
The woman’s expression was one of sympathy and understanding.
“You’re welcome. It’s Christmas, and my tenant has just set the curtains on fire again, so there will be a little extra something in my stocking at the end of the month. I’m just passing it along.”
Two brows furrowed in confusion, but the woman made a dismissive wave. She eyed the girl again.
“Good luck to you, my dear. Shine brightly.”
And the girl did.
Her mother was able to buy everything required for a magnificent star costume as well as supplies which she used to launch her own needlework enterprise.
And when the girl took the stage for the first time, well, she found her place.
Looking back, with an adult’s hindsight, the girl could see the long, slow change of fortune for her mother and a long slow blossoming of herself beginning on that day when a stranger had done them a kindness.
Rating: gen
Length: 300
Summary: Mrs. Hudson does a mother and daughter a good turn at Christmas.
“Your remaining credit is…”
The sum was enormous. The girl and her mother started.
“I have a credit?” said the mother.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How is that possible?”
The clerk’s head tilted toward the door, toward the woman exiting the shop. The clerk gave the girl’s mother a look which spoke volumes. Never slow to react, the girl’s mother hurried out into the street, and the girl dutifully followed.
“Madame! Thank you! How can I thank you?”
The woman stopped and turned. “You can thank me by making this one,” she looked kindly at the girl, “the prettiest star in the Christmas pageant.”
The girl smiled. Her mother smiled. The woman smiled.
“She will be,” promised the girl’s mother. “Thank you. It’s been so hard since, well…” The girl’s mother’s eyes became wet, and speech failed her.
What was there to say? Their story was commonplace.
The woman’s expression was one of sympathy and understanding.
“You’re welcome. It’s Christmas, and my tenant has just set the curtains on fire again, so there will be a little extra something in my stocking at the end of the month. I’m just passing it along.”
Two brows furrowed in confusion, but the woman made a dismissive wave. She eyed the girl again.
“Good luck to you, my dear. Shine brightly.”
And the girl did.
Her mother was able to buy everything required for a magnificent star costume as well as supplies which she used to launch her own needlework enterprise.
And when the girl took the stage for the first time, well, she found her place.
Looking back, with an adult’s hindsight, the girl could see the long, slow change of fortune for her mother and a long slow blossoming of herself beginning on that day when a stranger had done them a kindness.
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Date: 2023-12-02 05:08 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2024-01-06 07:47 pm (UTC)“Good luck to you, my dear. Shine brightly.”
I love Mrs. Hudson's wisdom and imagination here. She knows she's not just giving a little girl a Christmas treat, and helping out a widow for a few months. She can see the potential future for the two of them. It's not just Holmes who can read people.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-07 12:02 am (UTC)