Hard Labour

[capt_facepalm]

Title: Hard Labour
Author: capt_facepalm
Rating: PG
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (Gaslight)
Characters: Dr John H. Watson
Summary: An undercover investigation; a continuation of Vagrants
Warnings: Whump: impending and implied
Word Count: 100
Author's Notes: July 8th 2015 prompt: The Ballad of Reading Gaol (Oscar Wilde)

.oOOo.

The sky was the unbelievable blue of dreams, and the unrelenting sun blazed unchallenged by clouds.

‘Watson, get up!’ one of the masked creatures urged.

Shuffling hominids loomed and continued in their shambling circle. How curious. Had one of them actually spoken?

‘Get up before the Screws see ya,’ hissed something with an Irish accent.

Realisation set in. These were men, fellow prisoners; clothed in coarse woollens, their faces obscured to isolate and debase them, veiling the warders from the sight of their suffering.

Watson fumbled to don his mask and rose on unsteady legs to rejoin the endless procession.

.oOOo.

Please sign the guestbook

Comments

[stellinia.livejournal.com]

*Very* nice descriptions, and there's whumpage in spades! Is it true about the masks? I've looked up prisons during those times a bit but I never read anything about that!

[capt-facepalm.livejournal.com]

There are lots of articles about Victorian prisons. Also, I recommend the movie Wilde (1997) with Stephen Fry and Jude Law. It is a good movie and there are a couple of scenes of prison life based on historical photographs.

[med_cat]

"The Trials of Oscar Wilde" is also a good film

[maestress83.livejournal.com]

*shudders* I hope he finds a way to get out of prison soon, this type of punishment is a horror.

[capt-facepalm.livejournal.com]

It is a thirty-one day sentence. Surely he will be able to survive it. (Probably)
(Thanks!)

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

*wibble* *bakes him a cake with a fountain pen inside*

[capt-facepalm.livejournal.com]

Thanks!
Or one of Herr Mendl's courtesans au chocolat would be nice too.
(Wes Anderson much?)

[med_cat]

:(

I'd seen the film you mention; it is good but I must've missed the bit about the masks

[capt-facepalm.livejournal.com]

It is a brief prison scene near the end. I wish I had taken a screen-grab.

[med_cat]

Ah, I see; thanks

[methylviolet10b]

Yay, a continuation! And *shudder*, yikes!

More please?

[capt-facepalm.livejournal.com]

Thanks!
More is always possible.
(As you well know.)
:-)

[ancalime8301]

Aww.

[capt-facepalm.livejournal.com]

Thanks!