New Fic: What You Need: The Fifth One
Jul. 18th, 2008 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
namasteTitle: What You Need: The Fifth One
Author: Namaste
Summary: "So where do you buy these things? Do they have cane stores?" -- John Henry Giles, "DNR" Stories of how House came by his canes over the years, told through a series of short fics. PG. This one is about 420 words. Part five of thirteen.
The fifth one is dark and slender. House worries it won't hold his weight when he first sees it in the rack, but he likes the way it blends into the display's background. When he picks it up, it's even lighter than he expects.
A card hanging from the handle claims it's reinforced with some high tech polymer that mountain climbers use, and promises it's both light and sturdy. House places it on the floor, and despite the size and weight, it hits the linoleum with a solid sound and feel.
He looks down the aisle, to make sure there's no one watching before he puts a little weight on it. It holds steady and he leans on it a little harder.
House checks the price on the tag, and nearly puts it back in the display. A hundred bucks is more than he wants to spend on a cane. He hadn't come here looking for a cane at all. He's only in the drug store because at 2 a.m., it's the nearest place to his apartment that's still open and sells cold beer.
They've changed the layout of the place since the last time he was there, and House had to walk past the small stock of canes to get to the beer coolers. He saw the skinny one out of the corner of his eye, and stopped to look at it on his way back.
He holds it up. Forget mountaineering. This is like a fighter jet, this is stealth technology. The dark material seems to blend into the denim of his jeans and he has a momentary thought that maybe something this small and dark will be harder to see -- and easier for strangers to ignore.
House knows he can't hide from everyone. Every step he takes makes it clear that he's a cripple, even if people never noticed the cane they'd see the way his body angles to one side. But it would be nice to think that every once in a while, maybe they wouldn't see it. Even just for a moment.
He puts the cane on the floor again. It feels good under his hand, steady beneath his arm and shoulder. He takes a step forward, then another and another. He walks back to the display. He tucks his old cane under his left arm, grabs the beer in his left hand, places the new cane on the floor and heads to the cash register.
The sixth one is a bit ...
Author: Namaste
Summary: "So where do you buy these things? Do they have cane stores?" -- John Henry Giles, "DNR" Stories of how House came by his canes over the years, told through a series of short fics. PG. This one is about 420 words. Part five of thirteen.
The fifth one is dark and slender. House worries it won't hold his weight when he first sees it in the rack, but he likes the way it blends into the display's background. When he picks it up, it's even lighter than he expects.
A card hanging from the handle claims it's reinforced with some high tech polymer that mountain climbers use, and promises it's both light and sturdy. House places it on the floor, and despite the size and weight, it hits the linoleum with a solid sound and feel.
He looks down the aisle, to make sure there's no one watching before he puts a little weight on it. It holds steady and he leans on it a little harder.
House checks the price on the tag, and nearly puts it back in the display. A hundred bucks is more than he wants to spend on a cane. He hadn't come here looking for a cane at all. He's only in the drug store because at 2 a.m., it's the nearest place to his apartment that's still open and sells cold beer.
They've changed the layout of the place since the last time he was there, and House had to walk past the small stock of canes to get to the beer coolers. He saw the skinny one out of the corner of his eye, and stopped to look at it on his way back.
He holds it up. Forget mountaineering. This is like a fighter jet, this is stealth technology. The dark material seems to blend into the denim of his jeans and he has a momentary thought that maybe something this small and dark will be harder to see -- and easier for strangers to ignore.
House knows he can't hide from everyone. Every step he takes makes it clear that he's a cripple, even if people never noticed the cane they'd see the way his body angles to one side. But it would be nice to think that every once in a while, maybe they wouldn't see it. Even just for a moment.
He puts the cane on the floor again. It feels good under his hand, steady beneath his arm and shoulder. He takes a step forward, then another and another. He walks back to the display. He tucks his old cane under his left arm, grabs the beer in his left hand, places the new cane on the floor and heads to the cash register.
The sixth one is a bit ...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-18 09:37 pm (UTC)