Fanfic 100 - 024, Family
Mar. 20th, 2006 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolevalanTitle: Never Far Away
Fandom: Sweeney Todd
Characters: Benjamin Barker
Prompt: 024, Family
Word Count: 776
Rating: G
Summary: Benjamin's heart is a million miles away.
Author's Notes: I think this is actually a better Christmas story than the one I wrote at Christmas. Ah well.
It was Christmas Eve, and possibly the hottest day of the year so far. In honor of the holiday, the chain gain had been given the following day off, with the stipulation they attended the government funded chapel service proved. For the moment, however, the men were still sweating it out in the blinding sun, carving a road out of the harsh landscape.
Benjamin Barker looked numb. He often did, the shock of his first year wearing him down, even as his thin frame began to gather muscle and his delicate, deft hands were transformed by calluses and wear. The other convicts talked to him, occasionally, but didn’t expect much of a response; he hadn’t been that much more than a boy when he arrived, and it appeared that the colony had broken him. For a man who had yet to see his thirtieth birthday, the expression, or lack thereof, that haunted his features made him look much, much older. He had retreated into his own thoughts, and very seldom ventured out.
So when he began speaking, Roger Guppy was a bit surprised. Barker handed his fellow convict the canteen, after taking a long swig, letting a little of the precious liquid trail down his face in an effort to cool himself. Guppy nodded his thanks, lifting the canteen to his lips, wishing more than anything for a shave – the beard made his face ten times hotter than it would have been otherwise.
“Did you have a family?” Guppy blinked, not sure at first that it was Barker who had spoken. But the younger man was looking at him intently, a low-burning ferocity and intelligence in his cool gaze. “I mean before.”
Guppy handed the water to the next man, and then turned back to Barker, scratching the back of his neck absently. “I ‘ad…’ave…a wife. Nancy, ‘er name is.” Despite himself, Guppy grinned, wiping the sweat from his brow and glancing out over the alien landscape. “She’s comin’ to join me, in a year or two. After I get a ticket ‘o leave. We’ll ‘ave a little farm, like – nice and cozy.”
Barker raised an eyebrow. “Ticket of leave? How do you…”
He was cut off by the barked order to resume work, and the men fell back into silence, grunting occasionally as they broke a large rock or forced another heavy obstacle out of the way. The question was left unanswered for the remainder of the long, laborious shift.
Finally, the shadows began to lengthen, and the unrelenting heat ebbed, like the tide going out. As night began to fall in earnest, the convicts were ushered back to the camp for their meager supper and the beginning of the holiday. It wasn’t until they were eating the dry, crusty bread that had become their staple that Guppy replied to Barker’s half-finished question.
“Depends on ‘ow long you’re ‘ere for. But with good behavior – even lifers can get ‘em, dozen years or so down the line.”
Barker simply nodded as if there had been no interruption. He went back to eating his dinner, falling into a silence that was more thoughtful than usual with him. After a moment, because it felt like the right thing to do, Guppy asked tentatively, “You got a family you wanna send for, mate?”
The young man was silent a long moment, putting down the spoonful of weak stew and staring into the bowl. The silence stretched out so long that Guppy began to think Barker wasn’t going to answer at all, but finally he said in a low voice, “Family? Yes, I have a family. They were…are…my reason. My life. I…” The man stopped, running his thumb absently over his knuckles as he looked at nothing in particular. “But they won’t be coming here.”
Guppy shrugged. “Right, mate. Whatever you say.” The grizzled man went back to eating his soup.
Benjamin closed his eyes. It was Christmas eve. He could see Lucy, dressed in that smart burgundy wrap of hers, hurrying home through the freshly falling snow, the flakes sparking in the gaslights and catching on her spun gold ringlets. He could see Johanna, just beginning to walk, delighted by the papers and the candles and the treats that she’d be spoiled with, a tiny copy of her mother. He imagined the home saddened, for his absence, but not broken: Lucy’s friends and family taking care of her and filling the small rooms with Christmas cheer, ribbons and evergreens hung on the walls, the pudding flaming merrily in the middle of the table.
They still were his life. And his reason. But he would never bring them to Australia.
Fandom: Sweeney Todd
Characters: Benjamin Barker
Prompt: 024, Family
Word Count: 776
Rating: G
Summary: Benjamin's heart is a million miles away.
Author's Notes: I think this is actually a better Christmas story than the one I wrote at Christmas. Ah well.
It was Christmas Eve, and possibly the hottest day of the year so far. In honor of the holiday, the chain gain had been given the following day off, with the stipulation they attended the government funded chapel service proved. For the moment, however, the men were still sweating it out in the blinding sun, carving a road out of the harsh landscape.
Benjamin Barker looked numb. He often did, the shock of his first year wearing him down, even as his thin frame began to gather muscle and his delicate, deft hands were transformed by calluses and wear. The other convicts talked to him, occasionally, but didn’t expect much of a response; he hadn’t been that much more than a boy when he arrived, and it appeared that the colony had broken him. For a man who had yet to see his thirtieth birthday, the expression, or lack thereof, that haunted his features made him look much, much older. He had retreated into his own thoughts, and very seldom ventured out.
So when he began speaking, Roger Guppy was a bit surprised. Barker handed his fellow convict the canteen, after taking a long swig, letting a little of the precious liquid trail down his face in an effort to cool himself. Guppy nodded his thanks, lifting the canteen to his lips, wishing more than anything for a shave – the beard made his face ten times hotter than it would have been otherwise.
“Did you have a family?” Guppy blinked, not sure at first that it was Barker who had spoken. But the younger man was looking at him intently, a low-burning ferocity and intelligence in his cool gaze. “I mean before.”
Guppy handed the water to the next man, and then turned back to Barker, scratching the back of his neck absently. “I ‘ad…’ave…a wife. Nancy, ‘er name is.” Despite himself, Guppy grinned, wiping the sweat from his brow and glancing out over the alien landscape. “She’s comin’ to join me, in a year or two. After I get a ticket ‘o leave. We’ll ‘ave a little farm, like – nice and cozy.”
Barker raised an eyebrow. “Ticket of leave? How do you…”
He was cut off by the barked order to resume work, and the men fell back into silence, grunting occasionally as they broke a large rock or forced another heavy obstacle out of the way. The question was left unanswered for the remainder of the long, laborious shift.
Finally, the shadows began to lengthen, and the unrelenting heat ebbed, like the tide going out. As night began to fall in earnest, the convicts were ushered back to the camp for their meager supper and the beginning of the holiday. It wasn’t until they were eating the dry, crusty bread that had become their staple that Guppy replied to Barker’s half-finished question.
“Depends on ‘ow long you’re ‘ere for. But with good behavior – even lifers can get ‘em, dozen years or so down the line.”
Barker simply nodded as if there had been no interruption. He went back to eating his dinner, falling into a silence that was more thoughtful than usual with him. After a moment, because it felt like the right thing to do, Guppy asked tentatively, “You got a family you wanna send for, mate?”
The young man was silent a long moment, putting down the spoonful of weak stew and staring into the bowl. The silence stretched out so long that Guppy began to think Barker wasn’t going to answer at all, but finally he said in a low voice, “Family? Yes, I have a family. They were…are…my reason. My life. I…” The man stopped, running his thumb absently over his knuckles as he looked at nothing in particular. “But they won’t be coming here.”
Guppy shrugged. “Right, mate. Whatever you say.” The grizzled man went back to eating his soup.
Benjamin closed his eyes. It was Christmas eve. He could see Lucy, dressed in that smart burgundy wrap of hers, hurrying home through the freshly falling snow, the flakes sparking in the gaslights and catching on her spun gold ringlets. He could see Johanna, just beginning to walk, delighted by the papers and the candles and the treats that she’d be spoiled with, a tiny copy of her mother. He imagined the home saddened, for his absence, but not broken: Lucy’s friends and family taking care of her and filling the small rooms with Christmas cheer, ribbons and evergreens hung on the walls, the pudding flaming merrily in the middle of the table.
They still were his life. And his reason. But he would never bring them to Australia.
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Date: 2006-03-20 01:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-20 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-20 06:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-20 06:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-20 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-20 11:14 pm (UTC)I'll keep an eye out for a modernization, if you do one. I'm always hesitant to tamper with any given fandom's setting, but I've seen it done really well, and would be interested to see what you end up creating.
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Date: 2006-05-29 01:35 pm (UTC)