Fic: The Dishwasher's Tale

[lindenharp]

Title: The Dishwasher's Tale
Series: Valiant Tales.  Read them in order here.
Rating: G
Characters: The Master (Simm), other characters
Genre: drabble
Words: 100
Spoilers: Minor spoilers for The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords.
Summary: A series of drabbles about the people who lived, worked, and suffered on the Valiant during the Year That Never Was.
Disclaimer: I am not the BBC.  I am not making money from this.  (I am, however, having a great deal of fun.)
A/N: Wow!  Has it really been that long since I added to this series?  Thanks to wendymr for the Britpick.  I am leaving Saturday evening for a week in London, and will have only occasional 'Net access, so I may not respond to some comments until my return.


This isn't the gap year I planned.  At first, it was brilliant.  I played guitar in Barcelona, picked olives in Provence, learned some Arabic curses, and washed dishes in a Venetian trattoria.  That last bit saved my life after The Day, no lie.  I would've been sent to a slave camp, but they needed someone up here who could operate a temperamental WKT1200 and scrub fifty-litre stockpots.

It's not bad.  I'm about as safe as any human can be, but I want to get Earthside again.  What I learned during my gap year: cleaning up messes is an important job.

Comments

[garpu.livejournal.com]

I love how you're able to make characters in so few words I'd love to hear longer stories from. And I've been told Arabic is an exceptionally colorful language to cuss in.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I've heard that about Arabic, too. Don't know if it's true. BTW, this would be whatever dialect Algerians speak.

[garpu.livejournal.com]

Hrm...I don't know anyone who's been to or is from Algeria. Morocco, yes. :)

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

Very nice.

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

yeah, it's back :D

The Day... great expression

loved it

[pherber-m.livejournal.com]

cleaning up messes is an important job. That's an important lesson to learn! I suspect it's one the Doctor will never learn.

Have a *fabulous* time in London!

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I used "The Day" once before, I think... *does a quick search* In "The Sergeant's Tale". And Giovanni calls it "The Catastrophe".

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

To be fair, the Doctor is more like a fire fighter. Those guys come in and save lives, but they don't stick around (or come back) to clear away the charred and sodden debris, or help people fill out insurance claims forms.

And, despite the cold I have *blows nose loudly* I expect to have a great time. Thanks!

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

see... told you it was a good expression :D

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

And it's another vignette from the Year. Nice! And it makes me curious about the person's life before they took a year off to have adventures. They sound resourceful, not to mention someone who would make a good Doctor's companion.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

What garpu said. You say so much in so few words!

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it.

Before The Year, he was an ordinary British secondary school student. A "gap year", as I probably should have explained, is a common practice in Britain. Before going to university, students take a year to travel or work or volunteer. Perhaps someone who has done it could explain better.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Aas Ii've said before, I enjoy the challenge of writing drabbles.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

Oh! People do that in America too. I just didn't understand the term.