AN OLD FRIEND
A 'Doctor Who' story by
Benjamin Ditch
It's been a couple of years now since I came home from holiday to find the UK in the grip of some fashion streak over some funny white dome-like hats. After an investigation, I found that the Domes contained an embryo for a creature which took control of its wearer and used them as incubators.
The man I helped found me when I was on the run from those things and he took me aboard his ship, called a TARDIS, and we soon found ourselves in the Dome Factory fighting for survival against the mastermind of the whole thing; a Dalek, at the time, the last one left. I still don't know how, but we defeated it and the Domes, along with the embryos inside were all destroyed. The Dalek got away, but the man I helped thought it might turn up again someday.
Unfortunately, a few months later, it did, along with a whole army of his brethren. They teleported the Earth off to some remote part of space along with 27 other planets, and they landed and occupied the human race.
I survived the invasion by escaping into the countryside, where I managed to avoid the Dalek patrols and extermination squads. Eventually, the Daleks all left and the Earth was brought back home.
I still remember the distant church bells ringing out in celebration of humanity's survival as I wandered through the fields of tall grass in Norfolk I had hidden in after it had all ended. They were still ringing out in joy when I got home to my parents and found them alive and cleaning up the place. I'll never forget the moment when we all embraced each other on that great day.
After everything was cleared up, I went back to work. Every day, I went to the shopping centre to have lunch in one of the cafe's there. It sat across from where the Dome store used to be, which was still empty after two years. I sometimes glanced toward the empty shop, remembering the part I had played in ending the 'Dome craze' of 2009.
However, one day, I was having lunch in that very cafe, across from the Dome shop when the strangest thing happened. I made a glance over to the shop, and, in the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a man standing on a balcony above the shop, staring down toward me. I couldn't believe my eyes; it was the man I helped two years before, it was the Doctor!
Instantly, I got up from my chair, picked up my work bag and rushed out of the cafe. Outside, I ran over to a nearby escalator and clambered frantically up onto the first floor. I then turned over to where the Doctor was and found that he was nowhere in sight.
I looked around, searching for any sign; but I couldn't find him. I was about go give up hope when I heard a voice coming from my left.
"How're you doing?"
I spun my head in the direction of the voice and there he was, a dark spiky-haired man in a brown pinstripe suit, brown raincoat and white plimsoll trainers. I just smiled upon sight of the Doctor, but I saw the dirty-looking frown on his face, and my smile quickly drained away as I realised that something was wrong.
"What's happened?" I asked him.
He told me what had happened to him recently, that his friend, the Master had returned and had tried to cause havoc and nearly caused the return of his people, the Time Lords. However, the Doctor had managed to prevent this, but at a heavy price. His body had now been critically damaged and he was undergoing a process called 'regeneration'. This meant that his body would repair itself, but it would come with a side effect; a change of personal appearance and personality. In effect, he would literally become a new Doctor, unfamiliar to me, but familiar to him.
I realised what this mean and expressed my sympathy for his situation. The Doctor only nodded at me, still wearing that dark scowl on his face.
He told me that he didn't have much time left and wanted to tell me that I was of great help to him two years before, and, hopefully, I could be again, in the future. I smiled and thanked him for his compliment.
I turned and looked out over the balcony onto the main concourse below. "You know," I started speaking. "The day after we brought down the Dome thing, I went down here and found that the shop had been closed and was being guarded by these military blokes. One of 'em questioned me, asking if I knew anything about the Domes. For a minute there, I thought I'd tell him that I was partly responsible for bringing them down. But I realised that they might arrest me and make me disappear. Instead, I just told 'em a white lie, that the Government had found them dangerous and were forced to ban them. Tell me, Doctor, did I..." I stopped when I looked round and saw that the Doctor was gone.
I looked around, searching for any sign of him, but there was none. All of a sudden, I heard this faint grinding sound, coming from behind one of the fire doors. It was the Doctor's TARDIS taking off, disappearing into time and space.
I returned my gaze to the view below me and took a deep breath. As suddenly as he had come back into my life, the Doctor was gone.
"Goodbye, Doctor." I whispered. "I won't forget you."
And with that, I straightened up my tie, turned and started heading off back to work.