The moon was high in the sky and shone down on the little planet I called home. The air was chilly but welcoming as I walked through the streets of my hometown. I knew I probably shouldn't be out this late but I was way to restless to sleep. And besides, I had left a note for my mom, if she was too worried she could call me. I had told her I was walking to the store quickly. That was about half an hour ago, and I was guessing my mom would be pretty angry if I took much longer. I took a deep breath of cold air and leaned against one of the light posts that lined the street. I tightened my scarf and buried my hands deeper in my thick jacket pockets. I sighed and watched my breath condense in the air. I checked my phone for the time. I pushed my long brown hair out of the way as illuminated numbers told me it was 3:26. Groaning I walked off to the store.
"I wish I could stay out here all night..." I said as I walked. I frowned, realizing I was thinking out loud again.
I entered the store and absentmindedly paced up and down the isles stacked with potato chips, gum, and other gas station junk food. After checking the time again I grabbed a bag of gummy bears and a bottle of pop. The cashier looked about as aware of his surroundings as I did. He yawned as he rung up my items.
"$2.50..." He said in a dull voice. I just handed him the money and walked out, throwing a half halfhearted "thank you" behind me.
I found myself pouting as I realized I wasn't tired in the slightest.
"I guess that's what I get for sleeping until lunch..." I thought. I ripped open my bag of gummy bears and popped a few in my mouth. I nearly choked on them as my phone sprung to life. I swallowed them hard and fished my phone out of my pocket. I expected it to be an angry mother attempting to contact her stupid teenage daughter who had decided after waking up at two thirty she would take a walk, but instead it was my good friend Hollie. I shrugged and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hailey! There's a man!" Hollie whispered urgently.
"A man? I need a little more than just that."
"A man! He's in my backyard." I stopped walking.
"Is he armed?" I asked, panicking slightly.
"Uhhh... No, not really."
"What do you mean not really?" I scoffed. I was slightly annoyed now.
"He's got a glowy thing. And its making noises..."
"Well why don't you just ask him to piss off or something."
"I can't... I dunno who he is."
"Your just gonna let him walk around your backyard? Chase him off."
"Hailey..."
"Fiiiiine. I'll be there soon." I rubbed my face and moaned.
"Please don't hang up." Hollie pleaded. I just sighed and kept her on the line as I walked back down the street and past my house.
Hollie was mostly silent as I made my way over, except for the occasional question or comment.
"Okay I'm Here." I spoke into the phone as I came up to her backyard fence. I peaked over the fence and into her horribly unkempt backyard. The grass went nearly up to my knees and the only thing notable was an ancient wooden play set that could give you a nasty sprinter. All but one of the small swings were broken and cobwebs clung to every crevasse.
Then I saw him. The most peculiar man wearing a bright red bow tie and suspenders. He must have been freezing because all he had to warm him was quite a thin looking dress shirt. He seemed to be focusing quite hard. He was hunched over, pointing around some sort of rod with a glowing green light on it.
"He's still there, but he's getting closer." Hollie whispered to me.
"I can see that." I whispered, trying to think of how to go about giving him the boot. I spotted Hollie in the basement window that led to her bedroom. She had her phone turned away so the man wouldn't see the light shining from her phone.
"I could just ask him to leave right? Yeah, but uh... just to be safe." I thought, picking up a rock and hiding it behind my back. I took a deep breath and opened the back gate very slowly.
"H-hello?" I asked the man in a shaky voice. The man spun around, pointing the glowing object straight at me. I froze in fear, dropping the rock and throwing my hands up. My phone suddenly burst into a shower of sparks and I dropped it immediately.
"Oh dear... Very sorry about that. Weren't you ever told that it's rude to sneak up on people?" He rambled as he lowered his device and turned his attention back to whatever he was doing. I was speechless. I stood there with my mouth hanging open like a fish. Surprisingly he was British, though that was probably the least surprising thing about him. I gingerly picked up my now fried phone, sighing at the damage.
A few moments later he turned back to me.
"Oh sorry is this your yard?" He asked. I blinked a few times before answering.
"Uhh... No! No, sorry. It's my friends yard. And what exactly are you doing in it?" I fumbled.
"Yes! That. Just a routine... yard inspection. Yeah." He said and flashed me a small piece of paper that read "City of Calgary lawn regulation inspector, John Smith". Before I could even reply he began crawling around on his hands and knees.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Hollie's brother hasn't mowed the lawn in like, six years." I said awkwardly as I shuffled in place. A moment later Hollie came barrelling around the corner.
"Oh my gosh you're not dead." She said, walking past the man and giving me a hug.
"No but my phone is pretty dead..." I mumbled as I stuffed it in my pocket.
"So who is he?" She asked me finally.
"A lawn guy? Or something?"
"He's too good looking to be a lawn guy. Plus I have never seen a lawn guy look at our yard before." She pondered with a witty smile.
"Regulation check up every twenty five years or so, you know. Lawn stuff." He explained, all too absorbed in his fiddling.
"What was your name exactly?" I asked him finally.
"The Doctor." He replied.
"But your card said your name was John Smith." I retorted.
"and what kind of doctor are you? And please don't say a lawn doctor." Hollie added. The man groaned.
"It's just, The Doctor. A sort of nickname, like sparky or spaceman." He explained, stretching his suspenders.
"Spaceman?" Hollie asked.
"Hey I didn't pick it." He mumbled half to himself as he plucked a quite disgusting blade of grass and nibbled on it. Both me and Hollie screwed up our faces in disgust. A moment later the Doctor spit the grass out and traded it for a pinch of dirt. He smelled it eagerly and gave a puzzled look.
"No abundance of minerals or fertilizers, yet this grass is healthy. Well other then the obvious acidic coating." He rambled as he walked towards the broken down play set. Me and Hollie just stared at him, wondering how crazy he was. Not a moment later the front gate of Hollie's yard burst open. An annoyed Alisha stormed around the corner. Her blonde hair was a tangled mess. I couldn't tell if it was from the wind or the fact that she was most likely in bed before showing up.
"Okay I'm here what is it." She asked, crossing her arms. Hollie answered by simply pointing at the Doctor. Alisha walked over and tapped him on his shoulder.
"Get out." Alisha demanded, pointing to the back gate and giving him one of her famous glares.
"Oh not another one." He said with an exasperated sigh, "It's like you're duplicating. It's the attack of the socially awkward teenagers." I grit my teeth.
"We would probably go away if you just left, did your big brain think of that?" I said, tapping my foot with slight impatience.
"I can't believe you woke me up for this." Alisha snarled, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Just answer me this," He said, turning to all three of us. "There are an awful not of cobwebs, but where are all the spiders?" We all blinked at his peculiar question and a sly smile slid across his face.
"Well... I just assumed that they die in the cold. You know, Canada and all." I shrugged.
"But where would the cobwebs come from then genius." Alisha pointed out, now intrigued by the Doctor's question.
"Maybe they are sleeping?" Hollie proposed.
"Spiders tend to be more active at night." Alisha explained again.
"Okay, what does this have to do with grass?" I asked finally.
"Not sure yet!" The Doctor said with a smile and extended his glowing stick while examining it thoroughly.
"What exactly is that?" Hollie asked, taking a step closer to it.
"Sonic Screwdriver. It sonics, and stuff... Ah Ha!" He ran out the back gate not a second later with the so called sonic screwdriver pointer to the ground, we had no choice but to follow that crazy man.