Alright then. River told me to do this; write about every adventure I have with the Doctor. How about I start at the beginning (no matter what the Doctor says that's the best place to start). So sit back, relax and enjoy the craziness that has become my life.
1. Meeting the Doctor
People say that every journey starts with one step. I would disagree with these people. I would argue that it starts when you haul yourself off your bed. I honestly believe that when Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise, along with all the evil, they unleashed the Alarm Clock. The dreaded demon which evolved from the town hall bells to the phone which was blaring in my ears. Monday morning were always the worst. I reckoned that the dreaded Alarm Clock screams more on Mondays than on any other day. I'm still amazed at how I haven't destroyed my phone, trying to silence the beast. I am simply not a morning person. Sleeping was supposed to make you feel better not make you feel like you're an uncharged phone. Every morning at 7 am, the beeping would start and I am faced with the worst choice: DISMISS ALARM or SNOOZE. But however much I hate that I would have to get out of my warm and cozy cocoon, I never press the SNOOZE button. I feel as though the Demon is trying to tease me by giving me the option to sleep for a couple more minutes until he inevitably destroys my slumber again. So every morning, even on Mondays, I, reluctantly, get out of bed.
The morning in question was not only a Monday but also the start of November and it was raining. When the flipping thing started crying into my ears, I almost jumped. I glared at her phone as if it had just betrayed me. I grabbed it and hatefully tapped the DISMISS ALARM button. The idea of getting out of the warmth and entering the freezer that is the rest of the world made me want to cry, but I wouldn't let that demon win. So once again, I left my warm shelter, sort of ready to face the day. The sun was not visible under the thick layer of grey clouds which lined London's sky. I sighed and shuffled out of my room into the hallway.
The kitchen was slightly warmer than my room, warmth which was welcomed dearly. I walked to the counter to make myself some coffee. Coffee is Alarm Clock's worst enemy and my best friend. The beverage was perfectly warm, not too hot and not cold at all. It felt like a huge hug from a warm sweater. I was almost sad when I could see my reflection at the bottom of my mug. I put the mug in the sink to be washed later and headed to the bathroom. The sight that greeted me in the mirror looked like true horror. I had forgotten to remove my make up the night before which left me looking like a clown from some sort of horror movie. My hair was all tangles and knots, I couldn't wait to wash the weekend off of me. I got into the shower and after the waters of hell and the waters of the arctic stung my skin, the water adjusted to the almost-scalding waters of heaven. I stayed under the rain of sweet warm kisses for a long time before actually washing myself. After rinsing the soap off my body, I toweled herself dry and admired my clean self in the mirror. I quickly left the bathroom and headed to my room to put on her battle armour to head into battle i.e. November London. I blow-dried my hair and styled it into a neat little bun. I scrambled to put on my black tights and slipped into my outfit. I threw on my black coat to keep myself safe from the enemy/cold.
I had been working at Hartnell Publishers for almost a year. I wrote stories for the children's magazine every week. That week was my last story before a three week break during which a Christmas story was to replace it. The 'finale' before the break was almost done but I wasn't so sure about the ending. I kept editing it and re-editing it.
It was based on a recurring dream I had as a kid which had suddenly come back. It used to terrify me. It was about angels and robots and salt shakers which electrocuted people (don't ask) and this blue Police box. Somehow this Box was always there to help me get out of the corner the monsters had cornered me to. I had decided to have a little bit of fun with my dream and turns out the kids who read the magazine loved it and so I stuck to my story of the Box. But that morning my creative wheels weren't turning and even though I had just forty eight hours to send it in, I couldn't get round to writing that stupid ending.
What do you do when you have a lot of work to do? I procrastinate. I called my friend Trevor and two aspirins and a tube ride later, I was on Oxford Street with Trevor, holding three shopping bags and a coffee cup. We spent the afternoon shopping (which drove Trevor mad). After almost four hours running from one shop to the other, Trevor stopped me in the middle of the very crowded street, causing a lot of tutting and commotion.
"Aurora, you do realise that you have work to do, right?" he asked me somewhat amazed at my lack of botherness.
"Yeah, I know." I replied nonchalantly, looking through him at the window behind him.
"Aurora, damn it come on." He stepped in front of me, blocking my view. "It's bad enough you're behind on rent."
I glared at him. I really hated it when he was right. Ever since we met in school, he seemed to have made it his mission to make sure that he is always right. He was the Mr. Knightley to my Emma, but you know without the marriage part.
"Fine. I'll do it as soon as I get home. But first dinner." I said looking at him with pleading eyes. It was his turn to sigh. I smiled. "I'll call Nora, see what she's up to. Then we can go to your place and order Chinese and we can watch Downton"
"Why do you get to call my fiancée?" He asked while I bombarded him with my shopping bags.
"Because she might be doing something the groom must never know about" I said while hunting my phone in my mess of a bag.
"Fine. Just hurry up. It's freezing." When I finally rang up Nora, she was just arriving home after four hours of looking for the perfect dress for the bride's maids. I got her order and headed to Chinatown to get our food then headed to Nora and Trevor's place. After a satisfactory meal and a dramatic episode of Downton, we sat on the sofas in the lounge and just chatted.
"Did we have fortune cookies?" Nora asked examining the take away paper bags. "Yeah they were with the noodles." Her boyfriend replied. She took out the pretty packaging and out came three fortune cookies.
We all took one.
"'Happiness is on its way to you'. It better be." Nora said with mock bitterness in her tone. Trevor smiled and kissed her gently on the nose. She giggled. "What about yours, chief? What does it say?" She asked him.
He cracked his cookie and rolled out the piece of paper. "'Pursue your wishes aggressively', will do Chinese Lord of Fortunes" he laughed. "Aurora?"
I cracked mine and the paper read "'The Angels are coming. Good Luck' let's hope they bring a story with them." I said smiling at my best friend and his fiancée. We sat there in silence for a few minutes. Then I saw the time. The day flew by and I still hadn't wrote that stupid ending. "I better get going." I said as I got up from the soft blue beanbag.
"Do you want to spend the night?" Nora offered. I shook my head. "If I stay here any longer I'll never finish that thing. Thanks though." She nodded understandingly. Trevor got up from his spot on the sofa. "I'll walk you to the station." He grabbed his coat and we got out of the flat. We started walking to the Underground station. We didn't say a word to each other until I thought that the silence was starting to feel awkward so I said: "That was fun." He nodded in agreement. Another second of silence. "Things are going to be different after the wedding aren't they?" He asked slowly.
"Well of course they are Trev. You're getting married, moving away, start a family and who knows what else." I laughed. He smiled but only for just a second. His perfectly sculpted face was sad for the next few moments. "I am going to miss this." He stopped dead in his tracks. The sun had started to set and the red sun was making his auburn hair shine. I used to have a crush on him and on that Monday evening, I saw why. He was quite attractive and little bit less than a foot taller than me. His big green eyes always looked gentle. "I'm going to miss this too." I said looking into his eyes. We stared at each other for a second too long. "Another thing I'm going to miss is the train if I don't get a move on." He nodded and waved me off. I ran down the steps to find the station deserted.
How could one of the busiest stations in London be deserted? Sure it was Monday but not a soul was in sight. Where was everyone? The place was dead silent. The only sound I could hear was the hum of the escalator and the monotonous "Mind the Gap" guy. I checked my phone for the time: 10:29PM, three more minutes till the next train. As I was unlocking my phone, I heard a rustling noise a little bit away from me. I looked to my right and sure enough there was something two benches away; a statue. A statute of an angel holding its face as if it were crying. It was kind of pretty but very creepy. It was like one of those angels you see at the graveyard. What was an angel doing in the London Underground anyway? I doubted it wanted a ride to King's Cross. I stared at it. It looked a lot like the angel from my dreams. Exactly like that angel actually. Terrorizing fear gripped me.
'The Angels are coming. Good luck.' That was what my cookie said. Could it be that the fortune cookie really did speak the truth? No. Of course not. It was just a joke. I was getting pranked obviously. This was not real. This only happens in my dreams. But those thoughts didn't leave me and I felt like terror was choking me. The Angels were always the worst. In my dreams I could never see them move but in a flash they would be right in front of me and when they touched me. I would wake up.
Suddenly the light flickered. Just for a fraction of a second, I lost my vision and when it came back the angel was just centimeters away from my body, its hand outstretched towards me and a face which was not angel like. Panic joined terror and they shook my body. I was quick to scream at the top of my lungs. This was not how I expected my Monday to go at all. I started whispering every prayer I knew and prayed to God that this was just a nightmare and I will wake up at home in my bed. And then I made a fatal mistake. I blinked. When I re-opened my eyes, the angel's finger was just a millimeter away from my cheek.
"Don't look away from the Angel. Never, ever look away from the Angel. Don't even blink." Said a voice which bounced off each wall of the tunnel. I decided to take the Voice's advice and not look away. "Right. Now, what's your name?" the Voice said. I found this question inappropriate in this particular situation so I shouted back: "Does it really matter what my name is? Get this, this, this thing away from me."
"Of course your name matters. Anything and everything is important in a matter of life and death" the Voice replied.
"What do you mean life and death? It's just a statute. A silly old statue." I said my voice shaking a bit. My eyes had started watering I couldn't hold my eyes open for much longer.
The Voice seemed impatient "Then why are you still staring at the old thing?" The Voice was whispering now. It was right next to me. The Voice took hold of my right hand and squeezed it gently and suddenly Terror and Panic turned into Peace.
"Aurora Evans. My name is Aurora Evans." I whispered back.
"Alright then Aurora Evans, look away from the Angel, run and don't look back."
I looked to my right and found that the Voice belonged to a man of around twenty five, who was wearing a tweed jacket, suspenders and a blue bowtie. He was staring at the angel but he still smiled a warm smile. He squeezed my hand again and let it go. "Now go. Run." I stared at him for just a second longer and ran. I ran up the escalator and went back to Trevor's. That is how I met the Doctor.
