It was a beautiful, warm night, which is yet another proof that most novels and movies are so incredibly wrong in their assumption that the weather always mirrors people's moods.
Flora Wells was jogging through Hyde Park, feeling absolutely miserable. Life was so complicated and difficult, much too difficult. She was nineteen, had never been in a real relationship, barely talked to most of her friends, not to mention her family, and had no idea whatsoever about what she was going to do the rest of her existence.
Flora slowed down after a short while. God, she wasn't even fit. How pathetic. Sighing, she sat down on a bench next to the Serpentine, looking down at the grey water, then up at the stars, barely visible because of London's light pollution. Still, she knew they were out there, stars, galaxies, and she thought about how tiny and unimportant she, including all her problems, was, but it made her feel even worse. She closed her eyes and whispered "Help me".
It's a silly thing to do, of course, talking to no one in particular, but don't we all do it at times?
After a few minutes, Flora got up and walked towards home, too exhausted to continue jogging. Suddenly, a strange looking man walked up to her. He looked like he was dressed up as someone from the 30s, wearing a brown tweed jacket, bow tie, braces, rolled up trousers and black boots. The look was quite ridiculous, actually, and his hairstyle didn't help, either.
"Here I am!" he said cheerfully, rubbing his hands and grinning at her.
Flora couldn't help but stare. Then, she turned around. The man may not look dangerous, but she had heard enough stories about girls getting raped and murdered in London at night. Her life wasn't perfect, but she didn't want to die, either.
As she had feared, he followed her.
"Well, what's the matter?" he asked, putting a long-fingered hand on her shoulders.
"I've got to go home," Flora muttered, feeling stupid. She inhaled deeply, but the man didn't smell like alcohol.
"And you'd like me to help you with that?" The expression on his face was almost childishly confused.
"No."
"Well, what do you need help with then?"
"Nothing!" Flora's heart was racing, and so was her mind. She looked around, but there was no one in sight.
He jumped in front of her, leaning forward a bit so their heads were at the same height. Staring right into her eyes, he murmured:
"How come you asked me for help then?" He then grinned, obviously satisfied with himself.
"I never did. And," she added, trying to sound confident, "Even if I had, I certainly wouldn't have asked you."
The man seemed incredibly amused.
"Well, aren't you something."
Just as Flora opened her mouth, he turned the other way and started walking, while continuing to talk.
"'Course you did, that's why I came, that's why I always come. Because see, you may be surprised to hear that I am quite experienced in helping. Saved the universe a couple times. One of those times involved eating seventeen portions of chips while simultaneously singing a song sbout a hamster. The others... didn't." He stopped and turned once more, smiling apologetically.
"Who are you?" asked Flora, almost smiling back.
He practically hopped over to her, his face inches from hers. "Would you believe me if I said that I had no name?" he whispered.
"No."
"Good!" He twirled around, almost losing his balance. "'Cause that would be just silly." The man straightened his red bow tie. "Hello. I'm the Doctor. What's your name?"
Flora considered giving herself a fake name, since he obviously had, too, but something about this Doctor-person made her trust him, even though he was absolutely crazy.
"It's Flora. Flora Wells"
"Flora! Flooora. Lovely name. Great name. Now, Flora. What's the matter?"
And she told him everything. Her stupid little everyday problems. She told him even though he was a stranger with a bow tie, who called himself the Doctor and said he saved the World. And he listened, not saying anything for a change, but still walking around and fidgeting, and when she was done, he said, "And so you asked the Universe for help."
She looked up, confused. "No, I didn't."
"You looked at the stars and you said 'Help me'. There's an expression for that."
"What is it?"
"Asking the Universe for help."
Flora shook her head. "How would the Universe help me?"
"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" He raised his hands triumphantly.
"So you're going to help me?"
"That depends." The Doctor winked. "Do you want me to help you?"
"How, by eating chips?" Flora laughed, for the first time that day.
"You're funny. I like funny. But!" He grabbed her hand, pulling her back to the Serpentine almost roughly. Then, he pointed at the stars. "Up there, there are things that are better that chips, or even Jammie Dodgers, as unlikely as that sounds."
"That's great, but we're stuck down here."
"Hah! Stuck! He may be stuck." He pointed at a man walking by. "And so is his dog. But me, I'm not stuck. I'm less than stuck, I'm the least stuck you could ever be! And you!" he yelled, tapping against Flora's forehead. "You could unstick yourself and come with me."
"Where?"
"Anywhere!"
"You're completely mad."
"Yes! I'm also a time traveller, Flora Wells. Time and space traveller, to be accurate. So, when you ask me where, I say anywhere, and I mean it! See those stars above you? Been to all of them. That one has a tiny planet that has next to no gravity, picture that! Oh, and see that bright one over there? It's not far from Anorania, which offers some the very best fish fingers in this entire galaxy. Choose, Flora Wells. Flora Wells. The girl with the not-so-important problems. The girl who asked for help. Here I am, Flora! The Doctor! Timelord from Gallifrey! So I'm asking you again: Where?"
Flora looked into the Doctor's brown eyes and believed every single word he said. He, the madman she met when she went for a jog in Hyde Park.
She looked up. "Which planet did you say has good fish fingers?"
He took her hand and pointed her finger towards the sky.
Flora nodded. "That one."