The first chapter is a mess but I wanted to cut out some of the "Oh my God this isn't real" because I know that can be boring. And don't worry, the seemingly pointless parts I include in this chapter (and probably future chapters) will make sense in the end. And my pacing is pretty rubbish, sorrry.
Abbey Who Chapter One
There hadn't been any fireworks for a while. Abigail thought she should probably head in and pretend to be asleep for when Ms Robinson got back. She poked her head back inside and checked the clock. It was almost two, she'd be heading home in about two hours. Or a day. Abigail was hoping for a day. It would be a fantastic way to start the year.
She gave the sky one last glance and started for the door. Only when she had her foot on the carpet did she realise what she'd seen – thought she'd seen. She dashed back to the balcony and looked to the snow covered ground below. She was right: out of the corner of her eye she'd seen a blue box on the ground. A POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX to be exact. What the hell was that? And when did it get there? It was probably wheeled over when she'd went inside for an hour to watch telly, she thought. She saw two possibilities for what it might be a) new government thingy for calling the police which was overshadowed by the new year or b) a snogbox for a police themed New Year's party. Either way she wasn't too interested in going into it.
Just then she heard keys rattling at the door. No way, she thought, Ms Robinson can't be back already. But surely enough, there she was.
"Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked, running to her. Ms Robinson's hair was a mess and she had mascara dripping down her orange face. "What happened?" Abigail asked as gently as possible.
"It was Dave. He mugged me. Stole my phone. I need you to call the police," she cried. Abigail nodded and hurried out the front door. Just their luck that Ms Robinson had knocked milk all over the telephone a few months ago and never bothered to replace it.
"Jackie!" Abigail called, slamming her hands on the next door neighbour's door. "Rose?" It was no use. Most people were probably out celebrating. She ran down the stairs and outside to the police box. Please be the new government thingy, she prayed. Following the instructions on the left door, she pulled them both open. Oh. My. God. It's bigger on the inside.
-x-
Once she finally accepted that it was bigger on the inside she closed her mouth and walked around a bit more. There had to be a phone here somewhere.
"Got'cha," she whispered when she finally found one. She picked up the receiver and tried to find where the buttons were. She spotted a vintage dial just above the dashboard. This must be it. She reached out to it when the doors opened again. Inwards this time. Honestly, didn't they read?
She ducked, hoping the man in the pinstriped suit wouldn't see her. He'll probably be even more surprised than I was, she thought. I mean, I was still a child really. She hadn't completely ruled out hope of magic yet.
-x-
She woke up to find herself lying on a neatly made bed in a huge bedroom. Her head was throbbing and there was a buzzing but she had no recollection of hitting it. The walls were covered in shelves, lined with books and trinkets. She noticed one long shelf filled with just blue leather bound books. Some looked ancient but others brand new. The room was very welcoming and there were cushions strewn all over the floor and the wall at the opposite end was covered in pictures she was too far away to see clearly. Where am I?
She tried to think about the last thing she remembered. It was like trying to remember something you'd seen across the street as you passed in a fog. Gradually, bits and pieces of memories came back and eventually, the pieces of the jigsaw in her head fit together. But there's always one or two pieces missing when you try to finish a jigsaw puzzle.
She could remember walking into the police box and the man in the pinstriped suit with great hair clear as day.\ She remembered being confused as to why he didn't seem surprised. Why he looked so sad. As he moved around the console, she's tiptoed, hunched over so he wouldn't see her. She strongly regretted ducking in the first place but she was in too deep to reveal her presence. She could remember him saying in a choked voice, "I don't want to go" and when she concentrated she could remember the bright gold light and the man screaming. The gold had hit off the console and sparks were flying everywhere. She remembered being struck in the neck by a spark. She touched the spot where the spark had hit to find a small drop of blood. After he'd screamed she'd seen his face for just a split second but without doubt, knew it was a different man. After that, she was unconscious. She now guessed that it was whatever was in that spark that had caused it to happen.
She stood up and took a few steps forward which strangely helped the buzzing fade. The carpet was so fluffy if she wasn't wearing shoes she'd swear she was walking on a cloud. She opened the door and cautiously walked out.
Out here was much different. The long corridor walls were blank and there was a smell of smoke. Far from the welcoming environment in the bedroom.
As she walked towards the balcony she began to see the birthplace of the smell. She approached the balcony and got a better look. The console structure in the centre of the room which looked like a control panel from Star Trek was practically exploding. If this was a spaceship it wouldn't be the most surprising thing that happened today. Abigail took a deep breath and made her way down the spiral staircase to the door, slowly releasing breath like she was swimming while running at her top speed. The heat was intense close to the controls and as she passed multiple sparks shot out which she was lucky to avoid this time.
She got out of the door and doubled over, breathing raggedly. Once she regained strength she stood up straight and saw that she was in someone's back garden. A child lived here, she guessed, judging from the red swing set. Although it did look rusty. . . Who knows maybe a child lived there, maybe they didn't. It was hardly the most important thing right now, she told herself.
She dashed out of the garden and followed the path to the village. A stranger showing up in your garden with a smoking blue box probably wouldn't be taken lightly. What on earth was she going to do? She was definitely a long way from home and with no idea how. It wasn't even winter here.
She knew she was still in England, thankfully. She'd never been so happy to see a bright red telephone box in her life. She was about to approach an old woman to ask her where this was when she saw him again. That man whose face changed. Blimey, he had quite the chin.
"Excuse me," she said after running to him. "What like happened? With the" she gestured to his face and he simply said, "Got a new one – not important right now – hang on – You're awake already. Cool. Look, I'll explain later. Just stay with me."
Abigail wanted to ask more questions but there were so many running through her head and with so many to choose from all she could mutter was an awkward "Hi." to the red headed police woman next to him that she hadn't even noticed before.
"Hello," she replied uncomfortably. The police woman didn't sound English but it was hard to tell from just one word.
The silence was interrupted by a buzzing voice booming from the ice cream van nearby. "Prisoner Zero will protest - all the human residents will be incinerated." It was hard to tell for sure what it said with my throbbing head and because the van driver was trying to change the station but I got the idea.
The police woman gave a look of surprise. "What? We're being staked out by an ice-cream van." Abigail's suspicions were confirmed, she wasn't English, she was Scottish.
Without a word the man dashed towards the van, the Scot and I staggering behind.
He started speaking at a rapid pace and I stared on confused. Aliens? Okay. Abigail's head was too sore to bother questioning it. He'd taken off in another mad dash, limbs flailing and hopped over a fence. But she followed the red head and used the gate.
-x-
"TWENTY MINUTES?" Abigail yelled, staring gobsmacked at the television. She hoped she hadn't startled the poor old woman.
"We're gonna die in twenty minutes…? Why are you smiling?" she asked the man she now knew to be The Doctor. Out of the corner of her eye she'd seen his mouth twitch into a grin. There was always someone who had inappropriately timed humour. "I'll explain that later too . . . maybe" he said leaping to his feet. "Only got twenty minutes to save the world."
-x-
"So you called the aliens back just to give out to them?" He was the maddest person she'd ever met.
"Leaving is good, never coming back is better. I let them know who I was."
"And who are you?"
"The Doctor."
"Really? Now that's a plot twist."
He chuckled and stuck out his tongue.
"But really though - you basically scared them away. Who are you?"
"The Doctor."
"Yes, but Doctor who?"
"Very long story."
She sighed and gave up.
"Okay, um, hold on tight to the console," he instructed.
"Where are you going?" she asked, doing as she was told.
"Just a quick hop to the moon and back. You know, to run her in."
"The moon?"
"Yeah the moon. This is a spaceship after all."
She'd guessed this before but it was strange to hear aloud.
"…Her?" she laughed.
"Yes. Haven't got a problem with that have you?"
"No," she grinned, raising one hand in surrender. He probably expected the journey to be a bit bumpier, it was actually flying smoother than any plane Abigail had been on (which admittedly wasn't many)
"An actual spaceship," she thought out loud, admiring all the different buttons and gadgets.
"Yep. And a time machine."
"A time machine?"
"That's right."
"This is unbelievable…"
"I know."
"Wait – were we in a different year there?" she'd noticed some of the mobiles looked funny and the computers were . . . advanced. Were they from the future?
"Yes. Two thousand and . . . seven I believe. Two years in your future," he answered, checking a screen.
Oh my God, she thought, I've been in a different year. The ship gave a jolt, "There. Landed," he announced. "Would you like to have a look?"
Yesyesyes she thought. "We're seriously on the moon?" she questioned instead.
"Of course. Don't believe me?"
Abigail paused before answering. "Maybe."
"So that's a yes?"
She nodded and ran to the door, cheeks sore from smiling.
"Wait – but I won't be able to breath."
"Right – of course. Sorry. Um…wardrobe. I don't know where the wardrobe is."
"Convenient," she joked to hide my disappointment.
"But – I can extend the oxygen and gravity fields. You will get to stand on the moon, Abbey."
No one ever called her Abbey, but she liked it. He immediately turned back to the controls, pushed a few buttons and gesturing to the door said, "Abigail, meet the universe."
She pulled the doors open and gasped. This is unbelievable. Looking down at the Earth and all 6 billion people living there. It was beautiful up here. After a moment she turned back to him, "Thank you."
He simply smiled and started looking at his shoes. This probably happens every day for him. He must find it boring now.
Abigail put one foot wearily outside the door and slowly lowered it to the ground. She chuckled to herself and quickly stepped out of the space-and-time-machine completely. She could hear The Doctor approaching behind her but she was too busy to care. She started jumping up and down, unfortunately landing almost as soon as she was in the air since he'd extended the gravity field.
"This is amazing," she whispered. "I'm glad you think so," he said. "If you like this, you should come back inside, explore the rest of the galaxies."
"Seriously? You're letting me go to planets with you?"
"Yes seriously. And not just planets – time too. And spaceships of course."
Her cheeks still ached with the smile across her face but despite her efforts she couldn't stop.
"Come on then. The moon'll seem boring by Saturday." He walked back into the ship and Abigail followed at his heel.
"By the way," he said once he'd reached the console again and the doors and sealed themselves shut, "This ship is called the TARDIS – stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space - and she's been with me forever and is the greatest ship in the universe." He paused for what seemed like an age before finishing, "And when we are separated we always find our way back to each other in the end. Remember that. Always. And rule number two – don't wander off." He'd been serious until he'd said what rule number two was. He snickered at that bit. She knew there was probably some joke she wasn't getting but she didn't care.
"Okay, I won't wander off and I'll remember. So…are we going to get Amy now?"
"Yes we are," he said swinging his arms and legs as he pulled levers and pushed buttons.
What sort of limbs had he? I held on tightly to the console and heard him whisper, "Geronimo."
We landed back on Earth a lot quicker, it probably had something to do with his confidence in the squeaky clean TARDIS now. "Okay, you wait here. I'll get Amy."
"Doctor…?"
"Yes?"
"I'm really sorry but I forgot something." she kicked herself for being so selfish.
"What would that be?"
"Ms Robinson. She was mugged and I just abandoned her and now . . . can you just call the police at least and then drop me home eventually. At the same time I left?"
"Of course," he said handing her a phone from his inside jacket pocket. She was going to have to call. "And don't be so hard on yourself. Today wasn't exactly normal and it is very understandable that you forgot about your foster mother." That was true. Aliens, shapeshifters - multiforms as he'd called them - and stealing a fire truck. Yeah, it wasn't your typical day, she admitted to herself.
"Hang on - how did you know she was my foster mother?"
He grinned, "Spoilers."
Accepting that he wasn't going to tell her anything else she sighed and sat down on one of the yellow chairs. "And may I just add, you are very good at the concept of time travel already," he said.
"Thanks. I watch a lot of telly."