"Amelia! Please come downstairs, the Williams are here!" Seven year old Amelia Pond quickly hid her crayons and her notebook underneath her bed. Aunt Sharon had been cross the last night she found Amelia's drawing of the Raggedy Man. She dashed down the stairs to see her new neighbors, the Williams, in the foyer.

"Amelia, this is Mr. and Mrs. Williams, and Rory." said her Aunt Sharon. Amelia thought Mr. and Mrs. Williams looked dusty and old and a little uptight. The boy, Rory, peeked out from behind his mother's leg and refused to say hello.

"Why don't you two go play on the swings." suggested Aunt Sharon. Amelia personally thought this was a terrible idea, (why would she want to play with such a baby?) but the adults thought this was a great idea and shooed the two out to the rusty swing set Aunt Sharon had put in a few months back, in hopes of making Amelia a little happier. It didn't work.

"I'm Rory." said the boy once they were outside, "Do you wanna be friends?"

"I don't need friends. I only need the Doctor and he's coming back for me, you'll see." Amelia replied, taking the swing that swung the highest.

"Okay. Who's the Doctor?" asked Rory, happily pulling himself up onto the swing next to her.

"He's my only friend in the whole wide world. He landed on Aunt Sharon's garden shed and he helped me fix the crack in my wall, and he can travel through space and when he comes back for me we'll travel all over the universe, you'll see, Rory Williams."

"Okay. Can I come with you?" asked Rory, swinging slowly on the swing, absorbed in Amelia's story.

"No, stupid. It's only me and the Doctor." She replied haughtily.

"Oh." said Rory, and the pair swung in silence for a moment before Rory spoke up again. "Where's your parents?"

"Dead." said Amelia, her tone flat. She was tired of telling everyone and their mother the story of how her parents died, so whenever someone asked that was what she simply replied with.

"Oh. Sorry. I would miss my mummy and daddy if they died. Except they smell funny. And they make me eat Brussels spouts. I hate Brussels sprouts. Do you?"

"Yes, stupid. Everyone hates Brussels sprouts."

"Oh." said Rory.

"But they're really alien brains, you know." said Amelia matter-of-factly.

"Ew! Gross!" cried Rory.

"Mmhhmm." said Amelia casually. She hopped off her swing. "C'mon, I'm tired of swinging. I'll show you where the Doctor landed. Then we'll play Raggedy Doctor. You get to be the Doctor."

"Cool!" cried Rory, following her to the crushed garden shed.

"Landed right there." said Amelia, "Right on top of it."

"Like in the Wizard of Oz" said Rory excitedly, "There's a house and it lands right on top of the witch, and..."

The adults watched the children playing through the kitchen window.

"Amelia's just a dear. Too bad about her parents though." said Mr. Williams conversationally, adding more sugar to his tea. Aunt Sharon nodded dismissively.

"This Raggedy Doctor though, he can't possibly be real." said Rory's mum, not noticing that Amelia was standing in the doorway, Rory close behind her.

"The Doctor is real." said Amelia through gritted teeth, "He is."

"Oh, but sweetheart, I don't thin-OW!" Mrs. Williams jerked her arm away from Amelia, examining her growing red mark.

"Oh, my, Cornelia, whatever happened?!" cried Aunt Sharon, rushing to the fridge for some ice.

"THIS LITTLE BI-YOUR NEICE BIT ME!" shrieked Mrs. Williams. Amelia stood by the refrigerator, with a smug smile on her face. Rory remained by the doorway, mouth wide open, not sure who's side he should be on. Mr. Williams clutched his wife, white in the face.

"AMELIA JESSICA POND! APOLOGIZE RIGHT. THIS. INSTANCE." commanded Aunt Sharon, wrapping a small bag of ice in a paper towel and thrusting it towards Mrs. Williams, who was seething with anger.

"It's no matter, Sharon." replied Mrs. Williams, with a forced smile, " As soon as little Amelia apologizes, we will be off."

"Amelia, apologize." said Aunt Sharon, rubbing her eyes.

"No." said Amelia casually, "The Doctor is real. You'll see."

"Very well. Rory, sweetheart, say goodbye. We are leaving." But before Rory could utter a word, his mother swooped him up, and after hissing "Get her a psychologist." to Aunt Sharon, she slammed the door and left.