The Man on the Mountain
"Alright men, only a short walk from here!" Lilly called back to the rest of her team as she trudged through the snow with the aid of her ski poles. The wind whipped past her, threatening to blow off her fluffy, reindeer hide hood and reveal her ears to the biting cold. She had made it this far without losing an appendage to frost bite, she wasn't going to start now. "What on Earth?" Upon reaching the summit, far before her colleagues, the climber spotted a... Well, quite frankly it was a blue telephone box but what it was doing on top of a mountain she could never guess. Just at that moment a man exited it, dressed far to casually for winter on a mountain peak. He seemed an excitable man, who danced around his box, exclaiming positively.
"Where are we? This is lovely, I must be on holiday! What do you reckon sexy, could we stay awhile?" he laughed. Affronted, Lilly started to respond until she realised the man wasn't addressing her at all but the telephone box he patted affectionately. "Let's see. What year is it?" He glanced at his watch of all things, "Ah, 1949. My favourite!" He clapped his hands together and turned then, suddenly realising he had company. Not long after his monologue began the rest Lilly's team crested the summit and looked on with extreme curiosity, and it must be noted: incredulity. "Hello, there. Call me the Doctor. I'm the Doctor." He strode towards Lilly hand outstretched. "What are you?" It wasn't offensive, only curious and excited.
"Oh," She let go of her wooded ski pole, thankful for the wrist strap, and took his bare hand in her gloved one. "Well, I'm Lilly Johnson, an explorer. A mountaineer this week."
"Oh, an explorer. What a pleasure, Lilly Johnson." He cried in glee "I'm an explorer."
"I thought you were a doctor." Responded one of Lilly's companions, pushing back his hood and adjusting his tinted goggles to the sharp glare reflecting off the snow and ice.
"huh? Oh, yes. Well, I'm lots of things. See?" he flashed a small piece of paper that listed astounding qualifications.
"Oh, heavens!" gasped Lilly. "A knighthood?"
"Does it say that?" the Doctor looked as his own credentials excitedly. "Ah, there it is! Haven't been a knight in a while." He was absolutely gleaming.
"Sir, I must say." Lilly stated. "For an explorer, you are not properly dressed. Are you not utterly freezing?"
"Not at all! It's the ah... It's the bowtie." He straightened his little, red tie. "Bowties are cool. Warm! Bowties are warm. Very recent technology"
The team was still completely confuse but by this time, tired and hungry as well. They had begun rummaging through their packs, drinking small mouthfuls of water and eating dried meats for energy. There was still the trek down. All except Lilly had resigned the man, or themselves, to madness. "Excuse me, Doctor?" she called after him as he began to survey the mountain with a small, whirring device. She shuffled over behind him. "How did you get up here? And how on Earth did you get that great box up here with you?"
"Actually," he said, still focussed on his device "She brought me. Fantastic, isn't it?" What a character she thought. "Now, Miss Lilly Johnson, would you like to go somewhere?" He turned to her then, a mischievous grin on his face.
"Of course," she said, smiling as well. It was infectious. "I'm an explorer."
"Yes! I'll take you to another mountain, a better one. Bigger than this." He announced as he made his way to the doors of his blue box and opened the door with a snap of his fingers. Magic Lilly thought.
Wait a second. A bigger... "But this is Mount Everest. It's the tallest mountain on Earth."
"Ha ha!" he laughed, sticking his head out of the box and pointing at her wordlessly, as if she was on to something. He disappeared again but left the door open. An invitation.
~End