Chapter One: Socks
She glued her eye to the glass on last time; gazing at the marvelous constellation overhead as the noise behind her kept rushing her to move. Every star seemed to gleam brighter than the next, and for some reason, the girl actually felt some agony for having to look away.
But nevertheless, she had to.
She dismantled her trusty device and packed it neatly in its case; throwing it over her shoulder as the last sign of a student left her view. Her dorm was now empty, her roommates were gone and left her to fled alone. She sighed, grabbed her suitcase off the bed and began to trudge lifelessly out the building. Her feet led her all the way outside, only stopping when the tips of her sneakers brushed against the numbing cold snow. The season was winter, and as far as everyone knew, Christmas was only around the corner. Everyone from miles away was getting ready for the holiday; decorating houses, cutting down Christmas trees, buying kids their presents… everything.
The world was getting ready for what's to come, and yet, all she could do was focus on what happens now. Her bus would be arriving soon, and before she knows it, she'll be on her way to her grandmother's house; to spend another blunt Christmas with her already-sick nana.
She tightened her grip on her black, winter coat and tried to snug her blue scarf closer to her neck without actually having to rip her hands away from her pockets. Her nose, as far as she could tell, was growing redder by the second; making her appear like a somewhat relative to the cherry nosed reindeer her grandmother always used to talk about.
She smiled cheekily at the memory, but immediately dragged down her lips when the flashing lights of a familiar bus came riding from the corner. She squinted her eyes the slightest bit and waited until the public bus stopped directly in front of her. The driver quickly opened the door and welcomed the girl with a familiar smile, only to have her return the favor.
"Getting ready for the holiday, Charlie?" The bus driver asked, her tone comfortable and kind. After giving the driver her bus pass, Charlie instinctually took the seat behind the driver's and shifted her eyes over to the mirror overhead. She settled her luggage on her seat and got comfortable, ready for the long haul.
"You could say that," She responded blandly.
The bus driver briefly looked up at her from the rear-view mirror, and smiled; trying to comfort her in the simplest way.
"Our house is always open for you, Charlie, you know that right?"
Charlie looked away from her window and beamed up at the driver—also known as a very close friend.
"I know, but I have to take care of my Nana; the nurse apparently quit, and now, she's got nobody else."
"Well, that's really nice of you, but still, you should have a good holiday."
Charlie smiled shyly at her, but looked away, gazing back onto the snow covered roads that were on the other side of her window. People, cars, and shops were all she could see; everything else was bombarded with snow and hidden from sight. She watched casually as people strolled through the streets of London, leaving sleet footprints behind as they continued to trudge forwards. Charlie absentmindedly decided to look up, like most of the time, she liked to gaze at the far off constellations that form the night sky. She tried to spot stars she knew, but of course, couldn't with the bus moving and all. She wondered if anyone ever really took the time to count all the bright sources of light. She wondered how long it would take, or how hard it would be. But most of all, she wondered if it was even possible. Probably not, considering you'd never be able to keep count. She was amazed at how they could still see them from down here. They're miles and miles away, and yet, they can spot them as clear as day. They must be enormous, she thought.
As her thoughts continued to run circles around the whole conspiracy, her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of something strange. As soon as she spotted it her head slowly lifted from her hand, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she saw—what seemed like a shooting star—falling down to Earth. But it wasn't like an ordinary star; it was blue, and rectangular; almost looking three-dimensional. It shot down from the sky like a meteor and continued to hurtle down until it disappeared somewhere far off. Charlie looked around the bus to see if anyone witnessed what she had, but could only find that everyone was vacant into their own little worlds.
She narrowed her brow lower and glanced back to her window; the flying blue box now absent from view. Without thinking, Charlie pulled on the cord over her head roughly to signal the driver to stop. When she did, she gave Charlie a confused look.
"Your stop is blocks from here, what are you doing?" She asked curiously.
Charlie quickly emerged from her seat and walked down two steps from the bus' stairs; turning around quickly when she heard her friend's voice behind her.
"I rather walk," She lied, "I could use the exercise."
"Exercise? You're a walking stick! If anything, you need a decent meal to put some meat on those arms! Now, don't be daft and sit back down, it's freezing out there."
Charlie smiled politely at the bus driver and dropped two dollar's in her tip box. "Thanks Nancy! See you in a week!"
Before the woman could protest any longer, Charlie was already out on the streets; freezing in her own aura as she tried to find where the box landed. She was so determined and curious about the mysterious blue box, she completely forgot about her luggage and telescope that she left on her seat. But, despite that, she continued to pace, thinking Nancy could always drop it off afterwards. She walked from corner to corner on every street, looking desperately for what she had found. Her legs were almost frozen from trudging through the snow, and if it wasn't already terrible; the darkness began to grow more and more heavy. Barely anything was visible anymore, and if that wasn't enough, Charlie's visibility problems led her to wear her glasses; the ones she hated most of her life. Nevertheless, she continued to search. Running up and down through the town, Charlie began to grow immensely tired; almost on the brink of giving up, when suddenly, there was a light and a sound.
The sound was strange, almost like something you'd hear from a science-fiction movie, yet, not quite. It sounded far away, but she could still make out its direction. The light was a big guide too. It navigated her through a couple blocks until she came to a local park, only to find a completely toppled over blue box laying helplessly on the green grass. She narrowed her eyes and gaped the slightest bit, taking hesitant steps forward as she eyed the mysterious figure up and down. Finally, her legs had brought her close enough to the box where they were merely arm's length. She wanted to look inside, but was still too busy observing it to even think about reaching for the handle.
She read the fine print on the front of the box. It said, "Police Box," in big white letters, and "Public Call," in a smaller print. There was also another plack, informing some other things, but frankly, Charlie didn't have time to read it when something startled her to the point of screaming. It was more of a yelp than anything else, but when she quieted down, she found what had scared her.
A simple, British, "Hello," that came from a damp man in a suit; climbing out of the box like it was nothing.
"I'm sorry, what?" She said a little confused and frustrated. The man full-fledged jumped out of the box entirely and landed on the grass in front of her, jogging slightly in place as he seemed to be shaking something off.
"I said, Hello, and mind you, I was expecting one in return." He calmly took off his jacket, began to twist it to rinse some of the water out, and put it back on before Charlie could even comprehend the situation.
"Hello?" She respond, more in the form of a question than an answer.
"That's more like it," He said gladly, fixing the collar of his coat. "Man is it cold, am I in Alaska?"
"No, London, and why are you all wet?"
"Oh, I was in the swimming pool," He said casually. Charlie scoffed in disbelief; eyeing the man like he had totally gone insane.
"But you came from that box," She corrected.
"Yeah? So?" Charlie watched as the man slipped off his worn out sneaker, leaving his foot bare, as he drained all the water from his shoe.
"You don't wear socks?" Charlie suddenly asked, not really thinking before asking.
"Look at you," He said a little cheery, "Box falls out of the sky, man climbs out of the box, and you're asking about socks!"
"Right, sorry, who are you?" She asked.
The man slipped his shoe back on, drained out the other one, and looked back at Charlie. "I'm the Doctor."
"Doctor who?" She asked again.
"Nothing, just the Doctor."
Suddenly, the man began to walk back to his blue box without another word. He started to climb on top of it, where the open doors were located, and sat on the edge while he admired the inside. "Wouldn't ya look at that! Looks so different from this perspective!"
"Wait, what do you mean you're just the Doctor? You have to have a real name! What human would give their baby a name like the Doctor?"
He slowly moved his gaze away from his rusty box and planted them on Charlie; his grin growing into a cheeky smile. "Who said I'm human?"
Officially, Charlie was confused. She walked closer over to the blue box, but stopped when she saw the man slowly climbing in. "What do you mean you're not human?"
The man, for the very last time, stuck his head out of the box and looked dead straight at the interrogative girl in front of him. "Listen, I really don't have time to chit-chat right now, so if you could, go to the corner and pick up some rope I dropped over there."
Charlie eyed the man suspiciously and refused to move, still wanting her answers as badly as before.
"Oh come on, I promise I'll explain afterwards, now go!"
Eventually, Charlie gave in and started to bound over to the street corner's direction. She ran through the slushy snow until the block's end was visible to her at last. She looked desperately for any sign of rope, but eventually could only find a red fire-hydrant firmly in place. But while she was still searching, a familiar noise from before started to echo behind her. She turned around instinctually and began to jog over to the park's course; calling out the Doctor's name while she was making her way there.
Finally, when she arrived to the spot she had originally been, every confusion started to collide with her again. She furrowed her eyebrows deeper and questioned every logic in her mind; trying to find any explanation for the scene in front of her.
The blue box and the raggedy man were gone.