Hello all! In in middle of writers block on some of my other stories and thought I would put out a little one shot about something I noticed while watching the Doctor Who episode "Christmas Invasion." Hope you all enjoy!
As always I do not own Doctor Who that belongs to BBC and in this case Russell T. Davies. I also do not own Romeo and Juliet, that was created by William Shakespeare.
"What was his name," asked the stoic man, known to Harriet Jones only as the Doctor. She watched as he moved the young attendant into the closet of the Parliament meeting room. She ran through, in her head, a list of names of people she had encountered that day in 10 Downing Street and couldn't come up with it. The realization hit her heavily.
"I don't know," she began, the quietness of her voice belaying the thoughts stirring in her mind. "I brought him tea, but I never thought to ask his name." The shame and guilt only became heavier as she watched the Doctor bend over and whisper apologies to the nameless corpse.
For years, as she told this story, many would stop and ask her why it mattered; it's not like she knew him very well. "But someone did," was her reply. "He was someone's son, a brother, an uncle, to someone in this world he was very important."
The quote she always associated with this memory was, oddly enough, from Romeo and Juliet. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." She had always wondered why Romeo and Juliet had not just rejected their family names so that they could be together. As she reviewed the events of 10 Downing Street in the weeks that followed she found herself asking a similar question. Why are names important? Then it hit her. Names are everything. They are our identities, explaining everything about us. Who we know, our reputations, and sometimes what we know. Names give us something to live up to. When we call a person by their names we recognize their humanity and give them respect. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
That one question posed to Harriet changed the way she looked at others. So, from that week on, you could always count on Harriet Jones saying two things: "What is your name?" and "Harriet Jones, Prime Minister."
Thank you all for reading! Please review!
Blessings- Hope'sFace