Author's Note: So I was on Tumblr and I saw a post that will be quoted at the end of the story. It was kind of a prompt, and it inspired me to create this fanfic.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, David Tennant the Brilliant Scot, Billie Piper the Lovely, or a TARDIS. Unfortunately.
It was summer break but I was home alone. I was standing on the balcony, my small fingers gently turning the pages of a book. I smoothed away dog ears and smiled at odd little stains or notes in the margins. And that's when I saw him, like I've always seen him on Doctor Who—long brown coat, pinstripes, Converse, glasses. Beside him was a pretty peroxide blonde, smiling cheekily and holding onto his hand.
The Doctor and Rose Tyler.
My heart stopped for just a second and spurred into overdrive. I pinched myself, and ascertained I was certainly not dreaming. I dropped my book, wrenching on my jacket as I practically flew out of the door. I stumbled down the stairs, arriving at the bottom just as the sound of the TARDIS began. I ran forward, faster than I ever had. And though I knew he couldn't hear me, I let out a yell. "Doctor!"
But the TARDIS was gone, leaving only the echo of its noise around the quiet apartment complex. I don't know how long I stood there, but when I looked up, the last few rays of sunlight had faded into cool twilight. My neighbours were watching me curiously; that odd girl that was either too quiet or too loud, who could ramble a mile a minute, who could change accent from American to English quicker than anyone other than a Whovian could say Raxacorricofallapatorious, who was quick to anger and quick to forgive.
I turned and trudged back upstairs, picking up the book from where it lay on the floor. I took a deep, shuddering breath. Some of the pages were creased and folded, but I didn't want to smooth them out. I ran my thumb across the edges and sighed. It would help me remember, long after I forgot the date or the time, that I had seen something truly fantastic. The Doctor and Rose Tyler, and their blue box. As I thumbed through the pages, something small and cool fell out into my hand. I stopped breathing. It glinted in the low light of my living room. It was a key. I turned to glance back out into the parking lot and listened intently. Nothing that could have possibly placed that key in my book. I hold onto the key tightly, my hand making such a tight fist that the teeth of the key cut into my palm and my knuckles went bone white.
And then I heard it.
The whooshing, grinding noise of the TARDIS engines faded into existence. I reached into my room and grabbed one thing—the backpack I always kept ready in case of emergency, filled with a couple of changes of clothes, my wallet, my keys, my MP3 player, and my cell phone. I practically ran downstairs, bouncing from foot to foot as I locked the apartment door. And there it was, dark blue and marvelous; something that had plagued my dreams since July, when I had first gotten into Doctor Who.
A head poked out of the door; my quickly-adjusting eyes saw messy brown hair, wide brown eyes, and a manic smile that had melted the hearts of millions of fan girls all over the world. I blinked a few times, and the madman in the blue box asked, "Still want to come along?"
"'Course I do, spaceman." I countered, grinning widely.
Original Tumblr Post Notes That Lead to This Story
#Can you imagine if one day you're just casually passing by your living room window when you see a familiar figure outside with a long coat and converse shoes #and your heart stops for a second as if deciding whether you finally died, but you're alive, and so you wait for the vision to slip back into your subconscience #but it doesn't.
#He begins to walk away and your book drops from your hand, falling open and wrinkling its pages while your legs bolt towards the front door #but by the time you fumble onto the steps all you can see is a faint outline of an old police telephone box and the distancing sound of waking dreams. #You can't help but yell out "DOCTOR!" but it's as noticeable as the last glimmer of the TARDIS bulb.
#Then you find that somehow the sun as gone down and that you've been standing on the sidewalk all afternoon, you also realize that neighbors are staring out their windows. #When you finally get inside you run into the living room and look out the window but it's all dark now. #You step back and your heal hits something, the book, it's still on the floor #Picking it up you look at it's creased pages, refusing to unfold them. #An unexpected bookmark for the day you saw The Doctor.
#Ah but as you pick up the page, you notice something between the pages of the book. # A small key, left behind by someone or something to let you know he is still out there. #You breath in and glance back at the window into the night, listening for anything that might have placed that key in your book. #Nothing comes to your ears. #You clench the key in your fist and turn around, ready to head to bed and wishing that your dream was actually reality.
#That would be when the noise sounded up. #The moment when all hope was gone, you hear the sound again. #The whooshing grinding noise that brings hope back to life. #You look over your shoulder into the gloom, # seeing a faint light pierce the dark. #A blue box. #One that is bigger on the inside.# A head pops out of it and looks at you as you stare at the window.
#"Still want to come along?"