Dodge Landon was following his dad's orders and taking the night shift at the primate reserve. He was happy that he got to skip the afternoon and sleep, but now it was midnight and he was bored. The office was small and didn't have much in it besides his Chips Ahoy Cookies, a TV, and a small fireplace; which was burning bright because Dodge was cold. The night shift was always worse in December because the cold wind seeped through the cracks of the run-down building and chilled Dodge to the bone. But the fire was warming the room and made it bearable, even comfortable.
Dodge flipped the TV channel from America's Next Top Model to Glee. These shows were his secret pleasure; he didn't even know why he liked them, but he figured it was probably just the boredom factor. The pointless drama and petty betrayals filled the time between 9 o'clock at night to 8 o'clock in the morning; it's better than staring at a wall.
The fire was staring to die as Blaine told Kurt that he was his 'inspiration'. Dodge fought back the urge to laugh as he got up to toss another log in the fire. The wood hit the hearth and the flames flared back up. He bent down to poke the fire and got a shock; there was a small girl, who looked to be about seven, staring back at him through the flames, "Who are you?" Dodge asked, surprised and intrigued by the thin, brunette girl with green eyes and a pale face who was staring back at him.
"I'm Liza. What are you doing in my fire?" Liza asked, her green eyes narrowing in a curious, but defensive way.
"I um… I'm not sure. I was actually wondering what YOU were doing in MY fire." Dodge got as close as he dared to the orange flames.
Liza just laughed, "How I can I be in YOUR fire if I'm still in my room?" The room behind her was small and had logs for walls. There was a tiny little bed in the corner with a thin blanket and a raggedy old teddy bear on it.
"Where is your room exactly?" Dodge had never seen houses like that before. He brushed a strand of his shaggy blond hair from his face and sat cross-legged on the floor.
"Boston, of course. Where else would it be?" Liza giggled, "Boston, Massachusetts. My family and I just arrived here a month ago; November 1650."
1650? How is that possible? Something weird was going on here, "Hold on a moment." Dodge said and he stood up. The mantle around the fireplace was different than it had been when he'd bent down to add another log; it was a stone hearth built into the wall with a simple wood mantle above the flames. Dodge ran his finger along the wood and felt an odd notch in it. He leaned closer and realized the notch separated one chunk of the mantle from the rest of it. He lifted up on the separated chunk and the mantle suddenly swung all the around and he was standing in Liza's room.
Liza was sitting cross-legged on the bed and looked to be fifteen now, "You're back!" She exclaimed and jumped up to hug him, "I've waited to finish our conversation for eight years." Liza was as tall as him and her stringy brown hair was now a spilling waterfall of brunette curls. She wore a classic brown dress and she had been sewing a rag dog and it now lay, half-finished, on her thin blanket.
"But I've only been gone a few seconds." Dodge was confused.
"No, silly, it's been eight years. Now, you asked me lots of questions, so it's my turn." Liza pulled him over to her bed and they sat down it. Dodge just went with it. Nothing made sense any more, but Liza was nice and Dodge liked her, "What's your name?"
"I'm Dodge."
Liza giggled, "That's a funny name."
"No it's— yeah, it is." Dodge had started to defend his name, but he, too, thought it was a funny name.
They both started to laugh and Liza tossed her hair over her shoulder. They talked and talked for hours about Liza's life and friends and Dodge's daily routine and job, "So, what do you like to do?"
Dodge thought for a moment, "Well, I like to watch TV, listen to music, and play guitar."
"What's a guitar?" Liza asked.
"It plays music. Here, I'll go get it and play something for you." Dodge sprung up off the bed and went over to the mantle. He pulled the chunk up and swung back into the office. The clock on the wall suggested that only a few minutes had passed since he'd first gone around the mantle, even though he'd spent two hours talking to Liza. He grabbed the acoustic guitar from beside the couch and went back around the mantle.
But this time, the room was empty, "Liza?" Dodge called out into the emptiness, "Liza where are you?"
Movement from the door to the room caught his eye; Liza was his age now and her brown curls were gone; the strands hung only to her chin and the elegant gown she wore accentuated the curves she now had, "My Dodge, I was starting to think you'd forgotten me. And you haven't aged a day."
Dodge shrugged, "It's complicated. You look lovely today."
"Thank you. My mother is having a gentleman caller over for me today, but I'm holding out for someone else." Liza's eyes danced with life and Dodge's stomach flipped.
"I brought my guitar. Can I play you something?" Dodge gestured to the bed that still had the thin blanket on it, but this time it was vacant of all dolls and stuffed animals. Liza sat down, her skirts spilling out in an array of white and gold. Dodge seated himself next to her and began to play the only song he knew off the top of his head, 'Life and Love' by the Ives. The song was quiet and soulful and he felt the lyrics were perfect for this moment. In the short amount of time he'd known Liza, he'd fallen in love with her, "Oh and I'm not afraid to sing of this hope I have, you're in love with me. Oh and I am waiting for that day we meet; though the wait seems long, you will hold me in your arms." He couldn't go any further. He was losing his breath. He set the guitar beside the bed and blushed a deep red, "I'm sorry. I just—"
"Don't be sorry." Liza whispered and she leaned in and kissed him; pushing him down onto the scraggly pillow. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tighter to him. Her soft lips tasted like honey and her short hair smelt fresh and light. Liza ran her fingers through his blond locks and Dodge shivered.
"I love you." Dodge whispered in her ear, and he meant it.
"Come and live here with me. We can get married and grow old together." Liza's green eyes searched Dodge's blue ones.
"Yes." Dodge jumped off the bed, "Stay right here. I'm going to go pack my things and then, when I come back, we can finish," he waved his hand awkwardly around the room, "this."
"Wait!" Liza grabbed his arm, "Every time you leave, years pass before you return."
"I know, I know." Dodge hugged her tight, "And I don't want it to be that way, but I can't control it. I wish I could come right back and no time has passed at all, but I can't. Just trust me. I WILL return, just please wait for me."
"I will." She let his fingers slid through hers as he went back around the mantle.
Dodge scrambled to find extra clothes, personal items, and a duffel bag. He shoved everything into his bag and pulled up on the chunk of wood on the mantle. When Dodge stepped back out into Liza's room, it was completely dark except for the single candle flickering beside the bed, and the firelight from behind his back. 40 year-old Liza was lying in the bed and when she turned to look at him, the green was extremely dimmed from her eyes, her face was paler than normal, and big purple circles were formed under her eyes. Dodge dropped his bag and knelt to her side, grabbing her ice cold, papery hand, "Liza, what's going on?"
Liza coughed feebly and said, "I'm dying, Dodge. The doctor says I'm not going to make it." She coughed again and Dodge felt a lump form in his throat.
He felt her forehead and listened to her cough. She had all the symptoms of a common cold; he could cure her! "Liza, I can make you better. I'll be right back, I promise." It was a long shot that he'd be able to get back in time with the medicine to save her, but he had to try. He kissed her gently and whispered, "I love you." Then he grabbed his bag and went back around the mantle.
Once he was back on his side of the fireplace, he ran to the medicine cabinet and looked for the cold medicine. When he'd found it, a strange noise filled the room and a wind from nowhere blew papers everywhere. Dodge turned around to see an odd blue box sitting right in the middle of the living room of the office and a tall man wearing converse trainers and glasses stepped out of the box, "Who are you?" Dodge asked, "No, wait, never mind. It's not important right now. I have to save the one I love." Dodge pushed past him, but the man grabbed his arm and wouldn't let him get back to the mantle.
"Don't go back." His accent was British and his chocolate brown eyes seemed to radiate the knowledge of the universe and all the compassion of a human, "I'm The Doctor, by the way. To answer your first question."
"Let go of me, you don't understand. She's dying and I can save her!" Dodge struggled against The Doctor's grip, but it was useless, he was too strong. The Doctor pushed Dodge down onto the couch and moved quickly to the mantle. He pulled out a small object that glowed blue when he waved it over the mantle, "What are you doing?" Dodge asked, standing up and crossing to the fireplace.
"I'm sealing the Time-Window." The Doctor said calmly and collectively.
"What? NO!" Dodge tried to knock The Doctor out of the way, but he was too late. The fireplace had already changed back to the modern day one that his father had installed years ago, "Do you even know what you've just done?"
"Yes. I do know. And you need to let her go," The Doctor placed a hand gently on Dodge's shoulder, "Trust me. I know the dangers of falling in love with girls in fireplaces." Then he got back into the box and it disappeared with a whirr and more wind.
Dodge sank to his knees in front of the fireplace; the orange flames licked higher and higher into the chimney and as Dodge looked into them, all he could see was Liza's face. He curled up on the cold wood floor and watched the flames dance. He stayed like that until day broke and Rodney came in to relieve him, "Dodge?" His younger brother asked, kneeling down to look at his brother, "Dodge, what's wrong?"
"She's dead. She's dead and I was going to marry her. Rodney, I loved her." Dodge looked at his brother and tears started rolling down his face, "I loved her so much."
Rodney decided not to question, but instead he just pulled his brother into a hug, "I know, Dodge, I know."