AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story was written as both an experiment and a challenge. I set myself a 15-minute time limit to write a short Doctor Who story based on a random word. That word was "box". This story is the result.
Fifteen minutes. One keyword. No planning, no preparation.
Enjoy!
"Isn't this place great?"
Weaving through a crowded street market, the Doctor's attention flitted from one vendor to the next as Amy and Rory struggled to keep up.
"It's... uhh... is it always this busy?" Rory asked.
"On, this is the off season," the Doctor replied. "You should see it during the third rising of Axofaris. They come out in droves. Well, not the Droves - the species. They don't celebrate-"
He was cut off with a sharp, heavy bump to the shoulder, as a figure from the crammed throng hastily made its way past. The Doctor spun on his heel. "I say there, a little manners wouldn't go astray."
The figure turned around: an elderly gentleman whose soft wrinkles and kind eyes seemed to betray the force and power behind his movement. "I'm terribly sorry," he said, head slightly bowed, "But I've got to deliver this box. They said he'd be here somewhere."
The Doctor looked. Held securely between two liver-spotted hands was a simple wooden box - an unassuming cube about the size of a basketball with a darkened finish, and a yellow latch that held a hinged lid closed.
"What's in there?" the Doctor asked. "Who's the 'they'?" Actually, better yet, who's the 'he'?"
"A foreigner. A vessel of blue. I really don't know, the instructions didn't say much."
"Vessel of blue, you say?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Come with me."
The man looked puzzled, but nevertheless followed Amy, Rory and the Doctor back through the crowded streets and into a side alley where the TARDIS stood. The Doctor knocked a curled finger against its door. "This sort of blue, you mean?"
His eyes boggled. "By the stars... you're him! It's you! It's... here, take this." The man held out the box to the Doctor. "This is for you."
"For me? But I wasn't expecting any deliveries - I mean, we only decided to come here for the-"
"It doesn't matter. Here, take it," the man urged. "It's yours."
"Well, what's inside?"
"I don't know. I was only given orders to deliver it." He pushed the box into the Doctor's hands. "It's yours now. I've got to go" And he disappeared around a corner, moving on haste-fuelled legs.
Amy and Rory looked at the Doctor. The Doctor looked at the box.
"That was odd," Rory said simply.
"Yes," the Doctor said.
"Any idea what that was all about?"
"No."
Amy gave the box a wary poke. "Got any clue what's in that thing?"
"No."
"But you're going to find out, right?"
The Doctor's face lit up. "You bet I am!"
And immediately, he pushed open the TARDIS doors and raced inside, skipping up the ramp and dumping the wooden box on the console. Rory and Amy barely kept speed as the Doctor, not wasting a second, opened the latch and lifted the lid. He peered inside.
"Huh."
Rory craned his neck. "'Huh'? What's 'huh'?"
The Doctor lifted out the contents. "Another box." Held between his hands, a second wooden box - identical in appearance, slightly smaller in size - bore a white piece of paper with a hand-written scrawl on its lid. The Doctor removed the note and read it aloud.
"'Immediate delivery: a great man of purple and green." He trailed off, then threw the box to Amy who only barely managed to catch it.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
The Doctor furiously pumped levers and pressed buttons at the TARDIS console. "Making a delivery! The box said so!"
A downward heave on the final lever sent the TARDIS into motion, rocking the three of them on unsteady legs as it made it way through the time and space. The violent motions came to a sudden thud as, destination reached, the Doctor grabbed the box from Amy and raced down to the TARDIS doors, flinging them open.
A grand, golden throne room surrounded them - directly ahead sat a morbidly obese figure dressed in a purple and green robe.
"Ratrafar the Enormous?" said the Doctor.
His face was one of total confusion. "Yes? How did you-"
"Here, this is for you." He casually threw the wooden box into Ratrafar's lap, where it settled among the folds of his plush attire. Brushing his hands, the Doctor turned to Rory and Amy, still peering out from the doors of the TARDIS.
"Delivery made," he said. "I wonder where his box will take him?"