I thought it was a shooting star, really. Lots of us did. I guess we were wrong in the end, though. Usually shooting stars can't hurt us, they just pass right by, as we learned in school. But, of course, things aren't always as they seem.
It didn't take long for us to realize what was going on. A public service announcement not long ago showed us all the ways to recognize an incoming nuclear attack. There was panic in the streets of London. Yes, I get the reference, stop laughing. People ran up and down, screaming their eyes out. Some people found the adrenaline to scale walls even. Through the usage of pipes, of course. Nowadays the outsides of buildings were laced with pipes, thanks to the advancements of modern plumbing since your time.
I considered running. I honestly didn't see the point, because either I die from nuclear annihilation or I escape to a shelter and return to a radiation-soaked wasteland, a life not worth living. I've had that kind of attitude for a while now, a practical "big picture" sort of view on things. So I stayed in place. People bumped me. People slid past me. I didn't bother minding it.
But he stood there too. His blue eyes scowling in my direction. Blond hair that looked like it was wet—probably gelled down. Wearing a leather black jacket, a rather nice white T-shirt and leather black pants to match (must have been a fire in there). He also wore nice vintage 2008 Converse shoes. My father loves Converse. But as I mentioned before, it wasn't his appearance that got me most. It was his eyes. His dark, brown eyes, so much like my own. Piercing my own eyes. Piercing my soul.
His lips moved ever so slightly. From my ten or fifteen feet away and over all this panic I couldn't possibly hear him. But I heard it. And it echoed in my brain for several seconds more.
"Jaclyn Doe…what will you do now?"
"I don't know." Why the hell would I reply?
"Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know."
"Where's the warmest place to go?"
And just like that he was gone. Damn, I probably should have called my parents and let them know what was happening. They should have gotten to a shelter. I reached for my cell phone, but it wasn't there. As usual, I forgot to unplug it. There must be a phone booth somewhere…hmm. That's weird. I'd never seen that one before. I make a beeline towards it, and reach for its handle. But suddenly I get second thoughts. What if it's not safe? Why wouldn't it be safe?
"Don't worry." I heard the voice behind me. And as I turned, there he was, but a few feet behind me. "It won't bite."
And I touched it. And then I was somewhere else.
The inside was huge. Freaking huge. Easily forty feet in diameter. A huge column-shaped computer in the middle. Gold-plated walls. And yet I felt like I'm at home. Like I belong. Although I didn't know what the hell was going on here. Someone care to fill me in?
"I'd be happy to oblige." And there he is again. Eyes piercing me again. "You're in the TARDIS. You're in your birthright."
It gets stranger.