The first time I remember seeing him was when I was five. I've been very short all my life, and I was super short when I was in kindergarten. One day, I had to go to the bathroom during class. I raised my hand from my desk.
"Can I go to the bathroom?"
My teacher dismissed me, giving me a hall pass on my way out, and I hurried out of my classroom and walked quickly down the hall. My shoes tapped against the tile floor. I walked into the girl's bathroom. When I got out of the stall, I regarded the sink with impasse. The white porcelain stood at shoulder-level, too high for my short arms to reach it. I felt tears come to my face. I wanted to wash my hands, but I couldn't. It was impossible for me. Feeling resigned, I walked out of the bathroom and turned back towards the hallway, headed toward my classroom. Real tears came to my eyes. I was scared of going back into class, of my teacher asking me if I'd washed my hands. I'd have to say no, and then he would ask me why and I'd cry in front of everyone for sure. I made my feet move as slow as possible, to prolong the inevitable interaction.
Then, I heard the noise, and I stopped moving. It came from behind me, but I didn't want to turn around and look. It was a strange, wheezing, clunking noise. Once it stopped, I turned around to find a big blue box, just standing there. I was scared. I knew for a fact that it hadn't been there two seconds ago. The door opened and a tall man stepped out. He had really short hair, almost bald, and really big ears that stuck out from his head. He looked up at the ceiling, then around the hallway. Seeing me, his confused face lightened.
"Hello there!" he said. He spoke with a weird accent, not like anything I'd heard before. He walked out of the box, and started coming closer to me. I backed slowly away, remembering my parents' rules. Stranger danger. This man, who just showed up in the middle of my school's hallway, was coming towards me. He was certainly a stranger. He noticed I was backing away, and stopped coming forward. "Hold on, I'm not scary! My name's the Doctor. I'm here to help."
I didn't say anything. I was too scared to do anything, and my feet wouldn't move anymore. I looked down at them. They looked normal, but they still wouldn't move. I held out my hands. They didn't look dirty, but I knew they probably were, so that meant they were.
"What's wrong?" I looked up. The man, the "Doctor," had knelt down so he was eye level with me. He looked genuinely concerned, but I still didn't want to tell him anything. "Are you still scared of me?" I nodded. "Well then, I'll have to change that, won't I? Rose!" He called back to his box. A girl walked out of the box. She had blond hair tied back in a ponytail. When she saw me, she immediately looked at the Doctor.
"But Doctor, isn't that—" She whispered to him, but I could still hear it in the quiet hallway.
"Shh," He told her, nodding in my direction. The girl changed her tone immediately.
Hi," she said. She sounded nice. "My name's Rose. What's yours?"
"S-s-sam," I said.
"Hi Sam. Is there something wrong? Were you crying?" I brushed at my cheeks. I was, in fact, still crying, so I nodded. "What were you crying about? What happened?"
"I couldn't wash my hands," I said quietly. "I couldn't reach the sink."
I expected her to look at me strangely, stifle a grin, then propose a logical solution that didn't involve her. But instead, she walked over to me. I didn't move away, and she took my hand.
"Where's the bathroom, Sam?" I pointed down the hallway, past the big blue box. "Well, let's go there, shall we?" I nodded again. "We'll be right back, Doctor." She walked me to the bathroom, holding me up so I could wash my hands. When I'd finished, she pulled down some paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to me. "All better?" She smiled kindly down at me. I nodded and smiled. She took my hand again and led me back into the hallway. The Doctor was leaning against his box, chatting with another man who I hadn't seen before. Had he come from the box, too? How could three people fit in a box so small?
The Doctor smiled at me. "Are you better now, Sam?" I nodded.
"Thanks," I said.
"Our pleasure," he replied. "Now that you're all settled, I think we should be moving on, don't you two?" They nodded.
"Wait," I said, "Won't you tell me who you are? And how did you get that box there?"
"Oh, right, of course! This is my friend Jack."
The man, Jack, waved at me. "Hi there." The Doctor mockingly pushed him.
"Don't even start, Jack, she's…how old are you?" I held up my right hand, all my fingers outstretched.
"You're five! My, how time flies. Jack, she's only five."
"I'm just saying hi, Doctor! Just saying hi." He winked at me. I grinned, sheepishly.
"And what's your name?" I pointed at the Doctor.
"I already told you who I am, Sam! I'm the Doctor."
"But Doctor What? All the doctors have a name. What's your name?"
He grinned. "Just 'the Doctor.' I like your logic, though. Don't lose that." And with that, he walked back into his blue box, the other two following him. The door shut, and the noise started again. I don't know what I expected, but the box just kept fading in and out. It kept going, until it finally settled on in, and the door opened again. The Doctor popped out and walked towards me. He got down on his knees and hugged me. I didn't know what to do, so I hugged him back.
"I love you, Samantha," he whispered in my ear. Then he was off again, the box disappearing for good this time.
I didn't tell anyone in class what had happened. My teacher accepted the hall pass without comment, and I went back to my seat as quietly as I had left, contemplating the events of the past few minutes. There was something about that blue box that seemed homey…