Dreams are a funny thing. Some can be nice and some not so much. Some can boring and mundane while others are weird and wacky. Then there the dreams that feel very real as if they were a premonition or a memory. These are the dreams that I have had for as long as I can remember and they've always been about one man. But he's no ordinary man….in fact he's not even human. And his name is the Doctor.
Josie opened up her journal and softly smiled at the small portraits of the Doctor on the first page. Every time she dreamt of a different Doctor, she added his face to the front page. She turned the page over.
Now to start with he was just a daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away.
Josie gently touched a sketch of the TARDIS in its police box form. She loved that box.
And what a box it was! It was big and little at the same time….brand new and ancient...and the bluest blue ever….
And the adventures! Oh the adventures. They all varied in different ways with one constant. Running. There was always lots of running.
Josie sighed, sitting back. She'd always wished that she could be involved in the adventures instead of dreaming about them. She always wished...hoped...even prayed that the Doctor would show up and whisk her away in his box. But so far, nothing. Not a peep. Josie wasn't going to give up though, she couldn't.
She remembered a time when she very nearly gave up hope. It had been when she was about 10 years old...
~flashback~
Josie sat under the tree, hugging her knees to her chest, tears running down her face. She'd tried to tell her dad about her latest dream to do with the Doctor but instead of being interested, her dad snapped at her.
This has gone on long enough Josie! It's time for you to grow up! The Doctor isn't real. He's never been real! You need to give up hope in seeing a man you made up!
Her father had then taken her journal and tossed it in nearest bin. After he done that, he tried to take his daughter home but Josie had run off. That's how she ended up sitting under the tree in tears.
"Maybe he's right. Maybe I do need to give up hope", Josie sniffled.
"You never want to do that", a Scottish voice said. Josie glanced up to see an older man with light blue eyes and rather bushy eyebrows standing there. He gave her a kind smile.
"Why not?" Josie asked as the man came to sit down next to her. Her dad had always said not to talk to strangers bit right now she didn't really care about following his advice.
"Hope is like a light in the dark. It can keep you going through the worst of times", the man explained "so you want to cling onto hope as tightly as you can".
"Easier said then done", Josie sniffled.
"In most cases it is. But in yours…" the man reached into his pocket and brought out her journal.
"My journal! How…?" Josie asked taking it from him, hugging it against her chest.
"Let's just say I have my ways", the man said rather mysteriously "listen, you're going to have many people tell you that you should give up on the Doctor. But don't. Never give up on him, little dreamer because one day he'll come to call...and it's going to be fantastic".
"How do you know he will?" Josie asked.
The man smiled at her knowingly "Spoilers", he replied. He stood up "be seeing you, little dreamer". He touched the top of her head before turning and walking away.
Josie watched him go and a smile appeared on her face. If that man wanted her to hold onto hope then she was going to hold onto it tight with hands.
~end flashback~
Over the next 10 years, Josie continued to log her dreams in her journals. She also kept a tight hold on hope, patiently waiting the day when the Doctor finally comes to call...
