A/N: This was originally written for my Social Studies class. We had to write a children's book about Mesopotamia. I made it Doctor Who, so... yeah. This has young Amelia Pond in it, so it's not canon. You don't need to have watched Doctor Who to get it.
The Doctor and nine-year-old Amelia Pond were sitting in the TARDIS.
"So, Doctor," Amelia began hesitantly, "I have to write a report about Mesopotamia. Can you help me?"
"Of course!" the Doctor cried, leaping out of his seat. He immediately began pulling levers and flipping switches, intent on heading to the ancient civilization, 4,500 years in the relative past. "What do you need to know? Culture? I'm rubbish at culture," the Doctor said, pausing to scratch his head.
"What's culture?" Amelia asked.
"Culture is basically the differences between people. It's what makes me different than you, or Rory, or anyone else," the Doctor explained, resuming his frantic dance around the console.
"Oh, well then, no." Amelia said. "We have to explain the SWAGR of Mesopotamia."
"What's SWAGR?" It was the Doctor's turn to be confused.
"It means: steady source of food, writing, advancements in art or technology, government, and religion." Amelia explained.
"It's an acronym!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"No, it's what makes a group of people a civilization," Amelia said. The Doctor laughed as the TARDIS made a wheezing sound.
"We've landed!" The Doctor sprinted over to the doors, Amelia at his heels. They burst through the doors, which the Doctor then locked. "Ready?" he asked. She nodded, gripping his hand tightly. "Geronimo!" They dashed towards the ancient city.
"Well, here's the food part," the Doctor said as they passed row upon row of corn. "It's called agriculture, you know. Growing plants." When Amelia didn't immediately answer, the Doctor looked down at his young companion. She gazed around in awe. They continued on, passing a pen of lambs. "That's domestication. It's like pets. They use the lambs for food and trade."
"Awww!" Amelia squealed. "They're so cute!" She dashed over to the pen, pulling the Doctor along with her. A young boy of eight or nine ran into the Doctor. He released Amelia's hand, and crouched down to the boy's eye level.
"Hello," he said cheerfully, "I'm the Doctor!"
"Hello! My name is Jeek." Jeek clutched two clay tablets, and a small wooden stick.
"Can I see these for a moment, Jeek?" The boy dutifully handed the tablets over. "Amelia!" The Doctor called. She scurried over. "Amelia, this is Jeek. Jeek, Amelia. Amelia, look!" He gestured to the clay, which had various triangles pressed into it. "This is called cuneiform. Do you know what that is?"
"Writing?" Amelia guessed.
"Brilliant!" the Doctor grinned. "After this, writing becomes a constant. No society is without it. Thanks, Jeek!" The Doctor handed the clay tablets back to the boy, who scampered off. "What's next?"
"Advancements in art or technology," Amelia replied.
"Well, they've got loads of those!" the Doctor proclaimed. He pointed to each object as he listed them, "Bronze, arches, writing of course, and they also had what's called a 'vertical society'. That means they have a chief, which is a form of…?"
"Government!" Amelia chirped. They both grinned.
"Exactly! A lot of times the chief would be related to the gods, or at least claim to be." He gave her a conspiratorial wink. "They believe in lots of gods, which makes them polytheistic. Do you know what that means?" Amelia shook her head no. "'Poly' is Latin for 'many', and 'the' means 'gods'."
"So they had a lot of gods?" Amelia asked.
"Exactly!" The Doctor gave her a huge smile, "is that everything?"
"Yeah," she replied.
"Race ya back to the TARDIS!" The Doctor took off, not waiting for an answer.
"Doct-OOR!" Amelia complained, running after him.
"Come along, Pond!" was the only reply.
A/N: I rather enjoyed writing this. I know the TARDIS translation circuits would have translated the cuneiform, but she maybe the Doctor turned it off or something. :) I might write more historical adventures like this, with no real plot. If you want me to, leave a review saying so. Please review, I hope you liked it!