This is a story I've had bouncing around in my head for ages. Takes place before "Rose", but not right before. Has a bit of a sad-ish ending (just to warn you), but the rest is good.
I've been meaning to write this down for ages. I don't really have much time left to tell anyone this, so what the hell? I barely made it to 20, but I might as well tell you about the best part of my short little life. Trust me, you won't regret it. Trust me, by the time you read this, I'll be six feet under. I don't care if you feel sorry for me or not, but you ought to hear this, because this is the story of the time I ran with the Doctor.
My name is-or rather, was Anthea Bryant-Carter. You may or may not have heard of the great family Bryant, but either way, I'll give you some background information. The Bryants are one of the richest (though least recognized) families in the world. They're all very snobbish and "proper". And I'm their little black sheep. I was born in Three Rivers, California in 1985. I was raised all over the United States: California, New Mexico, Vermont, Florida, Arizona, Washington D.C., you name it, I've been there. In December 2004, I moved to England with the main branch of my extensively wealthy family: my mum, dad, Grandfather Arthur, Alyssa, Marie, Johanna, Casey, and Marie and Casey's son Michael. I didn't want to go with them, but mum protested and argued until I had no choice but to come along. I was unhappy, but I came anyway, though that didn't stop me from going out and rock climbing and hiking and such. But I got bored. I didn't have a boyfriend, any close friends outside the family, or any intention to have one. Not until I met him. Pure accident, I swear. Best accident in my long, long list of mistakes, though. I suppose you'd want to know more, am I right? Let's start from the beginning...
I was out in the gardens, walking around, minding my own business. Then, out of the blue (haha, blue), I heard this, this sound. I can't explain it, but it was this funny sort of electrical, whirring, more indescribable than anything noise. As I'm a naturally curious person, I went to check out whatever had caused that sound. It wasn't long before I found the Police Box. Like anyone else, well...like I would anyway, would react, I stepped up to the box and rapped on the door, nice and hard. Within seconds, the wooden door swung open with a creak.
"Who the hell are you?" rudely asked a tall, thin man in a beaten leather jacket.
I frowned at him. "Who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?"
"I asked you first," he pointed out.
"You're on my family's land, so my asking counts as the first." I countered, not missing a beat.
"What makes you think I'll answer to you?" He sounded disgusted, as if there was something wrong with me.
"I won't answer if you don't."
"What?" For a man who clearly thought he was clever, I had confused him easily.
"Simple concept, police boy. You don't answer my question, and I won't answer yours."
"Here's another simple concept for you, ah..."
"Toni. Toni Bryant-Carter,"
"Toni. Why would I ever bother enough to want to know who you a-. Oh, so she thinks she's clever, doesn't she?"
I gave a small smile. "No," he raised his eyebrows doubtfully, "She knows she's clever. I answered your question, now you answer mine."
He gave an annoyed sigh and looked inside the Police Box. An idea suddenly passed through my head.
"How did you even get a big blue wooden box into the middle of a private estate anyway?" Why I didn't think of that sooner, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever.
The man looked up at the sky, like some people do when they're trying to remember something important, or when...well, you get the point. After a moment of thinking (and me glaring annoyedly at him) he smiled and nodded, remembering whatever it was he'd forgotten.
"Toni. Is that a nickname?" He frowned curiously.
I nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. It's short for Anthea."
His eyebrows raised in surprise at the word 'Anthea'. I opened my mouth to ask why that was so strange, but the guy just said "Well, I'll be off then," and retreated back into the box.
A moment later, the Police Box door swung open and the man's head poked out. "I'm the Doctor, by the way. Nice meeting you, Toni." he said cheerfully with a goofy smile.
You see, this struck me as a bit queer, 'cause he didn't exactly look like the cheerful type to me. The Doctor was a tall, thin man with bright blue eyes. His brown hair was cropped short, and the sides of his face boasted a pair of extraordinarily noticeable ears. He was clad in black combat boots, black jeans, a green v-necked shirt (probably long-sleeved), and-as I mentioned earlier-a battered leather jacket.
Not wasting a moment, I pushed open the door and barged in after the Doctor. The inside of his Police Box was nothing like the plain wooden interiors I'd seen in my uncle's collection. The inside that I could see at the first glance was at least ten-no, not even-twenty times larger than it should've been. And that's not all. The walls were rounded, with these sort of studs covering them. Columns that reminded me a bit of coral stretched from the ceiling to the floor. Wires hung from the ceiling, the whole thing was brightly lit, and on a slightly elevated platform, there was some sort of console. It was round and covered with levers, knobs, and all sorts of buttons.
"Oh. My. God. This is...this is..."
Impossible?" The Doctor suggested, not even commenting on the fact that I'd followed him into his Police Box.
"Highly improbable. It can't be impossible; I'm looking at it. And how can a 1960's Police Box be so much bigger on the inside than the outside? How can such an old box be in such good condition? Wow, you have me babbling. I haven't heard myself babble in ages!" I drew a breath.
"I must seem so childish to you," I told the Doctor, looking around in awe, "I mean, just look at you: cool and confident in such a wonder. But...so sad at the same time."
"How can you know that?" He asked, his back turned on me.
"I dunno. I just know stuff like that. I might be psychic or something!" I joked.
The Doctor swiveled his head around and gave me a look that said he wasn't even mildly amused.
"You people from your time, you come up with the most ridiculous things. Humans won't even start being telepathic for another three thousand years, and even then, it only happens to the little American lab rats. Sure, they make mind reading machines, but nobody uses them after the 'suicides', which is really just a serial killer who happens to be an alien."
During that babble, which was longer than mine, I'd come to a pretty obvious conclusion. There was only one way he could've known all that stuff about the future.
"You're a time traveller, then?"
"Yes,"
"Are you from the future?"
"No,"
"Well, you're obviously not from this point in history, so what does that make you?" I thought for a moment until an idea hit me. I looked at the Doctor suspiciously.
"Are you an alien?"
He gave that goofy smile of his and nodded. "Yep; that f-"
"Fine by me," I blurted.
"Alright then. Toni Bryant, welcome to the TARDIS. That stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, by the way. It can go anywhere in time and space, and it's all mine. So, where do you wanna go first?"
I frowned, and the Doctor's face fell. "What? Is something wrong?"
I rubbed my forehead. "No, it's just...that's it? You pop up in my backyard, we have a nice little argument, you let me in your time machine, and you just offer for me to come with you? How do you know I'm not a psychopath or an impostor or an alien? Besides, isn't there some kind of rule that says we have to face danger or something before you whisk me away?"
His expression turned solemn as he turned away from me again. "And how do you know that history doesn't have something important planned for you?"
Before I could answer, he continued. "I never know why or how, Toni. But I always know who. But look, all of time and space. I think history could wait a bit longer."
I hesitated before asking, "This...thing in store for me, will I be remembered for it?"
He turned back to me and pulled a lever, causing the TARDIS to lurch and make the weird noises I'd heard before. Even in the semi darkness near the control panel, I could tell his blue eyes were shining.
"Oh yes. You're going to start one of the greatest revolutions the world has ever known."
