The stars filled the dark sky; beautiful balls of light pulsing, begging to be noticed. They called out me every night as I lay down to sleep. I watched them through the skylight window above my bed. It was a ritual...watch the stars to fall asleep. I would imagine myself flying among them, up close and personal. I would name them all, every single one. Why not? The beautiful jewels deserved individuality.
I suddenly noticed a trail of white light and my breath caught in my throat. Shooting stars were my favorite of them all. Soaring among the black as if chasing something. But no, this star was different. It wasn't soaring, it was falling. Its white tail turned orange as it entered the atmosphere.
Sitting up, my eyes followed as it plummeted to Earth. The moment it hit, a pulse shot through my room. I closed my eyes as an energy filled me and lifted me up. But in a second, it was gone and I was on my feet. I had to know, what happened to my star?
After throwing on my blue hoodie and matching Converse, I raced out the door into my front yard. The sky was burning with yellows, oranges, and reds where my star had landed. My feet pulled me into a run towards it. Everything was a blur as I raced past, heart pounding in my chest.
It had landed in Riverbend Field. Smoke was billowing out of an indent in the dirt, instinctively I knew my star was there. I walked to its edge, peering in to see my jewel. A blue box on its side filled my vision instead. Black corroded its edges and burned part of the white plaque that read Police Box. I blinked multiple times, thinking I had dreamed this all up. How could a box have fallen out of the sky? I thought as I slid down the side of the Earth's indent, closer to the mysterious object. I reached out a hand and placed it on the corner. A noise filled my head, sounding almost alien. Is she trying to talk to me? I leaned in closer hoping to understand. How did I know it was female? I have no idea. It just felt...right.
Feeling pulled by some force, I climbed up on top. A handle and a key hole appeared. I grabbed the handle and pulled towards myself. The door swung open and I peered inside, curiosity pulsing through me. What looked like a consul looked back at me. I scooted down to the edge of the door and hopped in. I squeezed my eyes shut as I fell until my feet hit hard ground. Opening them again, I saw the world inside this mysterious box had righted itself. Shaking my head in disbelief, I called out. "Hello? Anyone here?" My voice echoed back, the hollow room getting gloomier by the second. My eyes found a pulsing light in the middle of the consul. It was gorgeous! But, something was wrong with it. The noise I had heard earlier in my head magnified. "What's wrong old girl? Did something happen?" I asked, slowly running my hand down the glass protecting the light.
A crash made me jump and turn to face the opposite direction. A hallway entered my sights. I walked down it and looked both ways. To the left, I noticed a door cracked open with red light streaming out onto the floor. Palms sweating and heart racing, I slowly made my way to it. Pulling it open farther, I called out. "Who's there? Are you alright?" My voice trembled in fear. "Mmmmmghgh," a grumble came from the corner of the room, behind a black table. I ran over to it, recognizing the human noise. A man was laying on the ground beside it. His brown hair splayed across his forehead and his skin was pale white. A tweed jacket covered his top, along with a white dress shirt and a red bow tie. The pants matched his jacket, making him seem old fashioned. "Hey, ar..are you okay?" I asked, reaching out to touch his face.
His responding gasp made me jump and shriek. He sat up and shook his head. "Ah...what happened? Who are you? How is she?" he asked, not waiting for a response. He jumped up, grabbed my hand, and pulled me with him into the consul room. I ripped my hand away, terrified of this stranger and what he was trying to do. "No, no, it's alright. I'm the Doctor. And this, is my Tardis." he said, arms out to his sides. "What is a...Tardis?" I asked, still unsure of his true nature. He smiled and ran up to the glass cylinder that had been calling out to me. "This. Everything you see right now! Time And Relative Dimensions In Space...Tardis! " He spun in an energetic circle, looking like a proud father. "But something is wrong with her. And whatever it is, where we've landed has something that can fix her." He stared puzzled at the front door.
"So you landed in Michigan? What could we have that could help you fix a...a...spaceship?" I asked, moving closer to the door, ready to bolt. "Michigan! Brilliant! What year? Oh, let me guess. 1945? No, you're not dressed for that time. 2000? No...I know!" He finished spewing words and ran over to me, placing both hands on my shoulders. "2013...right? I'm right, I always am!" I just nodded as he pulled me in for a hug and kissed the top of my head. "Let's go!" He pulled me after him out the door. We climbed out and jumped off into the indent. "Wow, that was a rough landing." he said, running his hands along the burned edges of the Tardis. I pulled myself up out of the indent and slowly backed away from the scene.
Who was this man? This..Doctor? And why did he land here of all places? "Oh silly me, I forgot to ask what your name is!" The Doctor suddenly had appeared at my side. "Sk..Skylar. But I usually go by Sky." I stumbled over my words, nervous of his proximity. "Sky! What A beauuuutiful name! I love the sky, especially at night. I mean, I do travel in it all the time! We'll get along just fine." he said, linking arms with me. Suddenly, I was walking arm in arm with my star that had fallen from the sky a few minutes ago.
As we talked, the Doctor babbled on and on about planets and all the people he had met. I stared at the man next to me. He couldn't be alien, he looked so...so, normal. "Doctor? What are you? Are you human, like me?" I asked suddenly unable to ignore the fact any longer. He stopped and grabbed one of my hands and placed it over the left side of his chest. "What do you feel?" he asked, his face growing serious. "Your heartbeat?" I rolled my eyes in the obvious reply. The Doctor moved my hand to the right side of his chest. "And now?" I paused, thinking my senses were deceiving me. I felt a...a heartbeat. That wasn't possible! "You have, two hearts!?" I jumped back pulling my hand away. He nodded, cautiously moving towards me as he spoke. "I'm from a planet called Gallifrey. It was destroyed a long time ago and I've been traveling around time and space ever since. But...enough serious stuff. I hate serious stuff! Let's go find what the Tardis needs!" And with that, he spun on his heels and cantered towards my town.
I shook my head and fought to catch up with him. "Doctor! Doctor, wait! What are we looking for?" I panted finally reaching his side. I looked up at him and he was frozen, eyes looking at something. I turned and followed his direction to see a metal cylinder shaped robot thing. "D-oo-ct-oor" it said, its metallic voice giving me chills. "Dalek..." the Doctor mumbled. "What? What is it?" I asked only to be shushed by him. "What do you want?" The Doctor slowly pushed me to standing behind him. "Yoo-uu, D-oo-ct-oor" the robot replied, the the gun on it's face lighting up as if charging. "EX-TER-MINATE!" It screamed and shot towards the Doctor.
Things were in slow motion after that shot, I literally watched the lazer coming towards us and stopped to think. This man, I barely knew him but for some reason a voice whispered, Don't let him die...He cannot die now! Squeezing my eyes shut I screamed and jumped in front of him. "NO!" I yelled at the Dalek, taking the hit full force. Arms caught me from behind and cradle me up off the ground. "SKY! No, why would you...you humans...I could have..." I shushed him by opening my eyes. "Shut it Doctor. Go help the Tardis, I'll be fine." To prove my point, I pushed away from him and he hesitantly helped me to my feet. "How are you...you should be..."I quieted him with a finger to his lips. "You never asked about me, you only told me about yourself. I'll explain later..." I said, finding out about my hidden talent the same time he did. But, I had to play it cool. If I lost it now, he would never help the Tardis and she'd die. That could not happen...that much I knew.
"Righty then. Let's, uh, let's go?" I confirmed his statement by grabbing his hand and pulling him towards my house. With his skin touching mine, I could barely concentrate. I kept reminding myself that this "man" was not human and therefore didn't care about humans. About some plain girl from a random planet..."Sky!" The Doctor called interrupting my thoughts. "Yes! Yes, right. Something to save the Tardis! Do you have any ideas on where to start?" I asked, sounding completely flustered. The Doctor looked around in my yard, mumbling something in a language that was not English. He pulled a device out of his pocket and started pointing it at random things. "Sonic Screwdriver," he said, answering my unspoken question.
Suddenly, the screwdriver started making a high pitch sound. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh yes!" He jumped up excitedly and walked in the direction the screwdriver was directing him to go. He got so close to me our noses were almost touching. His smile, so radiant and innocent, then turned to a frown. "What? This can't be right? You are a Skylar, not an object to help..." He suddenly stopped and looked me directly in the eyes. "Doctor, what is it?" I asked, hands shaking at his distance from me. "Sorry," was all I heard from him before he leaned forward and touched his lips to mine. A jolt of energy shot through me, shooting white lights behind my now closed eyes. He..he's kissing me! And it feels so good, so right. His lips are so warm and moving against mine. Wait, what? What is happening? No! No stop! The once beautiful, intense kiss grew painful and confusing.
I was seeing the Doctor's memories. Or at least, that's what I was getting from the whole make-out session. I watched his planet fight in battle, watched it burn and disintegrate as he flew away, felt the pain and sorrow filling him, felt the joy he had with us humans, the thankfulness for us making him forget, taking place of his home as a second family...
Suddenly, the Doctor pulled away from me. He wiped at the tears streaming down his face and I reached up to mine. I was gasping, sobbing at everything I had just seen and felt. "Doct..er" I croaked out falling to my knees. He fell to his and pulled me close. "Oh Sky. Thank you, Sky." He sobbed as I grasped his coat sleeves. "What just happened...why?" It was all I could ask. My thoughts were racing as I tried to get a grip.
After what felt like hours, the Doctor pulled away from me and stood. "She needed me to remember...to embrace," he finally said, voice scratchy from his tears. I stood and grabbed his hand. "Who?" I asked. He smiled and looked down at me by his side. "The Tardis. She felt me slipping deeper into madness, further than I've ever gone. Sky, in my other forms I've gotten horrible. To the point of using weapons, WEAPONS. The Doctor never touches weapons, ever. I've lost soo much...both long ago and very recently. And I was just done. But she felt that, and brought me here to save me." He stopped and bent down to look me directly in the eyes. "You saved me, you made me remember." I was confused. This man revived all his memories and feelings from me? I hadn't even met him before. "How.."
"SKYLAR OSWALD! Get in this house right now!" My mom interrupted, calling out from the upstairs window. I rolled my eyes and looked to the Doctor to see him frozen stiff. "Doctor? Are you alright" I asked, moving my hand up to cup his cheek. "Wh..Who was that?" He pulled away and looked up towards the window. "Oh, just my mum. She gets paranoid at night, all this nonsense about people taking me away and what not." The Doctor still hadn't moved a muscle. "Oswald...Oswin..." he mumbled, eyes growing distant. "Yeah. My last name. And?" I was growing worried. "We can go talk to her if you want." "No!" He shouted jumping further away from me. "I can't...I can't talk to her. It would mess everything up...Oh Clara." Now it was my turn to freeze. How in hell did the Doctor know my mum's name? "I have to leave. Now..." He ran to me and pulled my face to his. "Stay good, Sky. Thank you." He pressed his lips to mine and I experienced the most passionate kiss in my lifetime.
Turning away, he ran back in the direction of the Tardis. "Doctor, please!" I yelled back, feeling the tears start to run down my face. My fingers instinctively moved up to my lips, savoring his goodbye. "Sky! Skylar! Who were you..." My mum was leaning out the front door. But, she wan't looking at me. She was looking over my shoulder, her eyes wide in shock. "Doctor! Doctor!" She screamed pushing past me. I grabbed her hand and we both went running towards his direction.
We reached the field to find the indent gone and the Tardis upright on the grass. The Doctor was just unlocking the door. He turned, hearing us behind him. A single tear rolled down as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Clara. I cannot..." He shook his head and threw open the door to the Tardis. "Doctor, wait." My mum stepped forward, keeping a wary distance. "Thank you." He stared at her in confusion. "For what?" he responded carefully. "For hope and for keeping Sky safe. Love you.." Sky felt her heart race. What had happened between her mum and the Doctor? "Love you too, Clara. Always." He then turned and stepped into the blue beautiful box. "Sky." I stepped towards my brilliant star, shaking. "Always believe in yourself...follow your dreams. You will see the stars up close one day." He smiled and shut the door.
I stepped back and dug my face into my mum's sweater. She rubbed the back of my hair and kissed the top of my head. "You'll want to watch this..." she whispered into my ear. I turned and watched through blurry eyes as my star flickered slowly out of sight. I gasped and looked up into the sky. Just when I was about to look away, I saw a shooting star trailing blue across the black surface. I smiled and looked up at my mum. She smiled back and squeezed my shoulder. We walked back to the house. Mum was thankful for the Doctor, but I knew I'd see him again. I was Sky after all and he was my brilliant star.
