C1

It was a humid August day in Maryland. Twenty-one year old Kat Silver sat criss-cross on the park bench; nose deep in her biology textbook as she scribbled illegible notes in one of her many journals. She tucked a frizzy brown curl behind her ear and sighed in content. Sitting there, reading, writing, she was happy. Sure, just like any other human she longed for excitement and adventure, but she knew that this was all she was probably going to get out of life, so she made the most out of it.

Suddenly, a strange female cat appeared from behind the bushes. It looked a bit like a Birman cat, but it couldn't have been because it was completely black. It gracefully hopped onto the bench and climbed into Kat's lap, meowing for attention from the girl buried in a textbook and notes. Amazingly enough, Kat didn't even look down, so the cat gave up, snuggled up against the human, and dozed off to sleep.

Even though Kat was an animal person, this strange feline and its actions had startled her a bit, causing her to drop her journal and scatter the few loose pages she had written on. She gently nudged the cat, hoping for it to get off of her so that she wouldn't have to pick it up. The cat remained still, so Kat tried a different approach to her problem. She put her textbook down beside her and slowly bent over, trying to manoeuvre her body so that she could reach her notes without disturbing the cat too much. Just as she had almost given up, a pair of crimson converse crept into her peripheral vision.

She glanced up to see a rather odd looking man bending over to help her collect her notes. He looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties and he was wearing a bright, royal blue suit and a long, light brown jacket.

The man carefully picked up the young girl's papers and skimmed over them with a mix of an impressed and amused look on his face. He handed them back to her and glanced anxiously at the cat sleeping in her lap.

"Is she yours?" he asked with a distinct British accent, gesturing to the feline as he spoke.

"Thanks! Um, no, I think she's stray," Kat replied, her thick accent matching the man's. "Sorry, I can't help but notice your accent. Where are you from?"

A goofy smile spread across the man's face as he sat down next to Kat, still keeping an eye on the cat sleeping in her lap

"Well, I wasn't born in Britain, if that's what you're wondering. I happen to travel a bit, and I visit there quite often." A look of surprise crossed the man's face as he started to speak again. "Sorry, we haven't been properly introduced. I'm the Doctor, and you are?"