Rose Tyler fumbled with the keys, her fingers already chilled by the cold winter air. Finally, her fingers found the key, and she locked the front doors of Henrik's Department Store for the night. Rose shoved her hands into the pocket of her black winter coat, cursing herself for forgetting her gloves, before making her way down the empty London street.
In the distance, Rose could hear music and people cheering. She let out a heavy sigh, which turned to vapor in front of her eyes. Everyone in London was celebrating the New Year; laughing, drinking, and having a great time with their friends and family. Then there was Rose Tyler, shop clerk, about to board a bus to whisk her away to her and her mum's flat just to face another day at the shop tomorrow. To Rose Tyler, it was just another monotonous night.
Rose walked with her hands shoved into the pockets of her winter coat, idly stepping out of the way of giggling couples stumbling out of the pubs. As she walked, she absently wondered what Mickey did tonight, where he was. Maybe her mum would want to go out to dinner tomorrow to celebrate the New Year's. More idle thoughts came and went before Rose realized she was sitting on the bench at the bus stop. She sat, blinking stupidly in the harsh florescent light, feeling as though she just woke up from an unplanned nap.
She shook her head, trying to clear the fog. Rose looked up over the tall buildings, toward the night sky. In the country it would've been a beautiful night, with billions of bright stars littering the deep navy sky. But in the center of London, all Rose saw was one flickering star standing alone in blackness.
Rose smiled sadly up at the sky. She felt like that star. She wanted to shine brightly among the stars, to do something and be someone. But her hopes dimmed by her choices and mistakes. Now she was struggling to stay lit among darkness. She was trying so hard to find some meaning to her meaningless job, to her directionless life.
An urge suddenly came over Rose. It was a bit childish, she knew, but she felt that she needed to do it. Closing her eyes and clasping her hands together, Rose turned her face toward the star. She felt as if her heart was ready to burst. "Please," she whispered, "Please, take me away from my dull life. Please…"
Rose sat there for a moment, her frozen hands gripping each other tight in front of her face, before they dropped back into her lap and she opened her eyes again. She felt her ears grow hot with embarrassment, feeling silly for just wishing on a star.
She leaned back against the bench, looking back up at the star. It seemed to have grown brighter, but perhaps she was just thinking more silly things. Rose smirked at herself.
Slowly, her smirk turned into a gape as she watched the star. It was indeed growing brighter, and… bigger. Yes, it was getting bigger! Rose stood up from the bench as she heard distant screams from somewhere else in the city. The star was falling rapidly, its light blinding shades of blue. Rose shielded her eyes from the light as the star flew over her head. When the light had faded, Rose heard a loud crash from some distant street behind her.
Rose raced through the streets, weaving in and out of the crowds that started gathering on the street after the crash. She found herself retracing her steps, the crowd leading back to...
Where Henrik's Department Store used to stand. Rose wedged through the tightly packed crowd until she broke out into the inner circle, her breath coming out in puffs of white smoke and sweat trickling down the back of her neck. Smoking rubble was all that was left of the department store now. Limbs of mannequins reached up out of the debris, like pale zombies reaching out of their graves. Her heart sank as she took in the sight. She, and many others, were now unemployed. Now what was she to do?
"I didn't mean this,"she muttered under her breath. She kicked a nearby stone forlornly, toward the heap that lay before her. She watched as the stone bounced off the heap, causing the heap to let out a muffled groan.
Rose's eyes widened. "Someone's in there!" A voice shouted from the crowd behind her. The crowd began to stir, some shouting, others screaming for someone to call the medics. Rose ran to the pile of rubble, climbing the unsteady mass to where her stone hit. She began shifting and shoving massive stones out of the way. The debris, still hot from impact, burned her hands as she dug through it, but she just cringed and kept digging. "Don't worry! I'm coming!" She yelled as she pushed a wooden beam to the side. Rose heard no response, and began to dig faster. Somewhere in the city, she heard sirens. Please, get here soon.
Rose shoved large chunks of wall away, then another beam, and finally she glimpsed a bit of flesh; a forehead! "I see you! I see you!" she shouted, yanking another stone out of the way to reveal a pair of eyes, and a nose. "I've got you!"
The eyes snapped open, making Rose freeze. The eyes were glowing yellow, and seemed to be looking through her, into something vast… She sat there, mesmerized by those shining yellow eyes.
Then, there was a brilliant flash of yellow light, and people screaming…
No more than a minute had to have gone by when Rose opened her eyes. She sat up, her head pounding. She found herself at the edge of the crowd, chunks of rubble thrown from the mass, scattered about her.
Rose's eyes refocused, and fixed themselves on the remains of the department store. The rubble was only half of what it was. Now, a large crater lay in the midst of the destruction. Rose stood, swaying as she straightened herself. She started toward the crater, but someone grabbed her arm. They said something to her, but Rose yanked her arm away. Slowly, she walked toward the gaping hole. She climbed what was left of the mound, and peered down.
Lying there, as if they were a baby bird in his mother's nest, was a man. His clothes were in tatters, clinging to his body weakly. However, it appeared that his clothes were the only part of him that was harmed. His skin was smooth, free of any scrapes or cuts. His hair was a perfect mess of brown hair. He seemed to only be sleeping among the piles of stone and wood, dreaming peaceful dreams.
Rose stared down at him, amazed and bewildered by what she saw. She only looked away from him when she heard the medics and firemen shouting at the crowd to clear a path.
