North Road

By Marty Burton

Note- A good morrow to those who are so kind as to be reading this. I'm surprised you are, actually, as that summary was just rubbish. Anyhow, I wanted to make the point that this is a sort-of AU fic that I wrote long before the 5th series of "Doctor Who" aired. At that point no one- or rather, no fan- had any idea what the new series would be like, as well as Matt Smith's Doctor. I was in a bit of a funk at the time, and began to write a fic about a girl very similar- and, in some ways, very different- from myself, as something to try and distract me from everything that was going on. For reference, I looked back very much to the regeneration into David Tennant, which is why this story will go the way it does.

This story takes place before "The Eleventh Hour". In it, instead of crash-landing in Amelia Pond's back garden, the TARDIS finds itself in a small wood on the Pacific coast of the United States. I originally intended for it to end in a way that he could go back to canon-land when this story was done, but then I never finished it, as I never finish any of my stories. I stopped writing "North Road" when the new series aired because I couldn't bear how different my story was from canon, and also how absolutely fantastic the new series was. But I've decided now, several months later, to try and finish all the stories I begin, starting with this one. I plan on posting what I've got written so far, and, if enough people enjoy it, I will do my best to finish it.

On that note, I leave you to the story. Thank you all very much, and I sincerely hope you enjoy "North Road".

0-0

It started out as an ordinary Thursday for Jane- though adventures often begin on ordinary days- or at least, what her Thursdays had been recently. This meant that instead of taking the bus directly home, sitting and laughing alongside her friend Arty, here she was, walking with her short, quick steps and ridiculously heavy rucksack down the busy, sidewalk-less North Road, on her way to the nearest city bus stop.

Jane's day hadn't been a great one. Though she was proud of herself for almost going through the entire day without once falling asleep in class, she was disappointed, too, that 5th period had caught her. For some reason, she'd been having this problem lately; as of yesterday, the only class she hadn't yet fallen asleep in was Drama, and that was because they actually were up and moving in that period. See, Jane was a good kid with good grades, and unlike some of her peers, did not like falling asleep in class. Yet she was a healthy kid; she got enough sleep at night, ate right, and exercised when she had time. Her mum had even taken her to their family doctor, but she was diagnosed a perfectly normal 15-year-old girl. So what was wrong?

The musical didn't help. Or at least, her school's cheap budget didn't. Jane was in the ensemble of Saltwater High School's semi-annual musical. But due to budget cuts, they could no longer afford a late-stay bus. Along with the new location of the school, she couldn't walk a mile to home, as she could freshman year. These factors, combined with the fact that no one could or would give her a ride home, led her to here.

A big truck whizzed by, kicking up the cold January wind. Jane shivered in her bomber jacket and pulled her blue stocking cap down tighter over her ears. It was too cold.

Soon she had moved into a part of the road where there were more trees and fewer houses, making the grey day even darker. Jane didn't particularly notice. She was deep in her own thoughts: her day; how she would oh-so-strategically tackle her homework tonight; what she and May would do when her old friend came over Saturday night. Because the girl was so lost in her own thoughts, it took her a while to notice that the near-constant stream of cars had practically died out. When it did occur to her, she stopped, looking up and down the street. An avid fan of the science-fiction/fantasy genre, Jane was on the lookout for weird stuff 24/7, always hoping to find her own adventure.

After waiting a minute and still seeing all of one car go past, it dawned on her that there was absolutely nothing sci-fi about the matter. Maybe the stoplights on both ends of North Road were at red or something, and since there really wasn't much that she could do about that, she glanced about and was just going to continue on her merry way when she did a double take to her left. Something highly out-of-place sat among the trees and assorted Northwestern plants. She decided to go investigate it.

Through the shrubbery Jane could see a clearing, and in the clearing was a big blue box. It was tall and rectangular, big enough that one or two full-grown people could fit inside. What is it? the high school sophomore wondered. Silently hoping that this was her adventure, she slowly and quietly crept through the greenery towards the blue box. When she came to the edge of the clearing, Jane decided to stand behind the safety of some small trees and inspect from a closer distance before approaching it.

The box said "Police Public Call Box" and had a light on top. There was a sign on the door, but Jane couldn't read it as it was too far away and she needed glasses, anyhow. There were windows set towards the top of the doors, but they were blown out. Only darkness was visible beyond.

With a sudden creak, the door swung open.

0-0

So, the beginning does a lot of rambling background stuff. I'm sorry it's so boring, and that it cuts off so abruptly. When I wrote this, I just wrote, without any real chapters or breaks or anything, so I just tried to find a sort of (reads: really lame) cliffhanger to leave it on.

If there's anything confusing, please message me! I'll be happy to explain. Thank you so much for reading, and I should have the next part posted soon.

…-ish. 8D