A/N: Just a little thing that popped into my head a few hours ago, and I felt the need to satisfy my current Doctor Who obsession. To straighten out a bit of wibbly-wobblyness, this vignette takes place during Amy's childhood, but after the cracks have been closed and everything's been restored. Enjoy!

The Shed-Climbers Society

When Amy first met Melody, she was still going by "Amelia" and Mels was refusing to be called anything that was or derived from "Melody". Mels said it was to test the teachers – after all, if teachers were there to test students, then students were there to test teachers.

At least, that was what she insisted. It didn't take long for Amelia to believe her.

Mels first appeared on a surprisingly warm autumn day when the leaves were just starting to change colours. Amelia was home alone and she had taken the opportunity to dig the Blue Box and the Raggedy Doctor out of her closet. Mum and Aunt Sharon didn't like seeing her play with them, so she played with them in secret – which was usually at night. Amelia didn't think it was fair to them (even though Aunt Sharon insisted that they were toys and toys didn't have feelings), so she relished any time she could get them out during the day. She had just been struck by the brilliant idea of making the Blue Box actually fly by tossing it out the window. She was sure it wouldn't mind – after all, the first time she'd seen it, it had been knocked over and was "fazing" (whatever that meant), so she couldn't possibly hurt it. She was sure it was used to worse things and besides, there was no other way to make it fly.

Grasping this brilliant idea, she picked up the Box and rushed to her window, standing on tiptoes to reach the locks. She pushed it open and leaned out, throwing her arm back to launch the box to new heights of flying amazingness.

That was when she saw a small, dark figure clamber over her fence and scamper up the shed in the yard.

Amelia reverently put the Box aside, grabbed her jacket and clattered down the stairs. Her yard was becoming really very exciting – you never knew who would drop by.

The sun was high in the sky by now and very bright; it glared so much Amelia couldn't see the girl on the shed roof. She raised a hand to protect her eyes and could only just make out a dark form perched above her.

"Hi," the girl said.

"Hello," Amelia said. She squinted. "What are you doing on my shed?"

"This is your shed?"

"This is my house."

"Oh!" The girl cocked her head. "But where is everyone?"

"Out."

"Oh. Are you Scottish?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. That's—"

"Why are you in my yard?"

"—cool. I'm climbing, see? I climb things."

"You think I'm… cool?" Amelia frowned.

"No," the girl said. "I meant being Scottish is cool. Been here long?"

"What? No, I'm not…" She stopped; she hated being flustered. "A few years. Mum and Dad and Aunt Sharon said we had to move. I don't like it here."

"I don't like it here, either," the girl said.

"It's boring," they both said at the same time.

The girl sat up straighter; Amelia grinned.

"Is that why you climb sheds?"

"I don't just climb sheds, I climb houses, too. I'd climb your house, but there's not a good way to get up, unless you go through a window."

"Why?" Amelia asked.

"Because I don't like trees. Roofs are better. Want to come up?"

"It's my shed, I don't need your permission!"

The girl slid forward and blocked out the sun. For the first time, Amelia could see her properly. She had a big, white grin on her face. "Then why are you still standing there, silly?"

Amelia grinned.

She shimmied up the side of the shed and, just like that, was perched on the roof.

The two girls sat side-by-side, resting their chins on their drawn-up knees as the sun baked down on them. Amelia didn't know what it was, but there was something strange about this girl. Maybe it was because she'd never seen her before; maybe it was because she liked to climb strangers' sheds (Amelia secretly wished she could be as cool as that – but she didn't mention it). But she liked her.

"Where did you come from?" Amelia asked.

"Oh, over the hills and far away…" The girl grinned. Her white teeth shined. She had really cool hair, too – all dark and thick and braided into tiny little braids. Amelia didn't think she'd be able to do that with her hair.

"Do you live in the neighbourhood?"

"No." The girl shrugged. "I ran away, I couldn't find anything good to climb. They'll probably be looking for me soon."

Amelia moved a little closer, intrigued. "Why did you run away?"

"Because I could." The girl shrugged again. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Amelia Pond."

The girl's eyes widened. She smiled. "That's a nice name!"

"Thanks. What's yours?"

The girl paused, thinking it over. "Melody," she said.

"That's a pretty name," Amelia said. "I like it."

Melody stuck out her tongue. "But you can call me Mels."

"Okay!"

Amelia paused, tugging at her hair.

"What's wrong?" Mels asked.

"I dunno," she said. "I always wanted a nickname, but Aunt Sharon says nicknames are 'useless'. She says that if people wanted to be called by a nickname, then the nickname would've gone on their birth certificate."

"That's silly," Mels said. "I think people can be whoever they like. This Aunt Sharon person sounds evil."

"She is evil! All aunts are. She wouldn't even let me climb my climbing tree."

"Where's your climbing tree."

"Over there." Amelia pointed. "Aunt Sharon doesn't like it. She says I'll fall and break my neck, but I don't believe her."

"Grown-ups say a lot of stupid things like that," Mels said. "Never trust a grown-up, they're always wrong. They like to be serious; serious is no fun."

"Aunt Sharon's always serious," Amelia grumbled, hugging her knees. "She never lets me do anything when she's here."

"Does she look after you?"

"No," Amelia said. "I look after myself. Mum and Dad are away. Aunt Sharon's supposed to be here, but she's what Mum calls 'irresponsible'. So she's never here. What about you?"

"I don't have an aunt."

"Lucky—"

"—and I don't have a Mum or Dad," Mels said.

"Oh."

"At least, not yet."

Amelia cocked her head. "How does that work?"

"I've been looking for them, see, and now I think I've found Mum, but I don't know about Dad."

"Oh." Amelia frowned. "So you're here by yourself?"

"No, silly! My parents adopted me."

"Oh," Amelia said. "So you're looking for your real parents?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Are not-real parents better than real-real parents, do you think?"

"I don't know, I've never really met my real-real parents."

"Are not-real parents better or worse than having an aunt?"

"Better, I think. They let me do what I want."

"Like climbing sheds?"

Mels giggled. "Yeah!"

"You're lucky. Dad only just had this one rebuilt."

"Oh? What happened to the old one?"

"It got destroyed."

"How?" Mels sounded interested.

Amelia bit her lower lip, trying to decide whether she should tell her new friend or not. The Doctor and his Box was her secret, something she didn't want to share with just anyone. But she really liked Mels – and if they were going to be best friends (which she thought they would), then she couldn't keep something like this a secret.

"Do you really want to know?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah! I bet it's exciting."

"It really is. The most exciting thing ever."

"This is gonna be a long story, isn't it?"

"The best story ever!"

"Tell me, tell me!" Mels' eyes gleamed. She grinned again.

Amelia sat up straighter. "Okay, but it's a secret. You can't tell anyone."

Mels put a finger to her lips. "Not a word from me!" she whispered.

"Okay. Promise?"

"I promise! Just tell me, Amelia!"

Amelia waved a hand to get Mels to shut up. "One night," she said, voice quivering with the excitement of sharing, "a box fell out of the sky and crashed on the shed."

Mels blinked. "… really?"

"Really!"

"What was the box?" She stretched out on her stomach.

"It was a blue box. It said 'police' on it."

"Why did it crash?" Mels poked the shed roof with a finger.

"Because it was a time machine and something had gone wrong."

"A time machine?" Mels laughed.

Amelia's eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to tell you if you think it's funny."

"I don't think it's funny!" Mels sat up abruptly. "Why did it say 'police'? Why was it blue?"

"I don't know, it just was."

"Okay."

Amelia frowned. "You don't believe me, do you."

"Of course I do!" Mels said. "You wouldn't lie to me, right?"

"No!"

"Then I won't lie, either." She held out a hand. "Let's make a pact, right now, me and you – we won't tell each other lies. How about that? And then you can tell me the rest of the story."

Amelia smiled. She'd never had a friend like Mels before; she'd never met anyone so eager to get to know her, either. "Okay, then. Friends?" She held out her own hand.

Mels smacked her palm with her own. "Friends. Because we both like climbing onto shed roofs."

Amelia giggled.

"And because we both believe in the Blue Box that fell from the sky."

"Now you are making fun of me!"

"Amelia, I'm just making fun!" Mels said. "I do it all the time, in a nice way. I one hundred percent believe you, by evil aunts and climbing sheds."

"Pinky swear?"

"Pinky swear."

They pinky-swore.

"So what happened after the box fell out of the sky?" Mels asked.

"A man fell out of the box."

"Was he a police man?"

"No," Amelia said.

"Then why does his box say 'police'?"

"I dunno, you ask too many questions."

"Then what was he?"

"A doctor."

"Does he have a name?" Mels flipped over on to her back, raising a hand against the sun's glare so she could see Amelia properly.

"No," Amelia said. "I call him the Raggedy Doctor."

"Why's that?"

"Because he's raggedy, that's why."

"Oh! Wh—"

"You ask too many questions, Mels."

"What did he do then?"

"Um… he walked into a tree."

"A tree?"

"Yeah, that tree right there." She pointed. "He said the steering was off."

"That's weird."

"I know it's weird."

"He's a weirdy weird person."

"Very weird. But he's my Raggedy Doctor."

"What happened after he walked into the tree?"

"I gave him food. He didn't like most of it."

"You know how to cook?"

"Yeah, don't you?"

"No…" Mels fell silent. "No one's ever taught me how."

"I can show you if you like, it's pretty easy."

"Okay." She smiled. "Maybe after you finish your story!" Mels nudged Amelia's shoulder.

"He came to fix the crack in my wall."

"There's a crack in your wall?"

"There was. It's gone now."

"So he fixed it?"

"No, he didn't. He talked to a monster that was on the other side of the wall. And then he ran off because there was something wrong with the box—"

"So how did your wall get fixed?"

"The crack wasn't in the wall."

"But you just said it was in the wall!"

"Well it was, but he said that it wasn't actually in the wall. It's fixed now."

"Who fixed it?"

"I dunno, it just kind of fixed itself, I guess."

"Oh." Mels sniffed. "So where did he go, Raggedy Doctor Police Man?"

"He had to go fix his box."

"What's so special about his box?"

"Well, it has a swimming pool in it," Amelia said. "And a library. And something that 'fazed', but I didn't understand that bit."

"What else?" Mels grinned.

"This is a really big secret," Amelia said.

"I know."

"It's the biggest secret ever and it's about the box."

"Tell me, tell me! I won't tell anyone!"

"You swear?"

"Pinky swear by climbing sheds and evil aunts!" Mels laughed.

They pinky swore.

Amelia grinned. "Okay, the box—"

"Yeah?"

"The box is—"

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you if you stop cutting in!"

"Oh, sorry." Mels pressed a hand to her mouth, showing that she would be extra quiet.

Amelia took a breath. "The box is a time machine!"

Mels sat up. "Oooh! Really?"

"Yeah! The box is a time machine. A real one. I wanted to go with him, but he said it wasn't safe yet. He promised he'd come back, but he never did. I waited."

Mels put on a sad face. "Poor Amelia."

"But I know he'll come back, some day," she continued, ignoring the flash of sad disappointment that welled up in her stomach whenever she thought too long about getting left behind. "And then I'll see everything – all of history. I could go see the Romans if I wanted to."

"Dread Pirate Roberts!"

"Ancient Greece!"

"The Titanic!"

"The Romanovs!"

"… but wouldn't you also want to see the future?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"What d'you think it'd be like?"

"No idea. But some day I'm going to find out!"

She looked at Mels; Mels looked at her. They began to giggle, and then the giggles turned into laughter. The laughter shook their bodies, going on and on until they had laughed themselves silly – and even when there was no way to keep laughing, a giggle still hiccoughed up now and then.

Amelia glanced at her new friend. "I'm glad you came, Mels," she said. "I might like Leadworth now."

Mels smiled. "Me, too."

Amelia grinned, looking up as a sudden gust of wind blew a handful of red and yellow leaves by the shed roof. She had a feeling her life was suddenly going to become much more interesting.

fin