Meeting the Doctor: Part 1
This story begins with a young teen.
A woman who, little did she know, would meet a mysterious man in a blue box. This man would eventually open her mind to all the ways of life throughout the universe, as well as so much more. Because of this man and his willingness to be her friend when she had none, would change her life forever.
Kat Maribelle was a complicated girl. At the age of fifteen, she had an old soul and was young at heart. For this reason, or perhaps because she was just odd in general, she could never seem to relate to anyone enough to make friends that stayed. She was told that she was very kind but was never seen as interesting or intriguing. The only being that seemed to be even remotely interested in anything she said was her cat.
She was picked on quite a bit at school, perhaps it was because she was too naïve, too weird, or because she let people walk all over her. She didn't know how to stand up for herself AND hold down all the anxiety she had at the same time. No one seemed to stick around long enough for her to open up about her anxiety, and she had so much of it that she could barely keep it in most of the time. She had taught herself to swallow her anxiety as best she could, and then when she got home from school she would hide in her room and cry it out or talk it out with her cat, her only listener. She would get through it day by day in hopes that one day it would get better.
One day in her small but cheerful looking room, (which was a shade of bright pink) she had just gotten home from school and was staring out the window. She let the warmth of the sun's rays help her to forget the anxiety that was caught in her chest from the long day. She closed her eyes and sat there for a bit before she looked back at her black cat, who was sprawled out on the bed. She stroked his soft fur for a few minutes before she pulled her legs to her chest and started to cry with her arms over her face. She cried as quietly as she could, she didn't want to bother her mom who she would sometimes go to with her problems. She too would listen to Kat about her anxiety, and they tried therapists but they never seemed to work out. Her parents worried over her, and she was tired of them always worrying about her. She worried enough herself as it is.
As she cried, she choked out quietly "I feel so alone. Why does everyone look at me as if I'm from another planet? I can't be the only person who loves Disney, or likes to watch reruns of MASH or I Love Lucy? Surely I can't be the only one who still likes Barbie movies or loves to read romantic comedy novels or likes to talk about things like that. You know? It's just so unfair that I can't seem to have a friend who won't use me just to talk about their problems, or when I try to talk about things they just say "Yeah..." and that's it."
She sighed as she pulled her dark hair into a ponytail. She looked at herself in the mirror, staring at her pink face. She wiped away her tears and sniffled before taking a deep breath. When she released her breath, she turned to look out the window again, and looked to the multi-colored sky.
She said quietly "I wish I had someone who enjoyed listening to me, for once in my life."
A tear rolled down her cheek, and she let it fall. She sighed as she looked at her cat once again, who looked up at her. She smiled at him, and stroked his fur once again, and he gave her a small lick.
She said "Other than you, I mean," as she patted his head. She was just about to get up, when suddenly she heard something. She looked out her window to find a blue phone-box flying around uncontrollably.
She thought "Surely I'm hallucinating…" Her eyes widened even more when it seemed to be coming directly at her! She grabbed her cat and ducked into a corner of the room for cover just as she thought "Hallucination or not, can't be too careful!"
Seconds later, the blue box crashed into the side of her room, leaving a large hole that seemed just big enough for the doors of the box. She was grateful that her mother was busy doing laundry in the basement of the house, as she didn't know how to explain that the noise was a blue phone box that crashed into her bedroom wall.
She stared in shock for a minute, unsure of what to do. Her heart was pounding quickly, and she could feel it in her ears. She was shaking as she held her cat, who seemed just as anxious as she was. She kissed the top of his head and said "It's okay, kitty," before opening the door and letting him run out into the living room.
She took a deep breath before getting up, and just as she got up, she saw the doors of the box open: She saw a man who seemed to be very wobbly.
She opened her mouth but no words came out, but the man said "I don't know if I like this planet…too much pink" and collapsed.
Kat quickly ran forward and caught him before he fell to her hardwood floor. She groaned a little, as he wasn't exactly light, but she managed to lay him down on her bed.
She stared at him for a minute, her hands now shaking violently, and unsure of what to do. She had to take a few minutes to calm down, so she took several deep breaths, and drank a sip of water.
She said to herself "There is a strange man in my room…and his big blue phone box is in my wall…hOW is this possible?!"
Kat sighed and thought to herself "Okay, yes there is a strange man in my room, yes his blue phone box is in my wall, but we'll get to that later; right now, he needs my help."
She left her room for a bit and filled a bowl with cool water and grabbed a washcloth from the linen closet.
She went back to her room and put the bowl and washcloth down before closing and locking her door. She soaked the washcloth in the cool water and placed it over his forehead. She stared at him for a minute: She had never seen anything like this man before. Sure, she had seen people who wore similar clothing, but he just looked so…different. His accent indicated that he was from the U.K., well he was a far away from home; she lived in the U.S. His face seemed slightly troubled, as if the whole world were on his shoulders. He had a short haircut, and seemed to have somewhat large ears, but he wasn't unattractive by any standards. Of course, she wasn't attracted, he seemed to be far too old for her anyhow, but she couldn't help but be fascinated by this man.
She thought to herself "I hope he won't be unconscious too long, I don't know how long I can hide him here…"
She decided to go make herself some tea, and when she came back she sat down at the end of the bed and sipped her tea quietly as he slept.
About an hour passed and she had finished her tea, she decided to hold his hand for a bit to see if that might help him. She stared at him, and then back at the large blue box sticking out of her wall above her. She wondered to herself "I wonder how he even got here in that thing, it looks like a vintage phone booth from London. If this is what it looks like, how was he able to get it to fly? Isn't it too heavy?" She liked the vintage look of it, and liked the shade of blue it was, she had never seen that color before.
Suddenly, she felt a squeeze on her hand, and she jerked her head back to look at the man. She scooted herself over closer to him and asked "Hey, are you alright, sir?"
He moaned a little and opened his eyes. He put his other hand to his head and felt the cloth on his head and looked at Kat.
He said "Well, I don't think I've ever been anywhere this pink."
She smiled a little as she asked again "Are you alright? I don't think you hit your head or anything, but you seemed disoriented when you got here."
He took the cloth off his head and asked "Where am I?"
She answered "Washington D.C., United States of America."
She asked him "How did you get here? Did you fly that blue phone booth all the way from London?"
He answered "Oh, no I'm not from London, and the box is just kind of like a cloaking device for my ship." as he sat up, and as he did he noticed that her hand was holding his.
He smiled and patted her hand with his other hand and said "Thank you for taking care of me. Have you told anyone else about this?"
She shook her head and answered "No, I didn't know what to say.." with a nervous laugh.
He laughed "Good point, how can you explain that man fell out of a blue box into your bedroom?"
She nodded with a small smile, and asked "Wait..cloaking device? As in that that isn't actually a phone box? It's a ship? Isn't it too small?"
He answered "Not if it's bigger on the inside!" with a grin.
She looked surprised, and asked "But…how? How is that physically possible?"
He said "You ask a lot of questions, don't ya?"
She said "I've always been that way, sorry."
He said "Nah don't be, having a natural curiosity is a good thing. It's what's gotten me these past eight hundred years."
She laughed a little, and asked "Eight hundred years? You look pretty good, then. Who are you?"
He grinned and answered as he stood up "Thanks. Oh, I'm the Doctor, and you are?"
She asked "Just the Doctor?"
He said "Yup! Just the Doctor! And you are..?"
She answered "I'm Kat. Kat Maribelle."
They shook hands, and he said "Nice to meet you Kat. Well, I suppose I should be leaving now."
She looked a little sad as she said "Oh…Okay. Well if you must. I'm glad you're alright."
He looked back at her and noticed that her eyes watered a little as she looked away, busying herself with straightening out her bed.
He put his hand on her shoulder, and she looked back at him, a tear rolling down her cheek as she did so.
He said "I know that look. It's the look that I have too sometimes."
She asked "What look is that?" as she wiped her face and eyes. "I'm fine, I promise. You've got to go like you said, and I don't want to keep you if it's important."
As she turned around to walk away, he took her hand in his, and said "Hey, you don't have to do that. I know you're not fine; you feel alone."
She turned around and asked "How did you-?"
He said "I can see it in your eyes. I know you're struggling, but I promise, it gets better. You're not alone, you have your family, after all. But one day you will look around and find that you have friends who care, too. And you know what?"
She nodded to what he was saying, and she asked quietly "What?"
He said "Anyone who takes the time to take care of me when they could have just as easily left me is a friend of mine."
He smiled at her, and as she smiled back, she replied "Well, it is kind of hard to ignore a blue box crashing into my bedroom and a man falling out of it. It would be stupid of me to just not do anything to help."
He laughed a little as he said "Fair point."
She said "If you ever feel alone, you know you've got me, too, right?"
He smiled and said "I will never forget what you did for me, thank you."
She said "Nor will I forget what you said. Thank you for saying all that. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that. Will I ever see you again?"
He answered "Maybe, might not have this face though." as he turned around and walked toward the box.
She looked at him questioningly, and she said "Well, before you go, um, two things,"
He turned and asked "Hmm?"
She answered "Well, one: will you be able to fix the hole in my wall?"
He answered "Oh don't worry 'bout that. I'll park the TARDIS on the ground outside there and fix the wall before I leave."
She nodded and said "Right, thank you."
He said "You're welcome. Now, the other thing was?"
She rushed over to him and hugged him. He smiled and hugged her back as he said "I promise, I'll be back one day. Maybe when you're a bit older, and maybe I'll have a different face. Who knows?"
They separated and smiled at each other.
He turned back to his blue phone booth and hopped inside it. He said "Until next time, Kat Maribelle."
She waved with a small smile, and he closed the doors behind him. After a few moments, the blue phone box disappeared. Her hazel eyes widened as she watched the box reappeared right outside her window below. He stood in the doorway and pulled out what looked like a little blue flashlight/pen and pointed it at the large hole in her wall. She watched as it repaired in front of her, everything looking back to the way it was before.
He nodded and smiled at her one last time before he waved and closed the doors behind him.
She watched sadly as the blue phone booth, or what did he call it, the "TARDIS?", disappeared once again. She hoped that it wouldn't be too long before she saw him again. She heard her cat asking to come into her room, and she walked over and opened the door, picking him up as he walked inside.
She hugged him and said "Well, that was an unusual afternoon, it almost doesn't feel real. But he was real, right?"
She walked with her cat in her arms and placed him gently on her bed. She sat with him for a minute as she looked out her window once more, wondering if it had all been a dream. Maybe it wasn't, and maybe, just maybe, she would see him again just as he said…
To be continued…
Thank you all for reading! I will try to post more when I can ^_^ - PinkRoseKoolKat