Utopia
The planet turned, slowly on its axis everyday, like it had been doing for millennia. Since the beginning of time itself. It was a barren, desolate place to go to. A wasteland, deathly quiet. Not a creature existed to stir the ceaseless night. The planet would go on like this eternally unless someone came to visit. But who would want to visit this cold, abandoned place? It had no stars to stare in wonder at, just an empty blackness, darker than midnight. Who was there to appreciate such a place? But one man could. That man was coming.
He man stepped silently out of his time ship and looked around him. He had never visited this planet before and, being curious by nature, wanted to know what life existed here, if any. The planet, which was protected by a thin, atmospheric shell, was small by comparison to most of the planets he visited, but still interesting. Beneath his feet was a solid, reddish coloured gravel, but his immediate surroundings were sparsely covered with the occasional shrub and reed.
The shrubs were between two and four foot high, and not very dense, but beneath one of the taller scrubs, the man spotted a hole about the size of a large rabbit warren. Stooping down in front of it he found it was lined with a smooth green kind of algae, which disappeared into the depths of the ground. A living organism perhaps. Reaching out a tentative finger he placed some of the green stuff on the tip of his tongue. It didn't taste very inviting he thought, scrunching his face up and sticking his tongue out beyond his teeth- as if the air would wipe it clean for him. It did no such favour and The Doctor had little choice but to swallow the bitter substance. He was relieved when no after taste remained at the back of his throat.
At first glance from where he stood there seemed to be no sign of life at all on the planet, but upon looking beyond his immediate surroundings, the Doctor noticed the ground to his left seemed to fall away into nothingness, though he could see a great distance away it reappeared, forming a tall cliff, which rose majestically into the star-less sky, disappearing into the pitch black sky.
Making his way towards where the ground disappeared, he moved to stand right on the very edge, and fearlessly looked down, rocking on the balls of his feet. The ground fell steeply into a fairly narrow, but deep canyon beneath him, of which he could not see the mirky bottom; purple tinged cliff walls rose up on either side, fairly close together and he spotted what could once have been a city, cut into the cliff face between them.
There was no sign of life along the intricate pathways and roads which had been so beautifully etched into the cliff face. There was also no obvious way of getting into the city from where he stood, which frustrated the Doctor. He yearned to go and explore, to delve into this alien culture, to learn all about it.
He turned and began to walk with long, mile eating strides along the edge of the cliff, exploring. Climbing higher and higher as the cliff rose. Gradually as he walked, he disappeared into a pale white mist, which gathered at the top of each cliff. The air was colder here, and thinner, but he barely felt it, exhilarated by the dizzying height he had climbed.
Eventually the Doctor reached the summit where he stopped, once more looking down at his surroundings. He'd climbed beyond the mist and it now surrounded his world, swirling and floating across the pitch sky. Gradually a breeze lifted, and the clouds of mist began to recede, thinning until the planet below could be seen once more in all it's glory.
The majestic, silent city formed the most part of the planet, and the gravel and shrubs the rest. There was no sign of water, but if the Doctor strained his hearing, he could faintly make out what sounded like a waterfall in the distance. He decided to go and find it. So, keeping the edge of the cliff on his right he descended, back through the mist, down towards the reddish gravel which surrounded the canyon and then moved away from the canyon, leaving it behind him and heading towards the sound of water.
Eventually after a long trek, the Doctor approached the waterfall. It fell from the level he stood, down about thirty metres and into a circular pool, surrounded by lush green plants and shrubbery. The waterfall itself seemed to glow and catch the light as it fell, forming a gently swirling pool at the bottom.
It was a desolate and quiet planet, lonely and a long abandoned by any civilisation but it was absolutely beautiful. Enough to take his breath away, despite all the spectacular things he'd seen in his long life. He climbed downwards, and sat at the edge of the pool amongst the rich green plants, dipping his toes into the freezing water and laughing in delight at the sensation. It had been a long time since the Doctor had been as happy as this, in his own company, free to do and go as he pleased.
The Doctor grinned, he had found Utopia.
(900 Words!)