A Strange Occurrence

Emily Dawson sat alone on a bench, looking out over a dull, grey beach. The rain battered down, relentless, never faltering, never giving in. She gazed down at the sea, the dark, curling waves beating against the shore. Today was her birthday. She was turning fifteen. The one day in the year she hated more than any other.

She rubbed her hands together, trying to muster up some warmth to soothe her numb fingers. The wind whipped across her face, catching her long blonde hair. She tried to pull up her hood further, but her wet jacket just made her colder. She wiggled her feet, water soaking up through the soles of her shoes.

Emily couldn't remember the weather ever being as bad as this, not in August. The beach before her was usually crowded with families at this time of year, laughing and playing, swimming in the sea, building sand castles. But now it lay empty, desolate and bare.

She used to walk along the concrete path with her parents. They went for a walk along the shore almost every Tuesday night to buy an ice cream or fish and chips. She closed her eyes as a tear ran down her face.

Emily sniffed and then stopped. Is that sound real… she thought, or is the wind playing tricks on me… It couldn't possibly be real. She turned round, trying to find the source of the strange noise. It was like a mechanic whirring, a strange sound, one she had never heard before.

Something appeared in the corner of her eye. Emily turned round to face the impossible.

A box.

A big blue box.

Appearing out of thin air. At this point the box hadn't settled yet so she could still see through it to the trees on the other side. Then all of a sudden it stopped. The noise stopped and the box became solid.

Emily got up off the bench and began to walk towards it. Her head told her to run, that the box meant trouble, but her heart urged her forward. She had almost reached the door of the strange box when suddenly it flew open.

Emily didn't know who was screaming louder. Her, or the odd looking man who appeared from the box.

He couldn't have been much older than twenty-five, with messy brown hair, a tweed jacket and… a bowtie.

"Oh…" he gasped. "Sorry, you just… scared me…" The stranger held out a hand, a large smile creeping onto his face. "I'm the Doctor."

Emily wasn't sure how to proceed. Surely a man who had just stepped out of a giant blue box that had just appeared out of thin air couldn't be normal. Nevertheless, she shook his hand anyway.

"Emily."

"Emily," he smiled. "Emily's a lovely name, I love the name Emily. Brilliant name, don't you think?"

Emily just stared at him. He was just so… so weird. He talked so fast she almost found it difficult to understand what he was saying.

"I guess so."

"So Emily, I don't suppose you can tell me why I'm here? Have you noticed anything strange recently? Anything odd? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Yes."

"Excellent." He rubbed his hands together. "What?"

"Well," she started. "A strange man appeared out of a blue box that just materialised out of thin air."

The man laughed.

"I like you," he pointed at Emily. "You're funny."

He took a step forward and motioned for Emily to follow. "See, I was travelling in the Tardis," he pointed to the box, "to the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius to visit a certain Slitheen when the Tardis shifted off course and ended up here."

Right. Now Emily knew he was crazy. They reached the bench and 'The Doctor' sat down. Emily paused to ponder his strange choice of name, but then decided it was useless as he wasn't the most normal of people anyway, and sat down too.

"So, Emily," he turned to face her. "Anything else strange been happening lately?" She turned to face the sea once more, racking her brains, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

Then she remembered.

"Yes." She turned back to face the Doctor. "The knocking." He looked at her, brow creased in confusion.

"Knocking?" She nodded.

"Knocking. From my wardrobe. Every night."

The Doctor lent back and slung one arm over the back of the bench.

"Have you ever opened it?"

"Yes," she nodded once more. "But never when they knock. It feels wrong. It goes silent. Really, really silent. And cold. So unimaginably cold."

"But never during the day?" his voice showing a hint of concern.

"No. It never starts until after sunset, and it stops as soon as the sun comes up."

"Right…" He sat there pondering for a few moments, then he suddenly jumped up off the bench.

"Come on," he grinned. "I think I'd better go take a look at this wardrobe."