Disclaimers: I don't own DW, nor Eleven, nor anything directly related to this series. Only the OC is my own.
My name's Niamh Walden. Yes it's Irish, no it is not pronounced as it is written, but more like NEE-v, but apart from that, I'm from Nottingham. I'm nineteen years old, currently living in a community house with other friends for my studies. I'm not what you can call a tall girl, but I'm quite above the average height, not skinny, nor curvy, no, just average. As for my hair, we can say it's a mane of honey blonde hair reaching the middle of my back, to me, it seems quite long anyway, oh and also, I have deep green eyes, and… I guess that's all worth saying about me. Now, back to my story.
It happened on a March day no different from any other day, rainy and cold. I was 9am but I was already tired, both physically and psychologically. College wasn't quite as fun as I had pictured it, I didn't feel really close to my flat mates and friends, they were more of the extrovert type, partying, shopping, spending the night, and day by the way, clenched to their phones, talking about … I don't even know what, parties and gossips I guess, whilst I was more of the introvert type, the one spending her free-time on her computer, surfing on the net, immersing herself for hours in the pictures shared by the NASA's official website, or reading those colossal fantasy books in a couple of days. Yes, I was that kind of a girl, and grumpy above all, or singing my vocal chords out, there's no in between.
So. As I said, I was heading to college, armed with my old and ragged school bag that I couldn't bring myself to throw away, and my nerdy umbrella on which was written 'Show me the stars', when I hit myself against a big blue… what was that? A wooden box, painted in blue, right in the middle of the way! From the other side stepped out a man, who came towards me, a concerned look in his eyes.
"My… I'm sorry, did I land on your foot?"
"What? Land? No, no I… I don't think so. I am the one who's sorry, I wasn't looking and I walked into that … huh" I raised my head to read properly what was written at the top of it. "'Telephone Phone Call Box'. Do you live in here?" I asked wide-eyed, stroking the panel with my now freed hand, because yes, when I bumped into it, I had let go of my umbrella without even noticing it.
" Well, no, I mean yes, huh… kinda."
I looked again at the man, scrutinizing him at last. He was, I'd say, four inches taller than me, looked thirty-ish, had brown hair and what seemed to me hazel eyes. Then I realized.
"Don't I know you? I mean, I don't want to sound weird but, have I ever seen you before?"
Startled by such a statement, he smiled.
"I don't think so. Maybe, could be. But I'm sure I would have remembered you, I think. I'm the Doctor by the way"
"Well, it is very nice to meet you, Doctor …" Then it hit me, I knew this man. Well, knew is quite a big word, but I've dreamt of him lots of time, almost every night in fact. Sometimes he had different faces, a couple of times elderly men, then he was younger and younger, and more recently, he'd had a Scottish accent, which was quite unusual I must say. And this man, this same man with different faces, who had a doubtful sense of fashion, was always running, running, and running. Running with his companions, no it was more than that, they were all his friends, and saving planets, from aliens, from strange creatures, from us. The very mention of his name made walls tremble, and creatures shiver, but it also gave to many others Hope and Bliss, to many, throughout Time, he was worshipped like a God. The Lonely God, the Last of the Time Lords, who had suffered loss more than anyone else.
But no, it couldn't be him, all this was a dream, and maybe he wasn't even real despite being there, physically in front of me. After what seemed ages to me, but was in reality only a couple of seconds, I gathered myself. "The name's Niamh, Niamh Walden."
"Niamh Walden…" he pondered. "Very peaceful, I like the sound of it, reminds me of far-away places, mountains reaching the sky, forests as vast as continents, cool streams sprinkling among the rocks…" He then focused his eyes on me. "So, you wanna see the stars, right?"
It was my turn to be startled.
"Well, yes, sure, absolutely, above all things, but … how do you know?"
"Your umbrella, you silly! It is plainly written on it" He laughed. Lovely laugh I must say, as lovely as his face. "And I can't say it's been really useful as you've dropped it and you're now drenched" He laughed again.
"Hey, stop it! It's not my fault if your TARDIS landed right in my way!"
This time, it was my turn to laugh, but his face went serious right away, his eyes widened once again.
"What did you say? You… How do you know that … Who are you?" He fumbled in his inside pocket, took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned me in the blink of an eye.
"I don't understand, you're 100% human, there is nothing wrong with you, and yet you know abou …" Right at this moment, the Telephone Booth began to flicker and disappear in a huge engine noise. "Oh, not now! Never mind, come along Niamh." The Doctor then grabbed my hand hurriedly and pulled me with him inside the TARDIS right in time before it disappeared from the street.
Not a soul had witnessed this strange encounter between a mad man with his magic box and a girl who already seemed quite a puzzle to solve.