Getting out of work was always a relief to Sara. Her boss was constantly getting on her for not doing things right, even though she never actually told Sara what to do. Sara left the store through the front door, making a face at it as she left. She turned left, walking quickly toward a waiting bus. She got on, holding on to one of the straps hanging from the ceiling to balance. She watched as a baby yelled at his mother in a bunch of garbled gibberish. Sara never got how people thought babies were cute. They looked like a mess to her. She got off the bus at her stop, going down the street a few blocks to where her flat stood waiting. She unlocked the door after a bit of a struggle, slamming it shut. She fiddled with the lock on the other side, knowing she'd have to get a new one soon.
Sara went through the hallway and into the living room, where she threw her bag on the couch. Flopping down on the chair nearby, she flipped on the telly. As a random soap came on, Sara went into the kitchen, fixing herself some dinner. She ate while watching the random trouble unfold on tv, rolling her eyes at the bad acting. The soap ended as Sara finished her dinner, and she cleaned up the plates before she went to bed. She climbed in bed, setting her alarm for 8:00.
The next morning, Sara woke at her own pace, feeling refreshed. She felt odd though, like something was off. She glanced at the clock, her eyes widening at the time- 11:00! She leaped out of bed, grabbing her cell phone. It said 11 as well.
"Oh no. No no NO!" Sara threw some clothes on, running out in the living room. She grabbed her bag and her keys, throwing them in. She ran outside, locking her door quickly. Sara paused as she turned around, looking at a man leaning near her door. He was reading the paper, but his eyes weren't moving. Sara suddenly noticed that no one was moving around her. A lady was crossing the street, and had stopped right in the middle, one foot out. The cars were frozen as well, the drivers looking straight ahead. The bus was waiting at the curb, but it wasn't running. The driver sat in the seat, his hands frozen on the controls for the door. Sara staggered back against her door, staring at the frozen people.
"What?" she asked aloud. Sara walked around a few people, waving in front of their faces. She was the only one moving.
"Why? Why am I moving, and not you?" she asked a random frozen man. She walked a few blocks, looking at the world frozen around her. The flag hanging from a nearby store was frozen mid-flap, distorting its OPEN.
Sara pulled at it, and it flew down, like a normal flag. However, when it touched the ground, it froze again. Sara pushed the door to the store open, and it opened, but the instant her hand stopped pushing, the door stopped swinging. There was no momentum. She stepped back, bumping into a person behind her.
"Sorry." she said to the woman's unmoving face. She then ran a hand through her already unkempt short hair, checking the time on her phone.
"11:00, still." she noted, sighing. Sara walked further down the street, scanning around for any signs of life. A loud ringing noise reached her ears, and she went towards it. She found herself at the corner of an intersection, looking across to the pavement on the other side.
"What is that?" she asked, walking toward the tall blue box. It read Police Public Call Box across the top, and said 'pull to open' on the sign. Sara tried the door, only to be half-pulled inside as the door was swung in.
A man stood there, in the box, his hair a bit frazzled. He combed it back into a normal-looking style with his fingers. He wore suspenders, which were hooked ona pair of black jeans. He wore black hiking boots and a watch was strapped on his wrist. The man dusted off his tweed coat, then adjusted the bowtie around his neck.
"Alright. What have we here?" he asked aloud, then looked down at Sara.
"You're moving." she stated dumbly.
"Yes, it is what I do best." he said, stepping past her. Sara was about to look in the box when he pulled the door shut.
"No peeks. Spoilers." he winked at her, locking the door and putting the key in his inner pocket.
"Who are you, and what's going on?" Sara asked him.
"I'm the Doctor, and you are stuck in a temporal flux situation." he said, waltzing to the middle of the street.
"A doctor? What were you doing in a box?" she asked.
"I'm like a Jack-in-the-box! I show up unexpectedly! Except my name's not Jack... and that's no box." he frowned at himself for a moment, then pranced away down the street.
"Wait!" Sara caught up with him as he poked a mans face through his car window.
"Oh. Still warm." he pulled his finger away quickly, looking at Sara.
"Who are you?" he asked suddenly, coming quite close. "And why are you moving?"
"It is what I do best." she quoted him. He pulled away, studying her.
"Did I say that? I did! You just copied me!" he exclaimed, turning back around to the car.
"I'm Sara Stone, if you care." she answered his earlier question.
"Stone... That rings a bell. Oh that's right. The cloister bell." he winced, looking back at the blue box.
"Cloister bell? Whatever, listen, I'm wondering what's going on here. Who are you,what are you doing, why am I the only one moving, and why isn't anyone else moving?" she listed off. He turned back toward her, coming close again.
"I'm the Doctor. I'm here to help. I don't know, and... um-" he kicked the car's tire, then looked back at her. "I don't know."
"Wow, so helpful. And what's your real name?" she asked.
"People call me the Doctor. Not sure why. I call myself the Doctor. Still not sure why." he grinned a silly grin at her, walking away down the street. "Come along."
"Me?" she asked.
"Yes, you, Spiky Head." he called, his hiking boots clicking as he walked down the middle of the street.
"Spiky?" she asked, feeling her hair. She concluded that it was rather spiky. She shrugged, walking after him.
"We'll have to find the source." the Doctor said, walking quickly toward the center of the city.
"The source? Like some sort of machine is doing this?" she asked.
"Maybe, I dunno." he smiled back at her again.
"So you're here to help, yet you don't know anything." she sighed. He giggled, making Sara stare.
"Yeah, I have no idea what's going on, but that's not going to stop me finding out. Do you want to come or not?" he asked. Sara noticed that they were in the intersection of her street and Main street. The Doctor took a left, walking away from her flat. Sara looked between the odd man and her home, pondering.
"Ah, what the hell." she decided, following the man left.