~Doctor Who: Fingers and Biscuits~
I opened my eyes for the sixth time that night and sighed heavily.
"What now?"
I remember rubbing my face as I sat up, rubbing away any signs of sleep I had (which in truth wasn't very much). I'd been having trouble sleeping anyway, but now I actually had a valid reason to get out of bed. I'd been hearing the neighbours dog, the party down the street and now a loud bang from outside.
'Maybe a plant pot has fallen over. Oh joy.' I thought and groggily made my way to my door. My hands hadn't even landed on that handle before I heard a different noise. It sounded as if something orI SOMEONE /I had just come in through my back door. And taken out my coat stand as well.
"Don't panic. Don't panic, it's all alright. Just…grab something and go downstairs." I whispered to myself and took a few deep breaths before looking around my room.
If I was getting robbed, I was at least thankful that most of my stuff was already in a pile of mess and it would take them too long too find something of value.
'Think…think…think…big!' I reached out and grabbed at a wooden box I'd filled with papers.
'No…not resourceful.' I plonked it on my bed and rumbled around underneath, pulling out the broom I'd left there earlier when I'd forgotten to finish sweeping and ran out in a rush (to be fair, I was half an hour late and the floor was blocked with papers already).
'No…not helpful.'
I panicked as a started hearing creaking as if the wannabe robber was going through my living room, looking for stuff to snatch.
'Yes! God bless my weird little brother!'
I picked up the belated birthday present from my kid brother and held it tightly in my grasp. He knew I was a fan of martial arts and loved those 'silly' samurai movies, so he thought it appropriate to get me a large wooden sword.
Right now, my brother only seemed weird and smart.
I carefully opened my door and stepped out into my hallway.
"Right!" I yelled out and made sure to keep my voice steady and my hands tightly gripped around my sword, "Who ever is down there, better be gone by the time I'm done the stairs! I-I have a weapon and have called the police! Right…here I come!"
I didn't want to run, encase I fell (particularly with fluffy slippers on) and carefully made my way down, taking deep breaths and listening out.
Creaks seemed to come out from everywhere and I swore I could hear the sound of tiny, scuttling feet from below, but as I reached the bottom step, I had other things pre-occupying my mind.
Like the man who had appeared from no-where.
I do remember screaming quite high. I also remember the man screaming equally high.
We both just seemed to stare at each other after that. It was all a bit of a jumble but I do recall the first thing he said to me.
"Hello. Don't be alarmed, I was just passing through." His back was still pressed against the wall but he didn't seem to harmful. He was a rather small, skinny man.
"Don't you hello me! You've broken into my house! I've called the police and I've got a weapon!" I remembered the sword and pushed it forward, making sure it was between me and him.
"Yes…you have already told me that. When you yelled down the stairs. And I can see you've got a…weapon. But believe me, I intend you no harm. My TAR-…Yes, TARDIS landed me here." He said, unsure of whether or not he should tell me or not, but obviously deciding he couldn't really fib about it. He pointed towards the back garden and I shuffled a little away from him, still making sure that my sword was on him and gazed out of my window.
Sure enough, there was something new in my garden that hadn't been there before. A large, blue, telephone box, looking straight out of 1930' London.
"…right…you and you're…police box can leave then! And make sure you get it OFF my mum' roses!" I hissed and
Pointed him towards the door.
"Right…right alright then. Just thought that you may actually be curious about why my police box was drawn here." The man walked away and out of the door, me following behind him quickly, sword still up.
"Right…and I'm Santa. Now, get out before I call the police! The real police in cars!"
"Fine, fine, no use reasoning with a woman with a large fancy stick." He cast me off with a wave from his hand and unlocked the door to his box.
"It's a training sword!" I lowered it slightly, feeling a little hurt by his casual insult.
"It's a large stick, painted and made to look like a sword." He opened the door but leant against the frame, blocking the way inside where a glow seemed to be coming from.
"…Why am I even talking to you? You could be about to burgle my house or murder me…or…worse." I pulled my dressing gown across me as a slight bit of my neck was on show, his eyes only watching the actual gesture. He snorted slightly and just shook his head.
" Trust me, I have no intention of robbing, killing or…doing THAT to you." He put up his hands and looked at me as if I may not have gotten then.
But I did.
"Oh…why not, is there something wrong with me?" I just had to ask, knowing it wasn't the right time.
He smiled slightly and turned away, walking into the little box. It had been about ten seconds and my curiosity got the better of me. I made a note to at least keep away from the door frame, encase he tried to pull me inside and do unspeakable things to me (he may still do them, he wasn't a man to be trusted when he seemed to have 'landed' a box in the middle of the night in my garden.)
But when I actually saw inside, I had a fleeting moment where I thought I was dreaming.
The pinch I gave myself convinced me otherwise.
"Oh my God. I've heard stories about you!" I finally realised who this was.
The man I'd been hearing about on the news and stories in magazines.
'Alien male saved my kids!'
'Mystery man seen after girls disappearances solved!'
'Impregnated by an alien!'
Though I figured not all of them were true.
I seemed to take everything in. The blue policeman' box that was big and small at the same time. The golden glow and the mysterious control panel square in the middle. And there he was, slouching calmly against the controls, smiling at me. I was in his domain now. His home.
"Proper introductions!" He skipped up to me and grabbed my hand, shaking it vigorously. "I'm…the doctor. And please don't ask about names, that is my name and it is how you may address me. Oh, gnome!" He ran past me and outside again, noticing my dad's collection of little, ornamented, funny looking men.
"OI! D-doctor, you be careful with that, that is my dad's and he'll kill me if you break it!" I dropped my sword outside the TARDIS as I ran to him, keeping an eye as he picked one up and examined it with a smile.
"Right," he tossed it in the air, happily from one hand to another, "good thing, I'm not that clumsy. Now," he pointed the little figure in my face and asked curiously, "what may I address you and your lovely house?"
I realised I was about to tell him something that could potentially be my end. But for some reason…I trusted him.
" I'm Jori. Jori Adler. And my house?…Well…23 Forrest road. Essex. England." I thought I'd add that, before I remembered he'd been here before.
"Ah, an Essex girl. Tell me do you all-" he waved the gnome slightly with a devious smile.
"No. Just no." I'd been asked all the questions before and knew that that answer was always no. I grabbed my dad' gnome and carefully put it on the floor, coming back up and being confronted with nothing.
"Oi!" I turned and saw him running in my house, thinking that he was about to rob me and everything had just been a clever wind up.
However, I was definetely surprised by what I saw when I got inside.
I was confronted when I looked down and noticed him laying down on my floor.
"Urm…are you alright?" I nudged his leg with my foot and hoped he hadn't fainted.
"Shhh…I know this noise." He held up his hand but didn't look at me, still with his ear and face pressed to my floor.
"Listening? To what, pipes?" I looked at him like he was crazy but then he quickly turned to me and gave me the same look.
"Why would I be listening to pipes, I have no interest in pipes whatsoever. No…I'm listening," he carefully lowered his head and pressed his face against the floor again, "to them."
"Them? What?" I eventually gave in when he didn't listen to me. I thought it would better to be lying next to him anyway since my eyes seemed to keep travelling back to stare at his rear.
I placed my face next to his and listened as well, not hearing anything at first. Other than my heart seeming to get quicker in my ears.
"…You…you're not from this world. But I always here about you. You're a hero." I swallowed the lump in my throat and just stared at him, hoping my blush wasn't noticeable in the dim light.
He smiled at me again and looked directly at me.
"No. I'm only here accidentally. Most of the time I don't even mean to help or save anyone. It's nice though. It's the right thing. It's just…just… ." He drifted off and his gaze turned to the floor, my ears pricking as well as we heard something.
"Aha!" He sat up suddenly and pulled something from his shirt, "terribly sorry, but you're going to have to move."
I rolled out of the way and could only watch him as he pointed something at my floor. A tiny light shone from something that looked like a pen had been done up with too much accessories.
A little sound emitted from it and all of a sudden, by board seemed to pop open as if it had been spring activated.
"What?" I asked looking between him and the board.
He simply put away his instrument and pulled up the board, smiling broadly inside and waving.
"Hello! And how did you get here?"
I knew he definetely wasn't talking to me and I just got on my knees and hands and looked down the little hole he had created in my floor.
I was confronted by something that I can't even describe. Other than lots of little eyes staring at me from small, round faces, with large floppy ears.
"Oh my God…are they puppies?"
" No-well…sort of. Puppy like, except these ones are a lot smarter and don't sniff one another's bottoms. At least, not one I've ever met. They're called Humbs. Come on, I won't hurt you," he held out his hand for a long time before one eventually came forward and hopped on gallantly, "How did you lot get here, hey?"
The little creature in his hand seemed to understand him and made a soft 'humming' noise as a form of communication.
"Oh…Humbs."
" And they need our help. Well my help, I don't think there's much you can do." He didn't look at me but that little jibe made it impossible for me not to get a little bit exasperated.
"I can do plenty! And this is IMY/I house they are in may I remind you. That means there's something I've gotta' do." I put out my hand carefully and waited (hoping) that the little critters would trust me.
"How did you deduce that?" He know looked away from the creature and at me but I kept my cool and looked at my hand. I gave a little virtuous smile as one hoped onto my hand and seemed to snuggle.
" Everything and everyone has a purpose. This is a sign that maybe, just maybe, I can do something important and help people. Well…aliens. Puppy aliens." I raised my hand a little and held out the other one, offering a tiny scratching and petting to the happy little thing in my hands.
The doctor smiled back and we looked at one another again for a good while.
"Miss Jori Adler…I quite like you. And you're dressing gown," he let the creature back down with the others and stood up triumphantly, "Right then! Before we go…food?"
A little while later…
We'd had something to eat (well the doctor, he scoffed all my ginger biscuits and fish fingers) and we'd formulated a plan. Basically, after getting all the Humbs into his 'little' spaceship, we were to return them to their home planet. The thing is, they were on their way their before, when they're ship had been attacked. I did recall a few 'UFO' sightings to have been recorded a couple of weeks ago just a mile away from my house and that's when all the little noises had occurred. And now, it was time for us to part ways.
I did remember to tell the doctor to tell them I'd miss them (even though I'd only met them that night) and that if they ever wanted to stop by again, they were more than welcome to (with the difference that next time, they might actually tell me they're living under my floorboards).
I watched as the doctor came back inside and closed the doors. He was such a…enthusiastic man. With his tweed jacket, bowtie and suspenders (and a fez which did not suit him at all) he looked a little like my granddad in one of his old photos (except for the fez).
"Right! Sorted! And for once in another of my brilliant schemes, everything has gone right! Now," he turned round and a look of surprise registered on his face, "Ah…yes…forgot about you."
I think he could tell I was not impressed by the look on my face.
"Yes. Me. And…what now?" I looked at him with folded arms and made sure not to appear to irked.
"Yes…well, I think maybe it's home time for you. I DID wake you and for that I apologise. I'll make sure to get you back home and to bed and if it's possible, a little before we set off so you still have time to get up and do what it is you get to do in your mundane life. Whether it be work, shopping or going out on the town, partying!" He finished with a little flourish of hands which I presumed was his idea of dancing. He ran up to the controls and threw a few levers and twiddled some nozzles before turning back to me with thumbs up.
"Yeeeeeaaah…not all Essex girls are like that-" I was cut off mid sentence when the whole TARDIS gave a sudden and violent lurch.
I fell against his arms and he caught me easily, making sure to hold me tight so I didn't fall again.
"What's happening?" I knew I sounded panicked and I shouldn't have really clung onto his jacket the way I did, but I was scared. The TARDIS gave another lurch and he held me against the controls, keeping hold of one side with his other hand.
Again, he tried to flip some levers and press buttons, but nothing seemed to have happened. In fact, it seemed to make the whole place shake even more.
"Ah no! Ah no, no. No!"
"What? Don't just push buttons shouting 'no, no, no!' and not tell me!"
The Doctor gently pushed me away and I held onto the controls next to him.
"I don't mean to panic you, but…and this is a but…I think we've entered a storm."
"Well can't you land! Surely there has to be someplace close-"
"No! We're in the middle of space outside the Expanos universe and no where near we can land with a steady atmosphere! We have to ride through it!" He held onto one side and seemed to try to put his leg over and tried to press another button on the panel.
"What? How far away are we from earth?" I was fuming. He never told me exactly how far he was taking me!
"That's not important! And you'll just yell at me more if I tell you! Now go round the other side and hold that lever down!" He managed to stand up and throw off his jacket.
I stormed over to him, trying to remember steady and stood in front of him.
"YOU are SUCH a pain in the a-" He cut me off by grabbing me by the shoulders and yelling back at me with the same fire.
"And YOU are standing on my foot! Now move and do as your told woman!" He gently pushed me away again towards the lever and I done as I was told.
"If we somehow manage to live through this, you are NEVER coming to my house for ginger biscuits again!"
"That's a not a problem! Hold tight Miss Jori Adler, we're going for a spin!" He grabbing at something which seemed to pull out and make everything shake even more violently.
I closed my eyes and tried to remain calm, focusing on holding down the surprisingly sticky lever. I remember, he yelled something.
I think it was 'Geronimo.'
A short while later…
"Ah lovely," he sipped the cup of tango I'd poured out for him and smiled blissfully, "manky old cup of tea. Why would you ever give me such a thing?"
"Because you asked for it. Anyway…you're surprisingly calm. Considering we just survived a meteor shower in space."
"Oh it was not a meteor shower! Just…small fragments. Not even that!" He gulped down the rest of his drink and smiled at me happily as if I was talking nonsense.
Just the sight of him and he infuriated and intrigued me at the same time. I couldn't help but smile back at him and for a good minute, we just looked at one another.
And then he said the words I'd knew he had to. But I still didn't like them.
"I'll be back. I promise." He gave me a sombre look and his smile lessened but didn't disappear.
"You can't break that promise." I pouted playfully and shuffled a little closer to him.
"I never do. I keep my word."
"You better! You owe me a packet of ginger biscuits."
Both of us laughed and reluctantly began to walk out to the garden and his TARDIS. It was a rather awkward goodbye when I hugged him, but he seemed to make it alright. I felt compelled to pull back and kiss him like in the movies, but for some reason, I knew it wouldn't settle well.
So instead, I pecked him on the cheek.
"And the next time you come, get rid of that awful Fez."
"Hey! Fez' are cool." He winked at me and pulled back, walking into his TARDIS. He waved and gave me one last thumbs up before he disappeared inside.
I watched as he left me, the blue box making a 'whooshing' sound as it went. It wasn't there anymore and I was left staring at a small patch where the flowers were slightly flattened.
It all seemed…strange now. Especially without the man, the Doctor, who I had only met that night.
And I didn't feel tired anymore. I felt exhilarated.
So THAT was how I met the doctor. And he said he'd be back as soon as possible. It's only been a couple of days but I know, however long I wait, he'll be back.
He owes me some ginger biscuits.
