The TARDIS's engines echoed across the heath, almost completely lost in the howling winds that constantly battered the land. When the ship had settled, and solidified itself, the door opened and Clara Oswald stepped out onto the grass. She instantly pulled her jacket tightly around herself, screwing up her face as the wind bit at it.
'Doctor?' she shouted back through the still open door of the TARDIS. 'You've done it again!'
'Done what?' the Doctor called back, sticking his own head out through the doors. 'What's wrong?'
'This isn't London! This is... I don't know where this is.'
The Doctor stepped fully out of the TARDIS and closed the door, pulling his collar up against the wind. 'So? If ask me, it's an improvement.'
'But you're supposed to be taking me home!' Clara raised her voice again as another gust of wind swept past. 'I suppose I could get a train... If I knew where we were.'
'I doubt that's possible,' said the Doctor, pointing to the sky. 'Look.'
Clara turned her own gaze to the heavens - even after all she'd seen with the Doctor, this was something else. They obviously weren't on Earth - a giant nebula was spread across the sky, angry-crimson strands twisting across the stars.
'That's amazing!' Clara exclaimed, hardly able to take her eyes off it. 'How close is it?'
'I think we must be right on the edge,' the Doctor replied. 'Most ships wouldn't make it this close without heavy shielding - their sensors would scramble, and they'd probably crash on this moon.'
'Is the TARDIS alright?' Clara asked. 'I mean, we'll be able to leave again, won't we?'
'The TARDIS is far more advanced than anything that might be troubled by this nebula,' the Doctor replied. 'She'll be fine - but we might not be, this storm's picking up. We'd better find shelter.'
'We could just get back in the TARDIS,' Clara pointed out.
'That's cheating!' the Doctor replied. 'Come on, let's have a look around.'
They set off along the heath, walking perpendicular to the wind. It was rather difficult going - every time a particularly strong gust of wind blew past, they had to stop and brace themselves to stay on their feet. An irritating rain began to pelt them, adding to their discomfort.
'Doctor, look!' Clara shouted after about ten minutes of walking. 'Is that a house?'
It was, although it looked as though it had seen better days. It was a manor-style house, with an exterior of chipped plaster and peeling paint. A rusting fence gave the house a perimeter, and even though the gate was locked shut with a large padlock, it snapped open when the Doctor applied a little force to it. They quickly walked up the front steps, and the Doctor knocked on the door several times.
'Let's just hope someone's home,' he muttered. They didn't have to wait long - a minute passed by and the door opened. An old man was on the other side, looking at the Doctor and Clara with some surprise.
'Good lord!' he exclaimed. 'I wasn't expecting... I mean, I didn't think anyone could...'
'I don't mean any offence, but by the time you manage to finish one of those sentences, my friend and I will have frozen to death,' said the Doctor. 'Could we come in?'
'Of course, of course!' the old man exclaimed, standing aside to let the Doctor and Clara up into the house. They didn't waste any time, and entered - the old man shut the door behind them, turning a large key in the lock before engaging several thick bolts. He dropped the key into his coat pocket, before turning back to the Doctor and Clara.
'Thanks for sheltering us,' said Clara. 'And sorry about the Doctor, he can be a bit abrasive, but he means well.'
'Not at all, my dear,' said the old man. 'It doesn't bother me in the slightest - I'm just delighted to see people. I've been alone here for so long...'
'You crashed here, presumably,' said the Doctor.
'A very long time ago,' the old man nodded. 'The nebula interfered with our ship's navigation systems - it's a miracle that any of us survived the crash.'
'Us?' said the Doctor. 'But you said you were alone just now. Who else was with you?'
'Ah, my family - once we were many in number, but sadly I am all that remains,' said the old man. 'But I've been terribly rude - I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Carson.'
'I'm Clara, and this is the Doctor.'
'Wonderful!' Carson exclaimed, his face beaming into a smile. 'Please, come this way - I'll make a pot of tea and we can have a chat.'
He turned, and disappeared through a door at the side of the entrance hall. Clara began to follow him, but stopped when she realised that the Doctor was still standing by the door. He was looking up at a painting on the wall, of what appeared to be a Christmas tree standing outside a large palace.
'Doctor, what's wrong?' Clara asked. It was a few seconds before the Doctor reacted - he snapped out of his reverie instantly, throwing a wide, slightly unnerving smile on.
'Nothing,' he said. 'I just thought that painting looked familiar.'
Then he followed Carson through the door, leaving Clara alone in the entrance hall. She looked up at the painting, studying it more closely. The tree looked somewhat dilapidated and sad, while the palace behind was brightly lit. There was seemingly something wrong with the painting, but it was a few seconds before Clara realised what that was - both the palace and tree seemed to be indoors. The painter had rendered a cavern roof above the palace, and Clara wondered why.
Then she heard the Doctor and Carson talking in the next room, and she hurried to join them.
The door led through to an expansive drawing room - Carson had drawn a few chairs up around the fireplace, which had been recently lit. Then he'd disappeared through another side door before returning with a tray laden with cups and a teapot. He filled the cups with tea before handing one each to the Doctor and Clara.
'This is quite a big house for one person,' said the Doctor, taking a sip of tea.
'Yes, although as I said before, I wasn't always alone,' said Carson. 'Indeed, my relatives were once quite numerous - in my family's heyday, you could hardly move in this house for all the brothers and sisters, cousins and suchlike. But not anymore.'
'What happened to them?' the Doctor asked.
'Doctor...' Clara shot him a warning look – since Carson was along in the house, this could potentially be a painful subject for their host.
'Oh, it's alright my dear. Really, I'm grateful for the conversation,' Carson chuckled. 'It was simply time that claimed my family. Nothing lasts forever.'
'Is that them?' Clara asked, pointing to the mantelpiece above the fireplace, where a series of weathered-looking photographs sat in decaying silver frames. She stood up and approached the pictures, looking at each one in turn. Her eyes lingered on one of a young woman in a nurse's uniform - she appeared to be standing outside the palace from the painting in the entrance hall, only this time there was no Christmas tree at its front. Carson noticed this and smiled.
'My sister, Ingrid,' he said. 'That was the first day of her job - she only had one job before we had to leave home, sadly. We were all so proud of her.'
'Why did you have to leave home?' Clara asked.
'Our planet was unstable,' said Carson. 'Everyone was leaving - our family was rather better off than most, so we could afford our own transport off-world. Our planet's scientists had found our people another world, far away across the stars. We were hoping to travel to it, but the nebula trounced our ambitions, and we crashed here. With no way to leave this moon, we were stranded and had to make our life here.'
'I'm sorry, you must have been devastated,' said Clara, returning to her chair.
'Oh, it's been perfectly fine,' said Carson. 'It was difficult in the beginning, but over time we came to appreciate the simpler life that we could live here. Admittedly the storms can get rather ferocious, but that's simply part and parcel of living next door to a nebula.'
'And now it's just you, on your own?' the Doctor asked. Carson smiled sadly.
'Just so, I'm afraid,' he said. 'It is rather sad, I know but that can't be helped. That's why I was so surprised to see you earlier - I haven't seen another living soul in years. And now that you're here - I suppose I'll have to get used to the company again.'
'Excuse me?' The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
'Well, you must have crashed here as well,' said Carson. 'No ship could survive the landing, not in this storm or this close to the nebula.'
'Our ship is in perfect working order,' said the Doctor. 'And as soon as the storm dies down, we'll be on our way again.'
'Really?' Carson wore an expression of surprise before he smiled again. 'Well, that's jolly good.'
'You could come with us,' said Clara, drawing a quizzical look from the Doctor. 'I mean, we could take you to that other planet, the one all of your people were trying to reach.'
Carson chuckled and shook his head. 'You're very kind, my dear - but I've spent most of my life here, and this is my home. I'm sure that I can't have many years left and I should like to spend them in familiar surroundings. I'm much too old to go galivanting off to far-away worlds. Anyway, it's getting late. There are bedrooms upstairs, I'll show you up to them - you may use them for as long as you wish. You're my guests, and I'm very glad to have you here.'
A/N: I hope you're enjoying the story so far, please leave a review and follow! It's been ages since I've last written, and I'm quite proud of this new short story. I'll be posting a new chapter tomorrow (Tuesday 21st November), and the third and final one will be out on Wednesday 22nd November.
