TW: suicidal thoughts and actions


Smoke billowed across the Kansas cornfield. The boy who had flattened himself against the ground upon impact pushed himself upright with his palms so that he sat with his knees buckled beneath him. Two women staggered from the grey haze a moment later. Instinctively, he stood and ran toward them. "What happened?"

"A crash," responded one with ash blonde hair. She laughed. "Oh, he thought he'd kill us, but he was wrong."

Neither seemed to bear any wounds, though he still politely asked, "Are you alright?"

The other woman, her black hair snarled, merely coughed in response, as though she had inhaled too much smoke.

No woman I've seen dresses like that. The woman with ash blonde hair wore pantsand a blouse patterned with bright pink umbrellas. The woman with black hair wore a form-fitting black-and-white dress that scarcely reached her kneecaps. It glittered like gold in the faint sunlight filtering through the smoke. They look pretty rich. Maybe some Indians held them for ransom? But they somehow managed to escape.

"How old are you?" asked the woman with ash blonde hair.

"Twelve," he responded.

"Seems about right. Now, about that knife. Don't you think you're a little young to be holding a knife like that?"

The shiny silver metal suddenly seemed scalding; the boy dropped the knife. He intended to drive it through his chest before he heard what he thought to be the heavens splitting. After a bad bout of influenza eradicated his family and then a drought, coupled with scorching temperatures, destroyed their crops, he could no longer afford to keep the family home. I want to be with my family again, not move to the city and live with my kin.

"I won't ask what you meant to do," continued the woman as she stooped down to his level. Her eyes, pale with a touch of brown around the pupil, radiated nothing but patience. There was no chastisement, only curiosity. "But I can see your sadness, and I know it feels." She extended her hand, and the boy shook it. "I'm the Doctor. I can help you."

"Nelson Houck," he replied. "That's my name."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Nelson." The Doctor gestured behind her to the second woman. "That's my friend, Mae."

Mae smiled, although the action seemed forced. "Hi," she choked out.

Beyond them both, the smoke began to clear. Nelson strained his eyes against the haze and thought he saw a large object in the distance. Its edges were sharp like a box's. "What's that?"

"Ah, that." The Doctor said. Nelson started as he realized he had spoken aloud "That's my TARDIS."

"TARDIS?" The word felt strange on his tongue.

"It's an acronym. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It can take you anywhere you want."

"Anywhere?" Nelson felt breathless. Entranced, he stepped toward the blue box looming out of the smoke. The sounds it made echoed his rapid heartbeats. Something about the repetition soothed the dull ache in his chest. This Doctor brought hope.

The Doctor and Mae came up on either side of him, but it was the Doctor who said, "You can't stay where you are. So where do you want to go first?"


A/N: This concludes Echoes.