Thrills

Chapter Two: Moonshine

Isn't it amazing where you get your inspiration from? I was on the dodgems at a fair the other day and I had the sudden thought of : 'Wouldn't it be funny if the Doctor took Rose to a fair?' Sadly I wasn't at home that night so I couldn't write it, but as soon as I got home I wrote several chapters in my official FF notebook!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

xxx

The mixed smells of hotdogs and candyfloss filled Rose's nostrils. She gazed at the colourful rides stretched out in front of her and squeezed the Doctor's hand.

"What are we going on first, then?" she asked.

"Should we start with something simple? A roundabout, maybe?"

"Or - we could go for that!"

Rose was pointing at what looked like two long, thing towers in the distance, lit up in red. There was a rope stretched from each of them, and, though it was hard to see what they were joined too, Rose had seen a similar thing before.

"It's a catapult!" she said happily, "It flings you into the air, and you come back down again."

"Oooh - no thanks," The Doctor shuddered, "If I ever get too drunk to think twice when I'm near one of them, maybe, but while I'm sober I'd prefer to stay closer to the ground."

He walked off slowly, exploring their immediate surroundings.

"Here's a good one!" he called. Rose quickly found what he was looking at - a giant, old-fashioned carousel with elaborate horses that went up and down on their golden poles. The ride had just come to a halt.

"How about it?"

"Yeah, alright!"

Rose paid for both of them, and they clambered onto the ride. Every single horse was different - they all had their own names and everything.

"'Moonshine'," Rose read out loud.

"That's a bit of a corny name," The Doctor examined a horse called Starlight, "But they all are. It is a fairground ride, after all. You choose one, Rose."

"But - aren't you choosing yours?"

"Aren't we going to have one together? There's two saddles on each horse, isn't there? Go on, it'll be fun!"

Rose had been looking forward, in a childish way, to 'racing' the Doctor on their separate horses, but she didn't want to argue.

"Let's have Moonshine, then."

The Doctor sat on the front of their horse, and helped Rose up behind him. Their pole was in between them. Rose wrapped her hands around it.

"It's getting cooler, isn't it?" the Doctor said, shivering.

"Yeah." Rose was too busy peering round at the other horses to pay attention. Every one was beautifully carved, and they were rapidly filling up. When there were no empty horses in sight, the ride started to move. Moonshine rose, painfully slowly, into the air, then descended, getting faster with the carousel. When she was finally going properly, Rose felt like she was flying. She had almost forgotten the childhood thrill of riding a roundabout.

It was even better with the Doctor in front of her.

He was messing about as usual, acting like he was a child. Even over the wind, Rose could hear him whooping. She smiled to herself and settled down to enjoy the rest of the ride.

She was so caught up in a daydream that it was a shock when she began to sloiw down. Trying to wake up a bit, she became aware that she was no longer holding onto the pole, but she had her arms around the Doctor's waist. She couldn't remember moving, but the evidence was right in front of her.

Before the ride had stopped properly, the Doctor slid off Moonshine. He walked up and down, stretching his arms and legs and attracting lots of funny looks. When the carousel jerked to a standstill, he helped Rose down.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" he said, as they jumped onto the muddy grass.

Rose nodded, her mind still whizzing round and round with Moonshine.

"What d'you want to do now? Something big? Really big? Or should we get some food? Toffee apples? It's your choice."

Rose shrugged.

"You're quiet. What's the matter?"

Rose looked up, caught by surprise.

"Oh, I dunno - just tired, I suppose."

"D'you want to go back to the TARDIS?"

"No! No, of course not," Rose brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, "I'm just going to the loo, OK?"

"Alright then."

"See you?"

Rose dodged through the crowd, and was gone in five seconds flat.

xxx

In case you were wondering, this isn't modelled on a real fair. Review please!