Amy swung her feet as her eyes swivelled around the room, taking everything in.
Her eyes were red and puffy.
It wasn't her aunt's fault.
How could she have known that it would affect her that way?
"Amelia. Today we... we're going to see the Doctor." her aunt had said uneasily.
Amy's eyes lit up.
"Really?" she said excitedly.
"Y-yes." Sharon said, confused as to why Amy would be so happy.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Amy hugged her aunt and ran upstairs to change.
And now she was here.
She couldn't help but cry when she found out it wasn't him, but instead just a psychiatrist in an office.
She looked around.
In the corner were two dolls houses.
In one stood a mother doll, in one stood a father doll, and in between were several dolls of children.
Amy had heard of this from some children at school - when your parents got divorced, they took you to a counsellor or psychiatrist to find out where you wanted to live.
There was a little boy doll stood next to the dad doll.
The mother stood all alone, looking too sad in a house that seemed far too big for just her.
Ghosts of a decision another child had to make.
She wondered whether the boy was happy with his dad.
Did he miss his mum?
Did she miss him?
Or, like Jonny (another boy at school)'s mum, had she married someone else and had his kids and forgotten all about her little boy?
It seemed that, wherever the doll was, there would always be shadows in the corner, dark times that could not be controlled or stopped, things that would make the little boy question whether his decision was the right one.
Amy's gaze shifted to the wall, where there were pictures.
One was of a little girl and her parents.
All were grinning, hugging together.
Next to it, there was a picture, taken a few years later of the girl and her dad, both still grinning but looking less happy.
Seeing Amy look, the psychiatrist walked over to the picture.
"That's Leanne. Her parents seperated and look, still great relationship. First photo taken just after the divorce!" the psychaitrist, Dr. Mia, beamed.
"Where's the mum in that?" Amy pointed to the second picture and saw Dr. Mia's face fall.
"Well, er... sometimes, when people get divorced, they can get sad and... unfortunately, Leanne's mother got very, very sad and decided she didn't want to live anymore." Dr Mia said cautiosusly.
"I'm very very sad." Amelia murmured.
The psychiatrist looked a little uneasy.
"I won't do that, will I?" Amelia asked shakily.
"No! No of course not!" Dr. Mia said.
"Why am I here? If all these people were here because their parents were divorced?" Amy asked.
"Well, I'm a Doctor for lots of things. I'm a counsellor, and a psychiatrist. I both help people find out what they're thinking, and find out why they are like that." Dr. Mia explained, returning to her seat.
Amelia remained silent, siting down in her chair.
"And, you're here because I hear you have an imaginary friend."
"He's not imaginary." Amy said automatically.
"So, Amelia... tell me about him. How did you become friends?"
Amy proceeded to tell Dr. Mia about the night he'd appeared in her garden, how he'd promised five minutes and never came back.
"He told me he was a Doctor too. He said he could help me, that he'd come back for me." Amelia said.
Dr. Mia seemed a little shaky, and after a few deep breaths she leaned forward, smiling at Amelia.
"Amelia... how old was this man?" Dr. Mia asked.
"I dunno... looked in his twenties? I think." Amelia said.
Leaning back in her chair, closing her eyes, Dr. Mia sighed in defeat.
"He looked weird though. His clothes were all ripped and he asked if I called the police. He seemed a little worried if I had." Amy said, worried at how Dr. Mia had reacted.
"Amelia... this man. You're sure he's real?"
"Yes!"
"Are you sure? It's very important you tell the truth."
"I'm not lying!"
"I didn't think you were. Amelia, did this man hurt you in any way?"
"What? No of course not! He was nice, he let me eat ice cream!"
"So... he let you have a treat?"
"Yes!"
"Right... Amelia, have you ever heard of something called art therapy?"
"No."
"What it is, is, sometimes, people find it hard to talk about things that have happened to them. By drawing things, it helps me to see what they are thinking, and perhaps the things they are too afraid to say out loud."
"OK..." Amelia said, unsure.
Amelia sat with the four sheets of paper and the pencil in front of her.
"Right Amelia. First, I would like you to draw a house." Dr. Mia sat opposite Amy and waited until she had finished drawing.
The house was just a simple playschool sketch really, but it was strangely big, looking oversized and wonky.
"Right. Is this a happy house Amelia?" Dr. Mia asked.
"How can a house be happy?" Amy asked, a little scornfully.
"OK... well why is it so big?" Dr. Mia asked.
Amy looked down, surprised.
"Oh... I didn't realise I drew it so big... did I draw it wrong?" Amy wondered.
"No of course not. There is no right way or-"
"Too many rooms."Amy said.
"What?"
"That's why I drew it so big. The house I live in is huge, five rooms on just the second floor, and only me and Aunt Sharon live there." Amy seemed stunned.
"Amelia, whose house is this?"
"Mine."
"In the picture, does the house make you feel happy?"
"Not yet."
"Not... yet?"
Amy leaned down and quickly scribbled something onto the page.
Dr. Mia saw a box labelled "POLICE" lieing on it's side in front of the house.
"Amelia, is the house a happy one now?" Dr. Mia asked.
"Yes."
"What is it about the box that makes you happy?"
"It's his box. The Doctor's. I was sad and alone in that big empty house, and then he came. His box had so many rooms, a swimming pool in a library, loads more than my house. I didn't get to see it though, he left before I could. But seeing him, all alone, in his big empty box with much more rooms than I had, made my house seem so small. It wasn't big and empty any more. " Amy smiled.
The next thing she had to draw was a tree.
Amy wondered why this was helping her, and what the psychiatrist could get from a picture.
Amy finished the tree quickly, bored.
"It's a lovely tree Amelia... and what a nice bird! But why is it in a cage?" Dr. Mia asked.
"It got trapped. It wants to be free." she responded.
Dr Mia hesitated.
"Amelia, does this bird represent you?" Dr Mia asked cautiously.
"Don't be stupid, it's just a bird!" Amy replied.
"Then why is it wearing your red wellie boots?"
This time, Amy had to draw a person.
She drew a girl, with a long dress and long hair.
Before Amy could draw her face, Dr Mia asked:
"Amelia, is the girl happy?"
"No, she's sad." Amy stated as she drew a curve for a frown on the girls face.
"Why is she sad Amelia?" Dr Mia whispered.
"She's lonely. Like me." Amy said quietly, drawing dots on the girls dress.
"Why don't you draw her some friends?" Dr Mia suggested.
"No! No one likes her. They think she's weird. They thinks she's crazy. They think she's a liar." tears formed in Amy's eyes as her pencil dug harder into the paper, making the frown more defined.
"I'm sure someone likes her!" Dr Mia said cheerfully.
"No, they don't! The only person who liked her was the Doctor, and he's GONE!" Amy yelled, the page ripping under the tug of her pencil.
Tears spilled down Amy's face.
"Amelia... is that girl you?" Dr Mia asked, and Amelia nodded.
"Amelia, if people at school are-"
"I can take care of myself!" Amelia said hotly, swiping the tears away angrily.
"Ok. I was going to do one last drawing, but if you-"
"I can draw, I'm not a wuss!" Amy said angrily, pulling the paper towards her.
"Usually, I would get people to draw their family, but I think I'll try something different. Amelia, I want you to draw the night the Doctor came." Dr Mia said.
Amy's hand flew around the page, forming the same shapes she had drawn millions of times before, the same picture that was repeated and plastered over her walls at home.
A little girl in her nightie, holding the hand of a tall man with big hair, raggedy clothes and a huge smile.
The girl's smile mirrored his, as Amy drew a crack next to them.
She then drew the box, crashing into a shed, and a bowl of something and fishfingers.
By the time she had finished, the tears were long gone and she was smiling.
"That's him. The Doctor." she said, tapping her finger on the man with the raggedy clothes.
"You're holding hands." Dr Mia stated.
"Yes. Just before he said the crack in my wall was dangerous, and he'd take me away. So I packed my suitcase and waited, but he never came." Amy told her.
Dr Mia just stared blankly at the page, and then looked up quickly and smiled.
"Thank you Amelia. I think I'll be seeing you sometime next week. If you'd like to wait outside while I have a little talk with your Aunt?"
"Please tell me something good doctor, I mean I just don't know what to do, first voices in her wall, now an imaginary friend!" Sharon threw her hands up in despair.
"First thing you should know, Miss Pond ,is that I believe that Amelia's imaginary friend is very real. Look at these drawings." Dr Mia spread the pictures out gravely.
"The first - all I told her to draw was a house. She said it was her house, too big, too empty, too many rooms. A sad house. And then she drew the box and she was happy. She said it was the Doctor's box, that he arrived in it and that he made the house happy. This could suggest that Amy has issues at home, or that there is something about the house that scares her." Dr Mia said.
"But... Amelia and I get on very well, she was always a happy, bright girl until the night she supposedly met the Doctor!" Sharon was surprised.
"Perhaps it isn't that her previous home life was unsatisfactory or unpleasant, but that, after being promised the stars by this man, the other alternatives paled in comparison?" Dr Mia suggested.
"That must be it... I tried, so much, I mean she lost her parents, I was all she had, I tried to be the best I could but hearing the voices and then-" Sharon began to get upset, tears dripping down her face.
"I'm sure you did. And it's not your fault. I'm sure it is just that she wants to see the stars, especially in her next drawing - I think the bird is meant to be her. See how it's trapped, and wearing her boots? She seems to feel as though she wants to get out there, do other things - healthy motivation really. But the next one... it shows her. And she's sad, really sad. I'm worried about Amelia. If I'm right, this child is her, and she seems very upset, very angry. She said no one likes the girl, that they think she's weird. Could Amelia be being bullied?" Dr Mia said concerned.
"I... I suppose... she does seem to get in a lot of fights..." Sharon sniffed.
"Perhaps you should address the situation thoroughly - it seems to have affected her very strongly. But the last picture... well, that is the one that was most disturbing." Dr Mia explained gravely.
"What is it?" Sharon asked, worried.
"Normally I'd ask her to do a family picture. However, given the circumstances, I thought perhaps she should draw a picture of the night she 'met' the Doctor." Dr Mia said.
"Oh not this again. He's imaginary, why can't she see that?" Sharon sighed.
"Miss Pond, in my opinion this Doctor is not imaginary. He is very real." Dr Mia said seriously.
"W-what?" Sharon said, incredulous.
"Sharon, Amelia is no liar. She doesn't make things up. From my point of view, if she did have an imaginary friend, she would be able to tell the difference between her play and the real world. And for that reason I think the Doctor really did come to your house that night. A strange man, wearing raggedy clothes, giving her treats, making her trust him, telling her he was a Doctor, that he could help her, saying he could take her to see whole other planets... in a way, he's a stranger in a playground offering children sweets if they come with him. I think that this man was very real and that you are very lucky that, for whatever reason, he did not return that night. Because if he had... I think you were most likely to wake up in the morning to find Amelia gone or... dead." Dr Mia explained gravely.
"What?" Sharon whispered, more tears streaming down her face.
"Sharon, you did the right thing coming here. I think, on the sole purpose of protecting other children from the fate Amelia so narrowly escaped, it would be best if we involved someone else." Dr Mia said gently.
"Who?" Sharon sobbed.
"The police."
Please R&R! I may have to delete a story, due to piles of homeowrk and too much writing, and I don't want it to be this one :(
Mrs DW 11 xx