I felt a tiny bit faint. Almost being shot by aliens that were after something that I had never heard of: that was one thing, but going from reading about the Doctor's exploits to meeting him: that was something else entirely.
"Yep," he confirmed. "That's me. But they'll be after us and I don't think a half a mile is enough to lose them. Come on."
"Elisabeth?" Jeni asked when I didn't immediately follow.
"It's finally happened," I mumbled through my shock.
"What's finally happened?" the Doctor asked immediately concerned.
"And of all the crappy luck," I muttered. "It's just not fair!"
"Is she okay?" the Doctor asked Jeni, who shrugged in response.
"I've finally lost my mind and I get stuck with the demented imaginings of some UFO crackpot!" I laughed hysterically. "You've finally managed to make me lose it, Jen. And I thought I was doing so well, too. You finally managed to corrupt my poor, itty-bitty mind. Oh, crap, this is not going to go over well at home. We just don't have the money to hire a decent psychiatrist…"
"Elisabeth, you have not lost your mind," Jeni said, rolling her eyes. I would have considered this very kind of her until she tacked on: "Idiot. You don't have this good of an imagination anyway."
I looked at the police box doubtfully and then at the Doctor, who gave me an encouraging smile.
"All right, on the off chance that I am not having some sort of mental breakdown, maybe I'd better not stay here," I muttered hesitantly and then added hopefully: "Maybe I'm in shock?"
"Yeah, come on, Liz," Jeni said as she grabbed my arm and dragged me along after the Doctor.
The Doctor quickly walked up to the police box and slotted a perfectly ordinary looking, golden-colored key into a latch on the door. With a small flourish he turned the key, pushed opened the door, and motioned us to go on inside of the tiny, wooden structure.
A little puzzled, Jeni and I stepped inside.
"Are you sure I haven't lost it?" I repeated to Jeni as I tried to wrap my head around what I was seeing. "'Cause this is really, really not possible."
"Yep, it's bigger on the inside," the Doctor confirmed, trying but not altogether succeeding at hiding his amusement at our awe-struck expressions.
"I'm insane," I stated. "There isn't any way around it. I've finally lost my mind."
I took a dozen or so steps forward, still half-hoping that I would crash into the back wall of the tiny box, up a small ramp until I stood next to a console with strange glyphs and devices on it and a glowing column that stretched up to a ceiling that must have been twelve feet above my head. There was a strange and very alien hum being given off by the console that was somehow oddly comforting. I turned around and took in the coral-like support structures and the honey-combed walls.
I absently-mindedly set my book down on the chair next to the console as the Doctor explained: "This is my TARDIS. It's my spaceship and time machine."
I saw Jeni's eyes light up like a kid's on Christmas Day. Whether or not this was an insane delusion I knew enough to say: "Don't even think about it, Jen."
"Ah, can't I?" she grumbled, pouting at me.
"You? In a time machine?" I shuddered at the very thought of such a disaster.
Author's Note: Sorry about the delay in updating and how short this chapter is. I can guarantee that the next chapter will be longer, and hopefully much more exciting. Much thanks to schwans and wishyfishy for reviewing... it is so nice to know that someone is reading this, other than me!