Ruri Rodgers sat on a park bench, her ginger locks blowing ever so slightly in the wind as she had her eyes fixated on the book in her lap - 'The Angels Kiss' by Melody Malone. It was a truly captivating book... Such adventures and madness. It felt as if the characters were in fact real people. Ruri had reached the last page, she turned it, seeing an afterword by Amelia Williams. Those were always interesting. She began to read it carefully. 'Hello old friend, here we are, you and me, on the last page...' It felt like Amelia was talking directly to her... She reached the middle of the paragraph, realising Amelia was actually talking to someone directly... Someone called 'Doctor'. Who was this mystery 'Doctor'? She finally reached the end of the afterword, not noticing tears had leaked from her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away, closing the book. The last line is what set her off... 'This is the story of Amelia Pond, and this is how it ends.' Such sadness in that sentence... Ruri peered up after wiping away the tears to see a man sat on the opposite bench, looking lonely. He looked sad... He was watching everyone who walked by carefully, observing every move. 'Don't be alone, Doctor.' The words ran through her head. No one should be alone. She picked up her bag and her book and started to walk across to where he was seated. He hadn't noticed her approaching him. She sat beside him, peering at him out the corner of her eye before finally speaking.

"Nice bow tie." Ruri commented, not really knowing how to start a conversation with a random stranger. It sounded silly but she didn't want to be boring. She didn't want to start with something boring like 'the weather's nice'. Why be boring when you can be different? The man glanced over at his company before smiling slightly and straightening the bow tie.

"Thanks. It's cool." He said with a small smile, looking down again at his feet, kicking the gravel lightly. He then looked at her, his gaze turning straight to her hair. "Nice hair. It's also cool." He nodded. "Ginger. Always wanted to be ginger." He whined slightly. "I had a friend who was ginger... Actually had two..." He paused, the sadness creeping back onto his face. "Gone now." He said quietly, but loud enough for Ruri to hear. She sighed, feeling his sadness radiate off him. She didn't quite know what to say. She didn't know what this man had been through. She then found him peering at the book she was holding in her hands on her lap and his eyes seemed distant... And slightly glazed over, looking like tears were forming.

"Have... Have you read it before?" Ruri asked quietly, gesturing to the book, not wanting to upset him further but couldn't ignore his reaction to the object in her hand. He nodded slowly.

"Once. Never again since... Too many memories..." He said softly, causing Ruri to furrow her eyebrows in confusion. What did he mean? "Did you read the afterword?" His eyes snapped up to meet her own.

"Yes." She smiled slightly. "It's amazing... What words can do to someone... What they can mean to someone." She tried to read his expression, his eyes seemed to still be distant, like he was remembering. "Whoever this Doctor fellow is though-" She paused. "Whoever he is... She's right. He shouldn't be lonely." The mans expression seemed to change...

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "But what if he should be lonely? What if he deserves to be lonely? After everything he's done to all the people he's known... Whether he dropped them off one day and left them, not looking back because it hurts too much? Because he's a selfish old man who puts people in danger... Who has the people he loves taken away from him?" His voice began to fade as he pulled his gaze away, staring back at the ground. Ruri could see the emotion in his eyes, the regret, the sadness and anger at himself.

"Well, I'd say, even if he has made some mistakes, he doesn't deserve to be lonely... He doesn't want to be hurt, like the rest of us don't want to be hurt... We push people away..." Ruri began. "And if those people stayed with him through the danger... He must be worth it." She hadn't noticed he was looking back at her. He gave her a small smile before standing up, turning to her.

"Thank you." He said, kindness in his voice, as he gave Ruri one last smile before wandering off down the path, disappearing out of sight. Ruri watched carefully. She didn't even ask his name. Nor he hers. But she smiled as she took one last look at the book in her hand, putting it in her bag and heading home.

I hope the Doctor is in character! I enjoy writing Eleven!

Thank you for reading!