(So, I wrote this at the end of NaNoWriMo in 2013. It's a crossover because Sophie was a character from my story. It's not the best piece of writing ever, but I like the dialogue)
The first thing Sophie saw when she walked outside was
the box. Thinking about it, she wasn’t sure that box really was the correct
word. Certainly, what was standing in the snow was box-shaped, but it was
human-sized, unlike anything she had ever seen before. Although she had no
particular interest in it, she wanted very much to learn what was inside it.
It seemed to have doors, in the front. Sophie walked up
to them instinctively to knock, but thought better of it. First, she should
investigate this strange thing. She was well aware that she should move on, but
this wouldn’t take very long, and there was no one around to judge her anyway.
The hour was too early and the morning too cold for any sensible person.
Walking all around it, Sophie observed panelled sides,
all of them painted a royal blue, though judging by its hue it might have once
been darker. The box, however, seemed otherwise undamaged; the paint was not
cracked or scratched, and the panels still perfectly smooth. Along the top
there was writing, tight and curiously packed. She strained her eyes against
the falling snow. Police… public call… box. It made absolutely no sense. Well,
at least someone had possessed the good sense to label it a box, she thought
dryly.
As she came back around to the front, Sophie decided to
examine the door once again. There was a white panel on it, which held an
inscription of some sort. She examined this briefly, but it too raised more
questions than it answered. What was this thing, and what was it doing out
here? The tiny keyhole wouldn’t fit any key she had ever seen, so Sophie
decided that the wisest course of action would be to knock.
“Hello?” She didn’t expect an answer, but someone had to
be behind the appearance of this strange thing.
The door opened abruptly, and a tall man popped his head
out. “Did somebody call? Oh, hello there. Been a while since I’ve seen anyone.”
He was, first and foremost, extremely skinny. The pants
and shirt he wore — both of an unknown style and fabric to Sophie — seemed to
simultaneously hang off him and be a perfect fit. It was immensely confusing,
so she decided to simply ignore it. His face was very angular, matching the
rest of him rather nicely. His hair, on the other hand, looked so unruly as to
be at odds with his head. It stuck out at a great many angles, such that no two
strands were parallel. Sophie’s gaze did not linger there however. It was rude
to stare.
“Who are you?” she asked, aware that she seemed impolite.
This whole situation was too strange for niceties, however, and Sophie was
aware that she should be on her way. “And what is this strange box?”
“Me? Oh, I’m nobody. Just a simple man and his box.” His
voice was a little strained, and he was talking very quickly. “Sorry to bother
you, I’d best be getting back inside—”
“It’s a rather small box, isn’t it?” Sophie wasn’t an
idiot, and she knew the signs when someone was trying to get rid of her. “What
are you doing in there?”
He laughed rather suddenly, catching her off guard.
“Knitting, actually. I’d show you, but it’s a bit out of reach from here.”
“Out of reach? How can it be out of reach? That box is
tiny.” Sophie should know. She had walked all round it.
“Oh, there I go again, saying things I shouldn’t. Listen,
I have things to be getting on with, and I would really rather not be chatting
about the TARDIS to someone I don’t even know.” He began to close the door
rather quickly, and Sophie impulsively stuck her foot in the gap.
“TARDIS? Is that what this thing is called?”
“Um…” He seemed to be a little lost for words. “Yes.”
“Huh.” Sophie didn’t know what else to say, but she
filled the silence with something anyway. “I don’t mean to bother you, but I
haven’t ever seen something like this before. How do you fit?”
“Fit? Easily.”
As if that explained anything. “May I come in?”
“Well, I don’t suppose it’ll do any harm.” The strange
man opened the door once again, a wry smile on his face. “And here I was,
simply settling down for a bit of quiet.”
Sophie shook her head and had her first look inside the
box — the TARDIS. She very nearly passed out with shock.
It was, simply put, enormous. The inside was at least ten
— no, twenty — times bigger than the outside led you to believe. How was it
done? Her first thought was mirrors, but such an effect couldn’t just be done
like that. The man walked inside and her hunch was confirmed. It was as if
space itself had been stretched, to accommodate the insides of this thing. How
that had happened was unfathomable.
In the centre of the space was a six sided metal thing,
with controls all round it, such that she had never seen before. From the
centre of that rose a clear round pillar, with a bubbling green liquid inside
it. The whole space was completely surreal, so much so that Sophie had to pinch
herself to make absolutely sure that she wasn’t dreaming. She was not, which
only served to make the whole thing seem that much more absurd.
“What do you think?” asked the man, a knowing smile on
his face.
“It’s…” She struggled to find the right words, and put
them in the right order. “…bigger inside, on the.” And failed. Sophie shook her
head. “Wow.”
“Wow is right.” The man grinned widely, exposing rows of
perfect teeth. “My name’s the Doctor, by the way.”
“Doctor? What kind of doctor are you?”
Another laugh, no more expected than the first. “Not the
kind you’re used to, I’m sure. It’s what I call myself. A nickname, if you
will.”
“Then what’s your real name?”
“That’s not important. Who are you, anyway? I like to
know who I’ve let into my TARDIS, after all.”
“Oh, of course.” Sophie blushed. “Where are my manners?
My name is Sophie, pleased to meet you.” She held out a hand, just as she had
been taught to do. Why, her parents would have skinned her alive for such an
affront to a person.
The Doctor took her hand and shook it rather tentatively.
His grip was a little weak, but his hands were warm. “Glad to have met you,
Sophie. Welcome aboard.”
“Aboard?”
“You do ask a lot of questions, don’t you? Though I
suppose I invite them. This, my dear, is far more than simply a box. It moves,
too.”
Did it? Sophie had enough presence of mind not to ask
another question. She simply couldn’t seem to help it, but if it fazed him she
would try to stop. Who was this man? This enigmatic, eccentric and completely
intriguing man. She had to know more.
“Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS. It’s an
acronym, you see.”
If Sophie had known what an acronym was, she surely would
have replied. Instead, she continued to drink in the experience, and kept her
mouth well shut. What wonders the universe held, indeed! If only her mother, or
even her father, could see her now! What would they say to her, to find her
with a strange man inside his moving blue ‘police public call box’? Probably
nothing good, so Sophie did not try and imagine it.
“What’s wrong with you? Cat got your tongue?”
“Cat got my what?” Sophie sighed. “It’s a lot to take
in.”
“I’ll say.” The Doctor smiled. “You’re doing very well
not to panic, though.”
“Am I?” Another question. Those seemed to be the only
things she could articulate at the moment. “I think the panic is waiting to
burst out later.” Might as well be truthful.
“Really? You humans are funny creatures, aren’t you?”
“Us humans?” There she went again. “What are you, then?
Some kind of alien?” It was a rhetorical question. She wasn’t actually
expecting an answer.
“Yes, actually.” Well, she’d gotten one anyway. Who was
this person? Not human? That was completely and utterly absurd.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Of course you don’t. I just showed you a box that’s
bigger on the inside—” There was that expression again, said correctly this
time. “—and you won’t believe that I’m an alien. You know that thing I said
about loving humans? I think I take it back. You people have such tiny minds
sometimes.”
“Watch your tongue, sir! I will not stand for slander
like that.” Sophie sighed, and then remembered that he hadn’t said anything
about loving humans. She decided to let it slide. “Well, let’s say for a moment
you do come from somewhere alien. Why would you look like a human?”
“Oh, you lot really do think that you’re the centre of
the universe, don’t you? Well, let’s call it evolution. The human form is quite
a good one after all, isn’t it? Although I will say that it may be you who look
like us.” He shook his head and flopped down on a chair. “Honestly, the things
you people come up with.”
“You can be a rude alien, can’t you?” Sophie smiled
despite herself. “Though I don’t believe it’s on purpose.”
“Certainly not. Manners of a saint, usually. Better,
actually. Met a couple of saints. Terrible table manners, never seemed to wash.
Anyway, what are you doing aboard the TARDIS?”
Having a look around, it seemed, although there was
something else about this place which tugged at the mind. “You let me in, and
I’m naturally curious.” Sophie smiled. It wasn’t entirely her fault. “This
place is fascinating, and quite beautiful, in its own way. How does it all
work?”
“It would take rather a lot too much explanation to tell
you that.” The Doctor’s grin was growing wider by the second. “If you were a
great deal more clever, I might attempt to tell you.”
More clever? Sophie frowned.
The Doctor scratched his head. “Actually, it’s just that
you’d need a physics degree just to get your head around even half of this
stuff.”
“What’s physics… oh, never mind. It’s a beautiful
machine, anyway.”
“Oh, I think she’ll like that.”
“Who will?” Was there a woman here somewhere, in one of
the corridors which lead out of here?
“Um…” The Doctor bit his lip. “The TARDIS.”
“The… the box?” Now this was really getting crazy.
“Yeah. She’s sentient.”
Wow. This was a lot to take in. “Let me get this
straight. The box is a woman?”
“Yes.”
Despite her best efforts, Sophie began to panic.
