ONE

 Well Sunday, April 13th to be precise. But more about that in a moment…We had landed just around the corner from my parent’s home and in my eagerness to see them again I leapt through the TARDIS doors as soon as we touched down.

 “Thank you Doctor.” I called back over my shoulder as I wandered out into the calm and familiar suburbs of my parent’s neighbourhood.

 Everything was peaceful except for the obligatory dog barking in the distance. Felix the street cat suddenly emerged from under a parked car, I knelt down and stroked the cheeky tomcat. Felix stared up and blinked.

 “Do you want to come inside and take a look little one?”

 I smiled pointing to the TARDIS but the spooked cat suddenly noticing the illuminated doorway, jumped backwards, his eyes widening as he abruptly ran off down the street. It felt good to be home, I hadn’t realized how much I had missed mum and dad… It was evening outside, a touch of rain was in the air and I could smell the lilac in the trees, unmistakably spring. Could it really only be minutes, hours from when I was last here? After all the amazing things I had seen and done, I still found that quite hard to believe. I poked my head back into the TARDIS to see where the Doctor had got to. Was the Doctor really so uncomfortable around families? I suppose I hadn’t really thought the whole thing through, was I going to tell my parents and friends what I had really been doing? It was highly unlikely that anyone would be believe me, even though I was pretty certain I had changed (for the better I hoped) and the one person certain to notice would be my mum. I mean travelling to the future and spending time in a space hotel in the 41st century and drinking tea with Emily Bronte at the parsonage, these kinds of experiences were bound to change you. And then there was the Doctor, the most impossible man in the Universe- “Mum, Dad, meet the Doctor, the last of the Time Lords, we travel through time and space together…” For the first time I realized that I now had this extraordinary, separate life from my loved ones and I was about to go and make things complicated…

 “What’s the matter?”  I called across the TARDIS control room at the Doctor who appeared to be preoccupied with something on the console.

 The Doctor looked up, for a strange, fleeting moment of insecurity I thought he wanted to say goodbye. But the Doctor knew I wasn’t ready to part company yet.

 “The date’s wrong and I don’t know why…” The Doctor frowned, my heart was in my mouth, was we too far in the past or was it the future? “One moment, the readings on the console said the 6th and the moment before you opened the doors Anna, there was a power surge and we jumped forward in time…Well the old girl has been known to be a bit temperamental…” The Doctor pondered, for the first time at a loss for an explanation.

 But to me the TARDIS was just as much an enigma as the Doctor and as I patted my piece of the time machine in my pocket I was in no doubt that the TARDIS was a living entity with independent thought.

 “Where are we?” I interrupted nervously.

 “Oh only a week in your future. I have been known to get companion’s time streams a tiny bit wrong before…” The Doctor smiled dismissively, scratching the back of his head.

 A week was no time at all for a Time Lord but to me that was too long to be away from home without contacting anyone. I was just about to enter the TARDIS and ask whether we could try again when I heard footsteps echoing down the street.

 “Anna!” The distraught voices trembled with disbelief and utter relief. I turned round and saw my mum and dad standing across the road.

 “Oh no…” This really was not meant to happen but it was too late to do anything as I heard the Doctor running across the control room to join me.

 “My God… You’re safe girl!” My dad shouted as my parents began to run across the road towards me. Dressed in heavy duty outdoor clothes, the pair of them looked exhausted as though they had been continuously pounding the streets…

 I was stood in the crossfire, my two worlds were colliding and there wasn’t a thing I could do to stop it. The Doctor emerged from the TARDIS and discreetly closed the door behind him, I looked up and he actually appeared to be enjoying this family reunion as a huge smile of greeting spread across his face. But the Doctor obviously hadn’t met my mother yet…The Doctor stepped aside as I felt my parents throw their arms around me and drown me in their love and kisses, it was a little overwhelming but it felt good as I held onto them tightly. Eventually the three of us pulled away, there was a long pause of awkwardness as I began to feel very guilty for leaving my parents; they must have thought something terrible had happened to me. My mum; stood back and stared long and hard at the Doctor, she glanced over at me and demanded.

 “Well…What the hell’s going on? Where have you been Anna?”

 The Doctor, who had faced a multitude of dangers and every conceivable terror in the Universe very bravely extended his hand in greeting. My mum stared down coldly at the Doctor’s hand, she then simply straightened back her shoulders and in response, slapped the Doctor right across the face. Mum’s voice erupted with anger across the whole neighbourhood.

 “What have you been doing with my daughter in that box?!”