TWO

 Of course my mum’s anger was only a display of how much she loves me. And the fact that my parents saw their “missing” daughter and a strange man emerge from a blue box only yards from their front door would quite frankly bewilder anyone. I glared irritably at my mum, embarrassed by her behaviour but then I remembered my twin sister Julia… My parents already know what it is to mourn the loss of a child. Growing up, Julia had been my imaginary friend and playmate. Without realizing it, I think about her all the time and I sometimes wonder what she would have made of all this. If only Julia was here, the Doctor would have had his work cut out with the pair of us…I looked down at the pavement, trying to summon the courage to explain but I didn’t know how to begin. I had literally been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, kind of ironic when you travel through time. I could feel myself burning with guilt for the anxiety that I had unintentionally put my parents through. But I had remembered them, I had returned home, even though the next part was going to be the hardest. The rain was falling heavily by now, there was light spilling from windows across the neighbourhood as a succession of curtains twitched across the road.   

 “Ouch!” The Doctor’s long fingers clutched the side of his face as my reflexes flinched along with him. “Every time Anna… The mother’s catch me out every time.” The Doctor groaned under his breath.

 “Sorry Doctor… Though perhaps that’s not the best turn of phrase.” I winced apologetically and uttered in an aside. I turned to face my parents.

 “Anna… It‘s just not like you to phone, we were out of our minds with worry.” I nodded helplessly at my dad, who appeared to the untrained eyes to be comforting my silently fuming mum but was in fact restraining her by the shoulders. “We’ve had the police involved and everyone searching for you…We didn’t know if it was anything to do with your break up with Mike Hilton. We thought you’d done something to yourself.”

  A terrible rush of horror washed over me as I recalled the last twenty four hours before my disappearance and I was indeed an emotional wreck, it felt like a lifetime ago. That Anna Bailey was a different person. But my parents didn’t know how much my life had changed and you couldn’t blame them for thinking the worse.

 “Mum, Dad. I’m so sorry. This wasn’t supposed to happen. If we could just go inside and let me explain…Everything.” I glanced at the Doctor to confirm whether it was okay for my parents to know. I was relieved to see the Doctor nod in agreement, I didn’t want to lie to my parents.

 “And are you going to explain who this man is?” My mum interrupted impatiently.

 “Look can we just go inside mum.” I was also beginning to lose my patience.

 My mum’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “’Cause the very last words I heard from you were- I may be back tonight, I’ll let you know. I’m with a friend…”

 “I was indeed with a friend and here he is.” I pointed to the Doctor. “Mum, Dad, this is the Doctor…”

 “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Bailey.” The Doctor beamed a little awkwardly, there were no hard feelings about being slapped but this time he stood from a safe distance.

 “Hmm very interesting…” My mum’s eyes narrowed even more, like she was some kind of detective in a terrible TV show as she scrutinized the Doctor. “The very same “Doctor” whom your friend Jasmine described to the police and who was then identified by “Thing” (my mum’s term of address for Mike) who just happened to be the last one to see you Anna, before you disappeared with him and that box.”

 “Of course the CCTV in that part of the city centre wasn’t working that evening.” My dad interrupted awkwardly.

 “Believe me Ma, whatever you’re thinking, in your wildest dreams it won’t come anywhere near to what’s really going on here…” I rolled my eyes, this scene had got to end somehow.

 “Anna sweetheart!” I looked over the road and saw my great aunt Mavis whom I hadn’t seen this far north since Christmas 2003. “Joan…Joan!” The old lady leaned heavily on her stick and shouted over her shoulder. “Our Anna… She’s come back to us safe and sound.”