A Twist In Time

The Streets of Paris

The first thing I noticed about Paris was the smell. It was like someone's sweaty horse took a dump while standing in front of a porta-potty. I stumbled backwards from the stench. Honestly, though, it could never surpass the smell of the pond behind an old house in my neighborhood. As looked around, I noticed that we were at the end of a line of fancily-dressed people in front of the Opera House waiting to buy tickets to tonight's masquerade.

"Stop staring and act like you belong here!", I heard someone loudly whisper in my ear. I slowly turned around to find Liz giving me a pointed look.

"Try whispering a little quieter, maybe?", I hissed back. She responded by rolling her eyes. "That's what I thought." Suddenly, we were at the front of the line.

"How many tickets can I get for you and your lovely daughters this afternoon?", the snobbish looking ticket man said to the Doctor with a prominent French accent.

"Five please."

"That will be 359 Francs please."

"But of course.", the Doctor replied as he reached into his coat pocket for money

"How many Francs are in a dollar?", I heard Liz ask Makaila.

"There are about 90 francs in one US dollar.",  I turned around and told Liz.

"So that makes about 75 dollars for one ticket, correct? Isn't that a little much for one ticket?", Makaila asked with a suspicious glance towards the ticket man.

"Well, going to see an opera here isn't exactly something the ordinary French peasant gets to do every night. And since when did you learn to multiply like that?", I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you would be surprised what I know.", she said with a smirk.

"I see, Monsieur, that you are from England, no? Or, I suppose, hear! What about your lovely daughters?", the ticket man asked the Doctor.

"Actually, Monsieur, my father grew up in England, and then moved here with my mother. My sisters and I were born and raised here in Paris.", I answered, putting to use my excellent French accent. The ticket man nodded in acknowledgement.

As we walked away with our tickets, I heard Makaila's familiar footsteps walk up behind me.

"Where did you learn that awesome French accent?", she whispered in my ear.

"Well, you would be surprised what I know.", I countered with a small smile.

We halted our walk as the Doctor stepped out in front of us. "Alright, mademoiselles, we have tickets to tonight's masquerade! Let's get you three ready!" As I looked into my best friend's eyes, I could sense that something monumental was going to happen.