the hourglass (doctor who fan fiction)

Amy's Choice

"So you had the same dream, then? Exactly the same dream?"

"Are you calling me a boat?"

"And Doctor, Juno, you two were visiting."

"Yeah, yeah, you came to our cottage."

"How can we have the same dream? It doesn't make any sense."

"And you said you had a nightmare about us. What happened to us in the nightmare?" Amy questioned. "It was a bit similar, in some aspects..." the Doctor mumbled. "Which aspects?" Rory asked. "Well, all of them."

"You had the same dream."

"Basically."

"You said it was a nightmare."

"Did I say nightmare? No, more of a really good mare. Look, it doesn't matter. We all had some kind of psychic episode. We probably jumped a time track or something. Forget it. We're back to reality now." the Doctor shrugged. The birds started to sing again. "Doctor? If we're back to reality, how come I can still hear birds?" I questioned. "Yeah, the same birds. The same ones we heard in the-"

"dream. Oh! Sorry. Nodded off. Stupid. God, I must be overdoing it." I heard Rory say as I woke up. This time I had fallen asleep on the Doctor's shoulder. "I was dreaming we were back on the tardis." Rory chuckled. "You alright?" the Doctor asked me. "Yeah don't worry." I shrugged and got off the bench.

"You had the same dream, didn't you?" Rory asked Amy. "Weren't we just saying the same thing?"

"But we thought this was the dream, didn't we?" he pointed to the ground. "I think so. Why do dreams have to fade so quickly?" Amy asked. "Doctor, what is going on?"

"Is this because of you two? Is this some Time Lordy thing because you've shown up again?" Amy asked me. "Listen to me. Trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear or feel." the Doctor looked at us, then around at the trees. "But we're awake now." Rory said. "Yeah. You thought you were awake on the tardis, too." I raised an eyebrow. "But we're home."

"Yeah, you're home. You're also dreaming. Trouble is, Rory, Amy, Juno, which is which? Are we flashing forwards or backwards? Hold on tight. This is going be a tricky one."

We woke up back in the tardis. "Oh, this is bad. I don't like this." the Doctor kicked the console and hurt his leg. "Argh. Never use force." he held his leg, hopping around. "You just embarrass yourself. Unless you're cross, in which case, always use force." he mumbled. "Shall I run and get the manual?" I asked. "I threw it in a supernova." he said. "You threw the manual in a supernova? Why?" I questioned. "Because I disagreed with it. Stop talking to me when I'm cross."

"Okay, but whatever's wrong with the Tardis, is that what caused us to dream about the future?" Rory asked. "If we were dreaming of the future."

"Well, of course we were. We were in Leadworth."

"Upper Leadworth." Rory added. "Yeah, and we could still be in Upper Leadworth, dreaming of this. Don't you get it?" I questioned. "No, okay? No, this is real. I'm definitely awake now." Amy shook her head. "And you thought you were definitely awake when you were all elephanty." he gestured outwards. "Hey. Pregnant." she pointed. "And you could be giving birth right now. This could be the dream. I told you. Trust nothing we see or hear or feel. Look around you. Examine everything. Look for all the details that don't ring true."

"Okay, we're in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside than the outside."

"With two aliens- one of them wearing a bow-tie."

"So maybe what rings true isn't so simple." Rory shrugged. "Valid point."

The tardis switched off. There was just a faint glow from the time rotor left. "It's dead. We're in a dead time machine." I said. The birds sang again, Rory hugged Amy. "Remember, this is real. But when we wake up in the other place, remember how real this feels."

"It is real. I know it's real."

The sound of a church clock chiming woke me up. "Okay, this is the real one. Definitely this one. It's all solid." Amy rubbed her stomach. "It felt solid in the Tardis too. You can't spot a dream while you're having it." the Doctor waved his hand in front of his face. "What are you doing?" Rory asked. "Looking for motion blur, pixilation. It could be a computer simulation. I don't think so, though." An old woman walked passed us. "Hello, Doctor." she said. "Hi." Rory waved. "Hello. You're a doctor." the Doctor squinted. "Yeah. And unlike you, I've actually passed some exams." Rory said. "A doctor, not a nurse. Just like you've always dreamed. How interesting."

"What is?" Rory questioned. "Your dream wife, your dream job, probably your dream baby. Maybe this is your dream." I shrugged. "It's Amy's dream too. Isn't it, Amy?" Rory asked. "Yes. Course it is, yeah." she nodded.

"What's that?" I pointed to a two story home. "Old people's home."

"You said everyone here lives to their nineties. There's something here that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick." The Doctor ran off, me and Rory quickly followed.

"Oh. Can we not do the running thing?" Amy yelled.

"Oh hello, Doctor Williams." an old lady grinned. "Hello, Rory love."

"Hello, Mrs Poggit. How's your hip?" he asked. "A bit stiff." she replied. "Oh, easy, D-96 compound, plus." the Doctor smiled. "No, you don't have that yet. Forget that" he mumbled. "Who's your friend? A junior doctor?" Mrs. Poggit questioned. "Yes." Rory smirked. "Can I borrow you? You're the size of my grandson." Mrs. Poggit pulled the Doctor over, making him try on the sweater Mrs. Poggit was knitting. "Slightly keen to move on. Freak psychic schism to sort out. You're incredibly old, aren't you?" he asked her. The rest of the residents stared at him as the bird song started again.