HIDDEN

Howl

The Tardis made the whooshing and wheezing sound that its known for, its lights and buttons glowed, and the the circular metal spun at the top as the Doctor flipped and changed switches.

Already I could tell that the Doctor hadn't been sleeping well either. All around the interior of the blue box, books lay open and disorganized, papers were all over the railings and steps, and the Doctor's chalk board was filled with Gallifreyan language that the Tardis translated to the phrase "Who else can't sleep?"

It wasn't difficult to conclude that a few restless nights was enough to drive even the Doctor looking for answers, and his investigation eventually lead him to find that the whole world was having trouble sleeping, before picking me up for assistance.

"Where are we off to?" I asked. "Hopefully somewhere I can finally get some rest."

The Doctor grinned as he flipped a lever down. The Tardis' engines stopped. We had arrived.

"There's always something to look forward to," he said with a chuckle under his breath.

He walked to the doors of the Tardis and stepped outside, me following behind.

I was taken by a rush of cooler air than what I was just feeling in my bedroom and the Tardis. We were outside now, the moon shone down on the Doctor, the Tardis, and me.

"Welcome to Yellowstone National Park, one of America's greatest treasures," the Doctor said, breathing in the fresh, natural air. I could tell this helped relax his restlessness.

There was an eerie silence that filled the empty air. For a moment, I was relieved as I had finally gotten away from the noise that was the main population in London. At last, it was quiet, and I was alone with the Doctor. But as I began to better examine my surroudnings, my first impression of the place quickly vanished. The calm, relaxing enviroment was replaced by the suspenseful, quiet, and dark air of the night that brought its own form of fear and uncertainty.

The moon illuminated our surroundings by only about a few kilometers, just enough so that I could see that the Doctor had parked the Tardis in a small clearing of land in the middle of an even wider forest. Beyond that, it was difficult to percieve anything in the dark; I could only make out a few outlines of mountains.

I felt goosebumps on my shoulders and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

"Why did you bring us here? If this is your idea of a hotel to help me sleep, I'll have you know you're paying the bill yourself," I said, more agitation adding to the lack of rest and the Doctor's comment on my face.

"Oh relax, and don't let your grumpiness get the best of you, you'll scare them away!" the Doctor said in response.

"Scare who away?" I asked.

The Doctor pointed towards the wall of trees where the forest began no more than ten kilometers in front of us. I stepped closer to the Doctor so I could see just what he was trying to divert my attention to.

Then I realized why in all of time and space, the Doctor had chosen Yellowstone. I often question the Doctor's methods, although they ususally ended up having good intent and being reasonable, they almost never seem like a good idea at first. This time, especially, was no different.

In front of us, only emerging from the forest but picking up a good amount of speed, was the largest pack of the main and deadly inhabitant of Yellowstone: wolve. There were about four dozen of them, racing at us, jaws bared, eyes glowing, mouths growling.

"Doctor... we might want to get back to the Tardis now," I said grabbing his arm and heading for the door. Instead of doing the logical thing, the Doctor was being the Doctor and stayed absolutely still.