Episode 9 Comment Challenge

Comment 2: @StaraPrincess

White. White and nothing else. White as far as the eye could see. My mind was as still as my surroundings until a single thought sent shivers down my spine: am I.... dead?

As if to answer my unspoken question someone called out "No."

I spun round to find my brother. Hesitating for only the briefest moment, I ran towards him before thrusting my arms around him and showering him with kisses.

"I missed you so much!" I whispered into his ear, still holding him close.

"Me too. Me too." Surprisingly his hug tightened, but I was so overwhelmed with joy, I only returned the tight squeeze and thought nothing of it.

Finally, we let go, but for once it was I who let go first. Both of us sat upon the clean floor (or ground, who knows?) and I begin to question him about, well, everything. School, family, homework, friends, how was he doing, how was he feeling, did he miss me, etc. He openly admitted to missing me a lot without either blushing or bowing his head down. Odd. Different. But what did that matter? At least he was being honest and opening up.

"How did you get here? Why are you here?" I asked, intrigued as to how we stumbled upon each other. But he never actually answered that question. No, somehow, he cleverly evaded it.

"Errrr..... to be honest I don't know.... I was thinking of you...?" He sounded very uncertain, now that I look back at it.

Then the conversation steered towards me, and I told him everything about being with the Doctor and all the marvellous adventures we had, all the monsters we fought and all the new creatures we found.

My brother and I laughed a long time about some weird, stupidly long unpronounceable name of a planet that I can't quite remember the name of and about some new YouTube videos he had found and some old memories that we shared.

Eventually we ended up lying on our backs, and there was a starry night sky above us. I let out a small gasp for I was pretty sure that it wasn't there when I first appeared in this place. What is this place anyways...

"A special place made especially for you and me. We can always be together now. You, and your special little brother. We'll laugh and play and tell jokes and do all the great things that you enjoy. And if you ever need to be alone, I'll let you be for a while until you're ready to play again and tell jokes again and laugh together again".

Until the end of that speech I had only been marvelling the sky and remembering that time when I was 11 and he was 9 and we stared at the clouds as the sun set. We had laughed with each other's ideas about what the clouds looked like and had told stories about the clouds and their interactions.

But then, I felt incredibly uncomfortable. Sitting up, I inquired, "Did you just say that like a statement? Or were you answering the question inside my head?"

"Errrrr..." There it was! That nervousness again. That uncertainty. That feeling as though a mask was peeling off. "Just said that. Why?"

Mind spinning at 100 miles per hour, I felt queasy with an unsettling idea that my brother, now sitting up next to me, was in fact not my brother.

I got, up looking all around me for an exit, but everything was the same spotless white, even the starry sky had gone as though the artist of the beautiful landscape had trashed it and was starting fresh with a new canvas.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to stay? I love you very very much, please don't go. We can be happy here forever, please, please don't go. I love you with all my heart."

"My brother would never say that. Not my real brother," I growl anger having taken over my fear. "He might love me with all his heart, but would he ever admit to it like that? Also, he does not speak like some horror movie doll!" My growl rose to a yell, and the sweet innocent face turned to one of disgust and equal anger to my own.

"Well at least I admit. At least I am everything your brother is and more. I am all that you love about your brother, and all that you wish he could be."

"In that case, I'd never want my brother to be anyone than who he is. He is the best, sweetest, most amazing being to exist. And you," I paused, "you are nothing more than a despicable impersonator."

"Then to hell with you." His hand raised upwards and a large invisible force pushed me.

***

"Are you alright?" The Doctor's friendly voice is music to my ears. I get up from the floor of the TARDIS and hug her tightly before saying,

"Yeah, I think so."

"You landed quite hard, but so glad you made it. You managed to get yourself away from the Solitract! Well done, and pat on the back to you."

I giggle and then ask humbly, "Do you think I could pop home for a visit?"

The Doctor's eyes show her empathy and understanding. "Of course. Custard cream?"

Gladly I take the offer and patiently wait to see the best, sweetest, most amazing being to exist: my brother.