The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor

Chapter 2

"Ah. Which is?"

"Nobody comes. Get out! Get out of my house!"

"Okay. Okay, but we'll be back. Way back. Way, way back."

The Doctor and Elise left and entered the TARDIS. They landed outside young Kazran's window and climbed inside.

"See? Back."

"Who are you?" Kazran asked.

"Hi. I'm the Doctor. I'm your new babysitter. This is my daughter Elise. Thought you could use a playmate."

Elise stomped on the Doctor's foot, but being so small it didn't hurt him one bite.

"Where's Mrs Mantovani?"

The Doctor jumped up and down on Kazran's bed before jumping off of it. "Oh, you'll never guess. Clever old Mrs Manters, she only went and won the lottery."

"There isn't any lottery."

"I know. What a woman."

"If you're my babysitter, why are you climbing in the window?"

"Because if I was climbing out of the window, I'd be going in the wrong direction. Pay attention."

"But Mrs Mantovani's always my babysitter."

The Doctor approached the computer Kazran was using to record his 'top secret project'. "Times change. Wouldn't you say? You see? Christmas Past."

"Who are you talking to?"

"You. Now, your past is going to change. That means your memories will too. Bit scary, but you'll get the hang of it."

"I don't understand."

"I'll bet you don't. I wish I could see your face."

The Doctor threw himself on Kazran's bed. "Right then, your bedroom. Great. Let's see. You're twelve years old, so we'll stay away from under the bed. Cupboard! Big cupboard. I love a cupboard."

He ran over to it and opened it. "Do you know, there's a thing called a face spider. It's just like a tiny baby's head with spider legs, and it's specifically evolved to scuttle up the backs of bedroom cupboards..."

He closed the door and turned to the now scared twelve year old boy and a wide eyed Elise. "...which, yeah, I probably shouldn't have mentioned. Right. So. What are we going to do? Eat crisps and talk about girls? I've never actually done that, but I bet it's easy. Girls? Yeah?"

"Are you really a babysitter?" Kazran asked him.

"I think you'll find I'm universally recognized as a mature and responsible adult." He pulled out the psychic paper.

"It's just a lot of wavy lines."

"Yeah, it's shorted out. Finally, a lie too big. Okay, no, not really a babysitter, but it's Christmas Eve. You don't want a real one. You want me."

"Why? What's so special about you?"

"Have you ever seen Mary Poppins?"

"No."

"Good. Because that comparison would've been rubbish. Elise, remind me to watch that with you. Fish in the fog. Fish in the clouds." The Doctor climbed onto Kazran's windowsill and looked out across the roof. "How do people ever get bored? How did boredom even get invented?"

"My dad's invented a machine to control the cloud belt. Tame the sky, he says. The fish'll be able to come down, but only when we let them. We can charge whatever we like."