A manipulation of time and space by CD Sanders (reading an ebook txt) 📖

He didn’t know why the Tardis had brought him here, into the year 2015 of all places. Aimlessly he wandered through the streets of London. While passing a bookstore he saw a pretty young woman. He could hear her laughter outside on the street and felt the urge to go inside like magic. She was sitting on a table, a book in front of her and she was reading it aloud. Her voice was soft and tender. He had never heard anything more beautiful. It took some time for him to understand what she was saying. Her words where smart, funny and caring – they were full of intelligence. His pensive brown eyes where full of melancholy while he looked at her. When she lifted her head to look at her audience their eyes met. During the reading her eyes kept wandering to him and he got lost in her unique eyes. He wasn’t able to identify their colour as it seemed to change every time he looked at her. Around the pupil they were brown, but a green circle adorned the bright brown. Their beauty was incredible intriguing. Her shiny reddish brown hair flattered her delicate features, which were similar to an angels. He frowned and starred at her. He wondered, what about her made her so fascinating.   

After the reading was done, the audience queued before her desk, all carrying a book. Everybody wanted to have their book signed. She had an open ear for all of her listeners and gave each one time to talk with her. This sparked his curiosity and he grabbed a book from the stack, put on his glasses and started reading. At first he wondered about the main character. After all it was a small alien called Spocky, who travelled from planet to planet riding comets. He lived as a lodger with a father and his little daughter. The book was wonderfully illustrated with the funniest pictures. Spocky looked like a Gecko, a tiny dinosaur on two legs. He had green reptile like skin and a long tail. Instead of claws he had fingers. A friendly face was the last touch to his appearance. He showed a row of tiny sharp teeth when he laughed. His outfit consisted of nothing but a short trouser and a tank top, but Spocky was never cold thanks to his scaly armour. Of course his astronaut suit was never far, but he was never pictured wearing it, as he was always on earth anyway when his adventures took place. Instead his suit hung in his host family’s wardrobe.

After a while the Doctor managed to tear himself away from the book and looked up. The queue had shortened remarkably and the salesmen started packing up. He queued behind the last person. Again and again their eyes met. When it was finally his turn he wasn’t able to say anything. It was so atypical for him. He was a man of many words, always able to comment on every situation and he had seen many things in his long life. But now he stood in front of this young woman, silent as a fish and unable to move. Not even when she reached for the book in his hand.

“If you give me the book I’ll sign it for you… But of course only if you really want it.” She poked a bit of fun at him and grinned amused. Speechlessly he handed her the book.

“What name should I sign for?” She didn’t stop looking at him and that confused him even more. What was going on here? Was she hypnotising him? With her round eyes she starred at him.

„Earth too strange man. What’s your name?“

„What?“

„It’s ‚Excuse me‘.“

„What?“ With slightly gaping mouth he stood there, looking like an amazed boy.

„I asked for your name. Surely you have one?”

“Doctor.”

“Ah, just the Doctor? How mysterious. But okay, I’ll sign for my mysterious doctor.” She scribbled something with her pen and finally he found his voice again.

“And what’s your name?”

She closed the book and held it in front of his face. One finger was pointing at the name, which was written in bold letters on the front. Amelia Parrish.

“Weeeeeelll!” He tilted his head and looked down on her. He bared his teeth slightly and clicked with his tongue. After such a long ‘Well’ he often didn’t like to admit something. “I meant your real name. The name your parents gave you.“

„You’re not going to believe it, but also that one is Amelia Parrish. Don’t you like it?”

“Amelia Parrish”, he repeated, pronouncing the words overly enthusiastic. He let the words melt on his tongue like a delicious meal. “Amelia Parrish. It’s a wonderful name, almost like it was made for great deeds… and for great adventures worth living.”

“Do you like my stories, Doctor?”

“I love them, it´s brilliant. I’ve never read something that funny and affectionate at the same. We could argue about the sexist dress of the toad, but otherwise I love it.”

“It’s not a toad, it’s a gecko. Is there something wrong with your eyes, you peasant?”

“Do you want to witness your own adventures, Amelia Parrish? Are you ready for them?” The Doctor held his hand out to her. “Do you want to come with me?”

But she couldn’t. She laid her hands on the wheels of her wheelchair and rolled back from the table.

“My adventures take place in my head. I don’t have any other possibilities.” A shadow darkened her beautiful eyes. But after a short moment it was gone again. The Amelia that was left behind was more distanced. “Excuse me now. I’m done with work for today, Doctor.”

She used his name so natural as if she had always known him, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world. Saddened he looked down on her. But in the next moment he was smiling again and beaming at her, an enthusiastic glint in his lively eyes.

“Well, let’s see what I can do there.”

Nearly bouncing on his feet he went out of the shop and back to the Tardis.

When he reached the Tardis, he sat down and thought, staring into the air. Then he took the book out of his pocket and read the dedication:

„For the doctor, who never ‚just‘ is. I wish you much luck on your travels.“

For a long time he studied the book, every page of it. Sometimes he had to laugh loudly, other time he just stared holes into the air. He, who had seen so much… It was not a common thing for him to do. He had never been able to stay at one place for a long period of time. He was always so full of energy, it kept him going on and on. From one adventure to the next, through time and space. This time his fate had brought him to London once again. Was he meant to find Amelia and if yes, why? He stood up. Tenderly he put the book in a pocket of his jacket, as if he never wanted to part with it. He walked to the screen in the Tardis.

As always he said to her: “Why am I here?”

And just as always she didn’t answer. But on the screen Amelia Parrish’s face appeared and a resume of her live was shown. During Amelia’s birth her mother had died due to complications. A doctor pressed on Amelia’s spinal cord too hard and thus paralyzed her. The Doctor read carefully through her medical record and realized that it could only be the mistake of one doctor. Amelia’s mother should have never been pregnant. From birth she had a cervical narrowing and her doctor should have warned her. It was his fault Martha Parrish had died and he had damned Amelia to a live in a wheelchair. Despite her suffering she wrote wonderful stories. He wondered what she would be able to do, if she had lived her childhood as a healthy girl? His expressive warm eyes stared into the air. Suddenly he jumped up, his eyes now sparkling with energy. His whole face lit up with his smile.

“I can spare her from this suffering and a life in the wheelchair. I’ve got a time machine! In this timeline I haven’t influenced her life, which means-” He clapped his hands together like a happy child. “- I can change her past. Allons-y!”

Like a whirlwind he worked on the Tardis’ circuits, running in circles around her, pressing a button here and there and then the Tardis disappeared.

The doctor was on his way to the hospital as there had been an emergency, when a man appeared in front of his car out of the blue. Potter just barely managed to swerve past him and his car stopped merely a few centimetres in front of a weird blue box.

Outraged he jumped out of the car and started screaming: “Are you insane? You can’t just stay there in the middle of the street. I nearly hit you.”

“Nah”, the Doctor waved dismissively. “You wouldn’t have.”

“What’s wrong? Did you have an accident? I’m on my way to the hospital and I can take you there.”

The Doctor smelled the alcohol in his breath. Even the peppermint gum couldn’t cover it. He also saw his shaking hands.

“No. No, no, no. You’re not driving anywhere.” He took his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the hood of the car. A clear sizzling sound was heard and that was it, the car wouldn’t drive another meter.

“What have you done? A patient needs my help!” Potter’s smoky voice sounded frantic, how was he supposed to get to the hospital now? It didn’t matter how drunk he was, he was a doctor and he didn’t want to abandon his patient like this. But that was exactly the problem.

“Dr. Potter, you have a problem and you know it.” The way the Doctor’s eyes rested on him made him incredibly uncomfortable. At first Potter tried to meet his stare grimly but soon he couldn’t face it anymore. When somebody tried to fool the Doctor, he simply stared at them until they broke down and couldn’t make up lies to defend themselves anymore. His gaze unsettled even experienced physicians like Potter.

Embarrassed, the man lowered his eyes, he couldn’t bear to meet his gaze anymore. “I have no idea