The Christmas Wish

 

Ashley lost track of how long she had been falling. Was it minutes or hours? All she knew right now was that she was still somehow soaking wet and in some sort of multicolored swirling tunnel that seemed to be made of light. Suddenly ahead of her a blue box appeared and she was heading straight for it.   

 

She landed with loud soggy thud on a cold metal floor. She slowly sat up and looked around. She was in a large metallic round room. On her left there was a set of stairs going up to a sort of balcony that circled the room. There were book shelves and blackboards along the left side as well.  On the other side of a six-sided console in the middle of the room was another stairwell gong up to that balcony. There were stairwells going down to a lower level on both sides on the other side as well. The only doors she could see were behind her. They were made of wood with windows and had lit up backwards words above them.     

 

“Oh, a stowaway and you’re wet.” Said a bald funny looking man wearing an orange jacket over a white shirt with darker orange pants and brown shoes.   He walked behind the six-sided console. He flipped some switches and the glass column in the middle of the console stopped moving up and down.

 

“Who are you and how did you get into my TARDIS?” A tall angry looking older man asked Ashley as he walked down the stairway on her left. He was wearing a black jacket with a red lining over a black waist coat and white shirt with black pants and shiny black boots.

 

“Not your TARDIS. You stole it.” The bald man stated as he walked down the stairs and disappeared through a doorway.

 

The first man looked back at the other, “Details.”  He looked back at the girl.

 

“Where am I? Who are you?” Ashley said as she stood up.

 

“I’m the Doctor, that was Nardole and this is the TARDIS.” The tall man said with his arms raised.
“Now, who are you?”

 

“Ashley.” She told him and quickly spun around and ran to the double doors with the backwards words written on top of them. As she reached the doors and opened them, she stopped dead in her tracks. Before her were stars, a universe full of stars.  

 

“Impressive isn’t it?” The Doctor asked Ashley as he walked up next to her. “Now why don’t you tell me how you got here.”

 

“I don’t know. I was pushed into a laundry bin by some bullies and then into a pool that I couldn’t get out of. Next thing I know I’m falling through a rainbow-colored tunnel with a blue box in it and landed in here. I don’t know how I got through the roof.” She told him the short version of what happened while still looking out at the universe.

 

The Doctor noticed the necklace she was wearing. The gem stone in the pendant was glowing faintly. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver and quickly pressed a button while pointing it at the gemstone. Then he looked at the results. “Now that’s very interesting.”

 

“What is?” she asked.

 

“Your necklace, where did you get it?”

 

“From my parents,” she paused for a few moments “before they died last year. Why?”

 

“This is very important. What were you thinking when you were in that pool?”

 

“I think I was wishing I was somewhere, anywhere safe.”

 

“And you ended up here?”

 

Nardole walked up to them and gave Ashley a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. “Something to keep you warm.”  

 

“Thank you.” She told him as she sat down on the floor in the open TARDIS doorway, her legs dangling outside. She wrapped the blanket around her but was lost in thought as she gazed out again at the stars of the galaxy.

 

“Where did you get the hot chocolate from?” The Doctor asked Nardole.

 

“From the pantry, next to the kitchen.” Nardole replied as he walked back into the control room.

 

“I have a pantry?” The Doctor said with a bit of surprise. Then he sat down next to Ashley.

 

“Why are there bad people?” she asked.

 

“Good question. I’ve wandered the universe for, well a very long time and haven’t the slightest clue why some people are bad. Maybe they are just born that way. Or it’s just the universe mocking us.”

 

“It’s so peaceful out here. No bullies to worry about.  No news of acts of violence against people. Even the virus seems to be a distant memory. I could sit here for days.”     

 

“Would you like to?”

 

“I know I can’t. My foster parents would get pissed at me if I’m late getting home.”

 

“Did I mention this is a time machine? I could get you back home in plenty of time.”

 

“It is, really?” She said with disbelief. “Then maybe a few hours would be nice.”

 

“That gemstone very is special. It’s a wish stone. If you concentrate hard enough it bends time and space to make your wish happen.”

 

She looked down at her necklace. “Anything I wish for?” she asked.

 

“Maybe within limits but it’s worth trying don’t you think?”

 

“I can think of one right now.” With that she closed her eyes.

 

“Well, what did you wish?” The Doctor asked when she opened her eyes again.

 

“A day of peace.” She told him with a smile.

 

“I see, something small then. Why not peace forever?”

 

“It wouldn’t last. Someone somewhere will do something to break it.”

 

Together they sat for hours looking out at the universe. The Doctor pointing out some of the stars and galaxies before them. They never knew if the wish worked or not but it didn’t matter for Ashley. For the first time in a long while she felt safe and was at peace. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Words: 996.

Inspiration came from just what was going on in the world and of course the tv series Doctor Who. As usual, the original version was to long and required edits to get under the 1000-word limit. So maybe I’ll submit the full version after the contest ends and I finish it.