Disclaimer: Doctor Who, the Doctor and the TARDIS are not mine, but the rest of the characters are. The story is my own original creation.
Merry and the Doctor: a Doctor Who fanfic
Merry stepped out into the bright
sunshine. She blinked her eyes against
the bright light. In her hands was a
bucket of paint and a large paint brush. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Her brown hair was pulled back into a low
ponytail. The day was quite normal. Cars drove up and down the street and off in
the distance a radio was being played, but the sunshine and everyday life meant
nothing to Merry. A black cloud had fallen
over Merry and her life. Her motions
were automatic.
She opened the paint lid, dipped the
brush into it and began painting the fence that ran alongside her house. She did not notice the large blue box that
had parked itself just down the road a bit and she did not notice the
well-dressed man that stepped out of it.
Merry painted over the markings on
her fence. She wanted them covered as
soon as possible.
“Excuse me,” a rich, deep voice
behind Merry said.
Merry spun around and saw in front
of her a man in a most curious outfit.
The 19th century clothing he wore looked as if he belonged in
an old movie and not in a modern neighborhood.
His light brown hair fell in curled ringlets around his face. It was a kind, strong face, but everything
about him seemed out of place.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but I couldn’t
help but notice this picture on your fence.”
He looked at it for a moment before speaking again. “Did you do this?”
Merry didn’t take her eyes off of
him. He was such a curious sight and his
accent was unusual for the area. If
Merry had to place it, she would have guessed British, but she really wasn’t
good at recognizing accents. “No,” she
replied, “I did not. I am, however,
trying to paint over it, so if you will excuse me.” Merry turned back to the fence and started to
paint again. His hand caught hers and
kept it from bringing the paint brush down over the fence.
She turned again to face the man who
now was holding her hand in the air. She
noticed his eyes. They were a bright
blue and they seemed to take in every detail they looked at. He started at the fence a moment longer
before turning his gaze to her.
“Why are you painting over this?” he
asked.
“Because I’m putting the house up
for sale and I can’t put the house up for sale with this all over the
fence.” Merry pulled her arm loose from
his grip and waved it at the fence.
“But this is very interesting,” he
said. He took a few steps back and
looked at the fence again.
“It’s nonsense,” Merry said.
The man smiled. “I love nonsense. It keeps life interesting. Who did paint these markings on the fence?”
The last three months of Merry’s
life flashed before her eyes. Everything
that had happened and all the pain that had gone with is rushed over
Merry. She felt the familiar hot tears
well up in her eyes. Her breathing
quickened as she tried to hold back the tears.
The man was still staring at the
fence and did not notice the changed that overcame Merry. She took a deep breath and calmly answered
his question, “My husband.”
“Can I talk to him?” the man asked,
still looking at the painting on the fence.
“No,” Merry answered. She took another deep breath, trying her best
to control her emotions. “He’s not
here.” This time her voice cracked.
The man looked at her. His face suddenly changed from interest to concern. “Are you alright?” he asked.
Merry quickly looked down to hide the
tears that were flowing down her cheeks.
She dropped the paint brush into the bucket and then she used both hands
to wipe her face. She took another deep
breath and looked up at the man. “I’m
fine, thank you,” she calmly said. “Now,
if you will excuse me. I have some
things to do.”
Merry turned around and started back to
the house.
“But that’s a Weyk spaceship painted on
your fence,” the man said.
Merry stopped dead in her tracks and
spun around. “What did you say?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Painted right there on your fence is a
Weyk spaceship. Why did your husband
paint that on your fence?”
“It’s a long story,” Merry weakly said.
“That’s OK. I’ve got time,” the man smiled.
For a moment Merry stared at the man in
front of her. His deep green velvet coat
hung down to his knees and peeking out from his silver waistcoat was a silver
watch chain. His hair, clothes, and
manners were so ridiculously out of place that Merry was sure he could not be
real, but his eyes and his knowledge of the space craft told another
story. Merry couldn’t decide if she
wanted to run and hide or bare her soul to him.
His smile faded a bit. He stepped forward and laid a hand on Merry’s
arm, “I can help you.”
Instead of going to the house, Merry
walked back to the fence, opened the gate and said, “Come on then.” She went through the gate and he followed
her. She led him to her back patio. Some
outside chairs and a table were in the shade of the patio cover.
“Have a seat,” Merry said. “I’ll go get some tea.” She turned towards the house and opened the
back door. A thought occurred to her,
“Who are you, please?”
The man stood a little taller, “I’m the
Doctor,” he said, “and you are?”
“Merry.”
“A pleasure to meet you Mary,” he said.
“No, not Mary,” Merry said, emphasizing
the ‘a’ sound in the name. “It’s
Merry.” She over pronounced the
‘e’. “You know, as in happy or joyful.”
“Pardon me, Merry. It is very nice to meet you,” he nodded his
head.
“I won’t be a moment,” Merry said and
she opened the door and slipped inside.
She quickly set to work putting a tea tray together. She was incredibly curious to find out who
this doctor was.
Outside, the Doctor looked around the yard. His blue eyes took in every detail. There was nothing unusual about the
place. The fence stretched along the
yard, which was well care for. A small
shed stood at the very back of the fence.
This was most certainly an unusual place to find a painting of a Weyk
ship on a fence.
It was only a few minutes later when the
back door opened and Merry stepped out carrying a tea tray filled with
goodies. The Doctor quickly stepped to
the door and held it open until Merry had passed through it and then he closed
the door behind her.
Merry set the tray down on the small
table and began to set the dishes out.
The Doctor sat down in one of the chairs and watched Merry as she
quickly unloaded the tray. She set out
two saucers and teacups, a dish of cookies and a matching tea kettle. The Doctor smiled. He loved Earth. Humans were his favorite aliens. They had wonderful rituals, like tea time,
and this particular regeneration of himself was especially fond of tea. He sat down in one of the chairs.
“Would you like ginger tea or English
tea?” Merry asked.
“English tea, please,” the Doctor
answered.
Merry filled his cup. “Milk or lemon, Doctor?”
“Milk, please.”
Merry poured milk from a saucer into his
cup. She handed it to him. “Cookies?” she asked as she picked up the
plate of cookies and held it in front of him.
The Doctor took a cookie and set it on
his dish. He watched as Merry took
several slices of freshly cut ginger and dropped them into her cup. She poured hot water from the kettle over the
ginger slices.
She set the kettle back onto the tray,
sat back in her chair and looked at the Doctor.
He took a sip from his tea and then set the cup down on its saucer. His intense gaze fell upon her.
“Are you sure you want to hear this
story?” she asked him.
“Yes, I do,” he replied.
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