13 Novella 1

Record

You rise the next day and watch with amusement the awkward exchange between Yaz and The Doctor in realisation of how they spent the night.

As you suspected, The Doctor hasn't moved from the position you left her in. You were allowed out the basement at first light, the fluffy creatures following you meekly, clearly still tense.

You initially emerge onto the street and find nothing has changed, but a disturbance in front of you catches your attention. Kneeling in the middle of a street is a distraught creature, making a wailing noise that goes right through you. Several creatures lean in to embrace this particular fluffball and there is a frantic exchange of signing.

"Doctor what's wrong with it?" Yaz asks before you.

"Last night a child was taken" The Doctor answers in a disturbed voice. "Apparently it's a common occurrence" she adds with a stony face.

She asks around then leads you in the direction the fluffballs believe the child to have been taken in. You arrive shortly at a huge hall. The Doctor doesn't even knock. Hands on hips she approaches a tall man who sneers at her height and apparent weakness. His first mistake, you think. The Doctor is small, but she makes up for her size in stance alone.

"I want to talk to whoever is in charge" she says dangerously. The man sneers again and points her through a door. You follow. She bursts through, but the man at the desk doesn't even flinch at her approach. She marches over and rest her hands on his desk, leaning over him.

"Last night you kidnapped a child. An innocent child who has done nothing for you. Apparently this is a regular occurrence. So help me you better have a good excuse" she threatens and you recoil slightly at her tone. She can be scary when she tries.

"They are profit" the man mutters unbothered, continuing with his work.

"Profit?" Repeats The Doctor with a scoff. "They are beautiful and unique creatures with the right to feel safe in their own homes!"

"Listen here lady, they are dumb, they can't speak. We simply collect them and ship them over the galaxy for good money. They have no use here, they are the ideal pet. Quiet and unable to speak. It's a good system and they agree to it anyway, now leave" he says finally breaking from his work.

"You sell them as pets? For a profit? Because they can't tell you no?" Repeats The Doctor menacingly and he nods absently.

You feel your blood boil at how uncaring he could be. At that moment four men burst in behind you and you get the message.

They escort you out, The Doctor struggling, but you just agreeing to leave so long as they don't touch you. You feel like a coward, but your fear of contact is all consuming. They tip you out onto the street then slam the doors, The Doctor hastily pulling her coat back in her shoulders. She looks thoughtful.

"What do we do, we can't just leave them!" You express and she nods in agreement.

"I have an idea" she says with a small smile and you frown, a little worried as she heads back to the main village.

You admired The Doctor and trusted her a lot, but her plans were known for being downright dangerous, and you couldn't risk that happening to these adorable creatures.

To your surprise, you find yourself an hour later standing with Yaz in front of a camera, fluff balls swinging from your arms playfully.

"Ok are you two ready?" Asks The Doctor from behind the camera and you nod. She had refused to be on film herself, telling you that people knowing where she was could bring nothing good. Whatever that meant.

"Ok, action!" She says with a grin and Yaz starts, exactly as you rehearsed.

"Hello everyone! I believe you should recognise my little friends here as the toys and servants that they are sold for, however you have been lied to." She says sternly, as a fluff ball crawls on her shoulder and squeals with joy. Her mouth twitches.

"These are living creatures, with a unique habitat. They live in families, and it destroys them to see their children taken and sold for profit. So this is your call to make a change. A new campaign is starting as of today, a boycott of all purchases of these creatures, called free the fluff! We urge you to help and take notice, thank you." She finishes and the fluffballs all let out a chorus of squeaks and squeals.

You're not sure if they actually understood what she was saying, but they hopefully knew you were trying to help.

The Doctor finishes the recording and tells Yaz what a great job she did, which makes the human blush.

Two fluffballs swoon and embrace to mock them and you burst out laughing.

They squeal and jump at you in response to your enthusiasm, knocking you clean to the floor where you lie, snorting as they hug you.

"Sorry (Y/n), up you get" chuckles The Doctor, offering you a hand and pulling you to your feet with four or five fluffs still hanging onto you.

"I'm really sorry but we have to go now and post this to the universe!" You say and they turn to The Doctor who translates.

They coo sadly and you give them one more squeeze before bending down and letting them release themselves.

"Goodbye fluffballs, I hope we helped" you say a little sadly, and all at once they lean forward in an unmistakable bow.

You smile and follow the others back to the Tardis, hoping against hope that life will change for them from now on.