The Girl Who Ran

Chapter 1

Hello, my name is Rachel Andrews. I'm not a popular kid, a cheerleader, a nerd, an artist, a dancer, or a particularly good singer. I'm not really that important, I guess, but I think that this is what makes my story so extraordinary.

I suppose I should start from the beginning, though. It's not a particularly exciting beginning, but it's necessary none the less.

It was a Sunday. I remember that very well, because when I first met the man he was grumbling about Sundays being boring, which I tend to agree with.

Anyways, I was walking downtown, It was a tiny town, thinking about tomorrow at school. I hadn't finished my homework, and I didn't want to work on it quite yet. I was hoping that somehow or other I could buy some time with the teacher.

Then I noticed something odd. As I said, it was a small town, so I knew almost every detail of every street. And yet somehow, on the corner of Edward's and 2nd there was this dark blue telephone box which I had never seen before. I don't know how in the world it got there, or why I had never noticed it before if it had always been there.

So I looked around for some marks on the ground or something to indicate how it had gotten there. Nothing, though. It appeared to have always been there.

But it couldn't have been! I remember this street so well, I don't know how I couldn't have noticed it before.

Then something quite unexpected happened. Out of the box came a man in a blue pinstripe suit and a tie, followed closely by a blond girl, who had a huge grin on her face and was holding the man's hand.

I tried to hide my disgust, not wanting to imagine what in the world they could be doing in there.

"Where are we now, Doctor?" The girl had a thick London accent, and so did the man she called "Doctor," no doubt a flirtatious nickname she had given him. I didn't want to find out why.

"Oh, drat! We've landed on Sunday. I hate sundays, they're too boring." The man stretched his chin up and scratched his dark brown hair, which stuck up in every which way.

Somehow I couldn't bring myself to leave. This box held a mystery that I couldn't leave alone. Maybe these two drunkards would be able to tell me about it. I was about to ask them when quite suddenly, he spoke first.

"You there." The man pointed at me, and I stood still unsure what to so. "Yes you, the girl with the brown hair and the sort of..." The man made circular gestures around his head. "...face." He finished off.

I walked up to the two of them, ready to run in case they tried to do anything.

"Yeah?" I asked, trying to sound casual. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, fine, perfect, but could you tell me what year it is?"

I rolled my eyes. OBVIOUSLY drunk. "2013. You need me to call a cab?"

I reached into my pocket and was about to pull out my phone, but thought better of it.

"No, we're fine," the girl said, laughing a bit. "Can we go now, Doctor?"

He looked at me for a moment. There seemed something strange about the way he looked at me. It wasn't creepy, it was just like we sort of knew each other. He obviously thought so too.

"What's your name," he asked me. His voice squeaked a bit when he talked.

"Rachel," I said. I decided to keep my last name a secret. "What about you?"

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose." The girl smiled and waved hello. They seemed nice enough people. "I don't know you from somewhere, do I Rachel?"

I shook my head. But inside I wasn't so sure. There was SOMETHING about his eyes...

"Doctor, can we please go now? I want to see Charlotte now the she's grown up."

"Hold up," I said, grabbing Rose's arm. "Charlotte what? What's her last name, I mean."

She looked at me with an eyebrow raised, her lips slightly parted. "Charlotte Howards, why?"

I stared at them both, unsure how such a coincidence could happen. "That's my mum."

The "Doctor" stared at me, and pulled some glasses out of his pocket, smiling. "We'll isn't that fortunate! Lead the way, miss Rachel."

I looked at the two of them, who were obviously happy that they now had a guide to her. "There's a problem with that," I said looking at the ground. "She's been missing for five years."