The Return of Donna Noble
Donna Noble's heels clacked on the cobbles of Oxford Street, her Ink-Black handbag slung over her shoulder, as she glanced up and down the street for any oncoming traffic. In her hand was clasped a newspaper, the front page reading 'Wi-Fi Madness'. The heading had jumped out at Donna and made her feel uncomfortable. She was going to merely toss the paper in the bin as she came off the Tube, but for some reason, she held on to it tightly, as if it were a link to something she dearly missed. Things like this happened fairly often to Donna, completely everyday things, seemed to stir a past memory, like something that was just out of her grasp. Once she'd crossed the street, Donna headed down Regent Street towards Hamley's. She had to sidle into the store past a massive group of children, all gaping at a display for a bunch of brightly coloured toys. Once she'd clambered into the lobby of the store, she was finally able to shrug off her thick mink coat, the store's central heating was thankfully doing its job. Donna strode over to the lift in the far corner of the store. She aggressively punched the 'up' button, and stood awkwardly in front of the unyielding doors. Finally after what seemed an hour, the doors sprang open, and Donna clambered inside.
Inside the lift, there was a man. A tall man. He was wearing a tweed jacket, grey pants, army-style boots and a maroon coloured bow-tie. He stood awkwardly, with the guilty air of a small child who had been caught stealing cookies from the jar, or had just knocked over Mum's favourite vase. His hair was swept to the side, as if it constantly fell in his eyes. And his hands, they were constantly moving, always adjusting, fixing and addressing things, as if they were repairing thousands of invisible machines.
Donna observed the queer man out of the corner of her eyes. She felt strongly that she knew him, had possibly met him before, a face in the crowd. But no, Donna never forgot a face, and she would have never forgotten a man like this, he didn't look quite right, like a drawing of a person where you accidentally left out the nose. And so with this thought in mind Donna quickly turned and focused on the task ahead of her. Birthday present shopping.
The lift doors burst open, an automatic voice, tonelessly stating: "LEVEL 4, ELECTRONICS". The queer man quickly streaked out of the cramped elevator, as if putting distance between Donna and himself.
"Nutter," muttered Donna. She sighed to herself and started to move towards the gadget-lined shelves. Suddenly from further into the store, came an ear-piercing scream, causing Donna to jump. She sprinted towards the sound, rushing through aisle upon aisle of electronic equipment. As she turned the corner, she nearly collided into a young woman coming in the opposite direction.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Were you the one screaming?" cried Donna.
"Wait, what?" replied the woman, as she whipped a long metallic, green object, from the layers of her coat, "Oh yeah that was me, now RUN!"
Donna's head split, images flickering through her mind, like watching an old film. Images of her running, with a man, from what appeared to be mortal danger, but they were grinning, from ear to ear, as if this was a daily occurrence. Then the image changed, a wasp, a giant wasp, was chasing her and the strange man, through endless corridors. And then it happened. The end. It felt as if a hot, molten liquid was being poured into her consciousness, filling up every part of her with a warm, fulfilling, glowing energy.
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"Donna? Hello? Wake up!" came a voice.
"Nah, I'm quite comfortable here. I think I'll just-"
"Oi, watch it earth-girl! Wake Up!" came the voice again. Earth-girl. Where had she heard that before? It stirred warm familiar memories, causing a smile to appear on her face. Earth. Girl. Space. Man. It was like a key had been turned, opening a once locked door. New rooms to explore. Donna felt the best she had in ages. Her mind was, there. It was hard to explain but everything felt right. She remembered. Donna Noble remembered. The Doctor-Donna remembered.
