*Autumn 1981*
A brisk breeze plays havoc with a young man's map as he walks down a street. The Doctor and I are hiding behind the Beano Summer Special 1981. Suddenly a dead leaf flies into the young man's face, and he staggers in surprise into the path of an oncoming car. Then an arm pulls him to safety.
"Oh, my stars. Are you all right?" Ellie asks.
"Yeah" Dave responds.
----
The young couple are at a front door in the rain.
"So, I've got something for you."
"What?" the dead leaf.
"You kept it?"
"Of course I kept it."
"Why?"
"Because this exact leaf had to grow in that exact way in that exact place so that precise wind could tear it from that precise branch and make it fly into this exact face at that exact moment. And if just one of those tiny little things had never happened, I'd never have met you. Which makes this the most important leaf in human history" the Doctor and I turn away as they kiss. Time passes. The happy couple are blessed with a little bundle of joy, who enjoys looking at a book called 101 Places To See.
---
"Give it a kick" the little girl kicks a football which hits the Doctor in the face. He adopts a defensive martial arts posture, I giggle.
"Oh, my stars! Are you all right?"
"Fine. Marvellous. Refulgent. Possibly a bit embarrassed. That's not dangerous, is it?" the Doctor asks.
"What's not?"
"Embarrassment."
"Not usually. Not to my knowledge."
"Good. Hey. Phew."
"Mate, I'm so sorry. She wants to be Bryan Robson."
"No worries. My fault. No harm done."
"Hello there" I say looking down at the small girl.
"Clara," Ellie says.
"Ah. Hello there, Clara."
---
A tear drops onto the other page of 101 Places To See, where it says Property Of Ellie Ravenwood, aged 11. Clara and Dave Oswald are gazing at the new headstone of Ellie Oswald, beloved wife and mother, born 11th September 1960, died 5th March 2005. The Doctor leaves them to it, he walks into the TARDIS, I look up.
"She's just a girl. How can she be?" the scanner pops up her ID from the Spaceship Alaska "she can't be."
"She is" I say.
"She can't be. She's not possible" the Doctor says, I place my hand on his back. Clara is sitting on the stairs holding her favourite book when the TARDIS materialises outside. The doorbell rings, she grins and gets up.
"So, we're moving through actual time? So, what's it made of, time? I mean, if you can just rotor through it, it's got to be made of stuff, like jam's made of strawberries. So, what's it made of?"
"Well, not strawberries. No. No, no, no. That would be unacceptable" I say.
"And we can go anywhere?"
"Within reason. Well, I say reason" the Doctor says.
"So, we could go backwards in time."
"And space, yes," the Doctor says.
YOU ARE READING
The Oncoming Storm ²
Fanfiction(UNDER EDITING) What happens when the Doctor's wife travels with him through time and space. Seer: a person who is supposed to be able, through supernatural insight, to see what the future holds. Oc reader
