Yowzah Oneshot Collection (1)

28(M)

before the beginning of space and time

She wakes with a splitting headache, and far too much information shoved into her brain, and an aged blank diary next to her that she just knows is supposed to be full or stories, full of adventures, full of shadows. As she struggles to sit up she frowns down at the heavy black fur coat she is wearing - it is the middle of June for heaven's sakes, and the-

The middle of June. The middle of June?

River blinks in the bright sunshine and stands, brushing blades of grass from her black coat and unbuttoning it to let the slight breeze cool her down as she glances around. She recognises where she is, of course. Leadworth park - lord knows she's run through here enough times to know its every nook and cranny by heart. How often had she spent crouched in these bushes as Mels, hearts racing and adrenaline pumping as security officers ran right by her?

"Okay, think River," she speaks to herself softly as she bends to pick up her diary. "Why are you blank? Did the Library erase you? Am I still in the Library? Charlotte?" She raises her voice a bit as she stumbles out onto the path and into Mrs. Angelo.

"Oh sorry dear, hello. Are you looking for your daughter?" Mrs. Angelo eyes her with curiosity and River fights to pin a welcoming smile on her face. Jeff's grandmother - god she'd hated her as Mels. So nosey and into everything.

"No, no, I'm sorry - not my daughter my - uh - my dog. I've lost her." River scrambles for a plausible explanation as her mind races ahead. She'd never written a word about Mrs. Angelo in her diary, not once, not ever. How could the Library have recreated this?

"You're dressed awfully nicely for walking your dog," Mrs. Angelo observes dubiously. "Are you here for the wedding? Do you know the Ponds or the Williams'?" River takes a breath to brush the old woman off, but pauses, her words sinking in. The wedding. Her parents' wedding. Oh god - oh - god what had Amy told her the summer after they'd lost Melody?

As Mels she'd spent an awful lot of time trying to coax Amy out of the house any way she could. She'd found Amy's mourning incredibly frustrating, young and foolish as she'd been back then - she remembered tuning Amy out a lot, overwrought with her own desire to simply stand there and scream 'here I am if you want your daughter so badly'. Patience had never been her strong suit in that incarnation. Then again, neither had impulse control, so she'd been rather proud of herself for managing to not tell Amy everything.

The wedding, the wedding - Amy had berated her for not going (I'm not into weddings, Amy, you know that! Boring!) and had told her she'd missed the Doctor. I brought him back Mels. I remembered him - something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

River frowns at Mrs. Angelo who is staring at her like she is insane, which to be fair, she probably appears to be. "What? Sorry - yes. The Williams' actually - I'm not from here, and I seem to have lost my invitation..."

"And your dog?" Mrs. Angelo's eyes narrow as she huffs and lifts her brows. "Who brings their dog to a wedding?"

"No children you see," River smiles tightly at the old woman. "I take her everywhere with me."

"Yes, well, I can see how important she is to you, clearly," Mrs. Angelo observes drily and River grits her teeth. Some things of Mels' she's carried over, clearly, and her still intense dislike of this woman was one of them obviously. She smiles blandly at the woman, and reaches forward, shaking her hand.

"I was distracted by the invitation you see. I'm not worried about Charlotte - she'll come when I call her, she always does, you know. I can't quite remember the church address - I don't suppose you know of it?"