the hourglass (doctor who fan fiction)

Amy's Choice pt. 3

"Where have the children gone?" I asked. There was silence. "Don't know. Play time's probably over." Rory shrugged it off. The Doctor scanned the hills of dust to the left of us. "You see, this is the real one. I just feel it. Don't you feel it?" Rory asked Amy. "I feel it both places." Amy replied. "I feel it here. It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here."

"Not really me, though, is it? I mean, would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops and a really bad Amateur Dramatics Society? That's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing Oklahoma." Amy turned to the Doctor, "Doctor, what are you doing? And what are those piles of dust?" He stood up. "Play time's definitely over."

"Oh, my God." Amy covered her mouth. "What happened to them?" The old people from the home have started to walk along the street. "I think they did." the Doctor said.

"But they're just old people." Amy looked at the old people confused. "No, if it's what the Doctor thinks, they're very old people." I said. "Sorry, Rory, I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive." the Doctor patted Rory's back. "Hello, peasants. What's this, attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Amy? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the tardis." the dream lord grinned. "You first." he said pointing to me. "Leave them alone." the Doctor stepped in-front of me and Amy. "Do that again. I love it when he does that. Tall dark hero." the dream lord joked. "Leave them alone." he mocked.

"Just leave them." Rory said. "Yes, you're not quite so impressive, but I know where your heart lies, don't I, Amy Pond?" the dream lord teased. "Shut up. Just shut up and leave me alone."

"But listen. You're in there. Loves a redhead, the Doctor. Has he told you about Elizabeth the First? Well, she thought she was the first." the dream lord grinned. "Drop it. Drop all of it. I know who you are." the Doctor walked up to the dream lord. "Course you don't." the dream lord said. "Course I do. No idea how you can be here, but there's only one person in the universe who hates me as much as you do."

"Never mind me. Maybe you should worry about them." the dream lord vanished, making us look at the old people making their way across the grass.
"Hi. Hello." Rory waved. "Hello, we were wondering where you went. To get reinforcements, by the look of it. Are you all right? You look a bit tense." the Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "Hello, Mister Nainby." Rory walked up to an old man. "Rory." I warned. "Mister Nainby ran the sweet shop. He used to slip me the odd free toffee." Rory smiled, but the smile quickly fades as Nainby grabbed Rory by the collar lifting him off his feet. "Did I not say thank you?" he questioned with fear in his voice. Rory was thrown into the mud by the swings.

"How did he do that?" Rory sat up. "I suspect he's not himself. Don't get comfortable here. You may have to run, fast."

"Can't we just talk to them?" Amy asked. The old people opened their mouths, an eye looked out. "There is an eye in her mouth." Amy pointed. "There's a whole creature inside her. Inside all of them." I said "They've been there for years, living and waiting."

"That is disgusting. They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else, are they?" Rory questioned. Mrs Poggit breathed a stream of green gas at us. "Run!" I ordered Amy and Rory. "Okay, leave them, leave them." I turned back to the elderly people. "Talk to me. You are Eknodines. A proud, ancient race. you're better than this. Why are you hiding away here? Why aren't you at home?" the Doctor questioned. "We were driven from our planet by-" Poggit started, "upstart neighbours." I finished. "So we've-"

"been living here inside the bodies of old humans for years. No wonder they live so long. You're keeping them alive." the Doctor finished Nainby's sentence. "We were humbled and destroyed. Now we will do the same to others." Poggit said. "Okay. Makes sense, I suppose. Credible enough. Could be real." the Doctor shrugged. A paper boy on a bicycle passed, "Morning." he smiled. "Get out!" I yelled. "What?" I heard him say before Poggit breathed on him, turning him to dust. "You need to leave this planet." the Doctor warned. The old people grew closer. "Maybe we should just run?" I said. "Yeah that seems like a good idea. Come on!" the Doctor grabbed my hand and we ran past the old people.

"In here!" I yelled, diving into a butcher shop. The bird song started again. "Oh, I love a good butcher's, don't you? We've got to use these places or they'll shut down. Oh, but you're probably a vegetarian, aren't you, you big flop-haired wuss." the dream lord mocked. "Oh, pipe down. I'm busy." the Doctor shot back, closing the door. "Maybe you two need a little sleep." I slumped to the ground. "Oh, wait a moment. If you fall asleep here, several dozen angry pensioners will destroy you with their horrible eye things." the dream lord smiled.

The Doctor helped me up. We plugged our ears. "Fingers in the ear. Brilliant. What's next, shouting boo? Come in, come in." The old people entered the shop. "Yes, we've got lots at steak here this week. Lots at steak, get it? Are these jokes wasted on you?" the dream lord frowned. "Wait, wait, stop." I protested. "Oh. Oh, I can't watch." the Doctor pulled me into a storage room, locking the steel door behind him. The bird song finally won us over.

"Ah, it's colder." I shivered. "The four of us have to agree, now, which is the dream." the Doctor said. "It's this, here." Rory pointed to the ground. "He could be right. The science is all wrong here. Burning ice?" Amy questioned. "No, no, no. Ice can burn. Sofas can read. It's a big universe. We have to agree which battle to lose. All of us, now." I said. "Okay, which world do you think is real?" Rory asked. "This one." the Doctor answered. "No, the other one." Rory argued. "Yeah, but are we disagreeing or competing?"

"Competing? Over what? Oh." Amy shrunk down. "Nine minutes till impact." I informed. "What temperature is it?" Amy asked. "Outside? Brrr. How many noughts have you got? Inside? I don't know but I can't feel my feet and... other parts." the Doctor mumbled. "I think all my parts are basically fine." Rory smiled proudly. "Stop competing." I rolled my eyes. Rory picked up the telephone on the console. "Can't we call for help?" Rory asked. "Yeah, because the universe is really small and there's bound to be someone nearby."

"Put these on you three." Amy threw us blankets that had a slit in the middle. "Oh, a poncho. The biggest crime against fashion since lederhosen." Rory rolled his eyes. "Here we go. Our boys. Our poncho boys. If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band." Amy grinned. "We're not going to die." Rory said. "No, we're not, but our time's running out. If we fall asleep here we're in trouble. If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world, but the Dream Lord is switching us between the worlds. Why? Why? what's the logic?"

"Good idea, veggie. Let's divide you four up, so I can have a little chat with our lovely companion and the girl who was found. Maybe I'll keep them, and you can have Pointy Nose to yourself for all eternity, should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality." the dream lord grinned. "Can you hear that?" Rory clambered over to Amy. "What? No." Amy shook her head. The Doctor walked over to me. "Amy, Juno, don't be scared. We'll be back. I promise." he and Rory fell asleep. "Rory, Doctor, don't leave us." Amy pleaded. "Oh, Juno and Amy, we're going to have fun, aren't we?" the dream lord walked down the stairs. "No, please, not alone." I whined.

A thick layer of frost covered over everything. "Poor Amy. He always leaves you, doesn't he, alone in the dark. Never apologises." the dream lord spoke. "He doesn't have to." Amy shot back. "That's good, because he never will. And now he's left you two with me. Spooky old, not to be trusted me. Anything could happen." he changed into a robe. "Who are you, and what do you want? The Doctor knows you, but he's not telling us who you are." I quizzed. "And he always does. Takes him a while sometimes, but he tells me. So you're something different." Amy added. "Oh, is that who you think you are? The one he trusts?" the dream lord asked Amy. "Actually, yes." Amy nodded. "The only girl in the universe to whom the Doctor tells everything?" the dream lord looked to me.

"Yes." Amy replied. "So what's his name?" he asked. Amy and me looked down "Now, Amy, which one of these men would you really choose? Look at them. You ran away with a handsome hero. Would you really give him up for a bumbling country doctor who thinks the only thing he needs to be interesting is a ponytail?" the dream lord asked. "Stop it." I said. "But maybe it's better than loving and losing the Doctor. Pick a world, and this nightmare will all be over." the dream lord said. "Amy, they'll listen to you. It's you they're waiting for." I said. "Amy's men. Amy's choice."