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Doctor Who © by BBC.
Doctor Who: The accompanying shadow
Summer 2018
Every morning, when she was on her way to work, she saw her. Those red eyes staring at her from the second shadow next to hers. These red eyes were now a constant companion since their last birthday in November, and they scared her slowly but surely.
At first she had dismissed it as an illusion, putting it to exhaustion, but even the fact that she was on vacation then, perhaps to lessen the tension she had at the time, simply did not make those red eyes disappear.
And yet, they were always only during the time when she was on her way to work and later on the way back.
Those red eyes, which they could look at, but never get in touch with.
And yet one day these red eyes would become one of her best memories.
~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~
In his world there was only darkness. The whole time, one saw very little in the eternal darkness and the people who lived here, of course, considered this as normal. How could they ever know how beautiful the light can be, how splendid it felt to walk in the light of the sun when all this was unknown.
Yes, here too the sun gave warmth, but its surface was very dark, those who looked at it, from far off, could see it only in an anthracite. However, she was not visible to the naked eye, but only with a special telescope.
Yes, here it was quite normal that it would be very dark every day forever.
When he first came into contact with the direct parallel world, he was astonished and scared of what it might look like if everything was not eternally shrouded in darkness. He stood in the middle of the footpath, just a shadow, since his body was still in his world. But he wanted to see more, wanted to let the impressions, which he still could not quite understand, work on him.
And so he became a companion to a young woman who did not feel the need to be afraid. Or she was scared but did not show it.
It was one morning when she spoke to him for the first time.
„You are not from here, are you?“
„No. Why are not you afraid of me?“
„I dont know. You're talking Scottish accent, I guess. Is the world you come from something like this?“
„Well, I do not know that either. But let me explain one thing to you. The world in which I live is enveloped in eternal darkness. What you call light is completely unknown to us. Of course we do not miss it, as well.“
She stopped, so did he and seemed to be thinking about something. Then she asked him what his first feelings were when he first came to this world.
„I was scared, but I was pretty surprised. To see all this, to be blinded by the sun, somehow filled me with joy. But unfortunately, why I accompany you on the way every morning and afternoon, unfortunately I do not know that.“
She was silent, what could she answer? Fear? She had not had that for a long time, how could it be possible if she could talk to the "shadow"? And he was not angry either, otherwise he would already have done something to her.
No, he was very nice and with each conversation more, what they had and which loosened more and more, so that she could sometime laugh with "her shadow", there, she became more and more aware, but she ignored it.
It would not work if he could never really be in this world. But just what they had was more than many would expect.
„Good morning“, he wished as she left the house one more time. She, too, wished it, but then stopped, as her eyes fell on his eyes. Was it just a delusion or did the orange mix with the red? She shook her head. That could not be guaranteed.
They talked again on the way, talking about things that really have no real meaning. It was just small talk.
„Enjoy all the pudding brains. I hope you will survive this afternoon.“
„I've survived it all these years before you, I'll do it for you too“, and suddenly she did something that surprised both of them: she hugged him out of impulse. Actually, this should not be possible because he had no solid matter here and yet he could feel the warmth of her on his body.
„See you later, my shadow.“
When she was gone he sighed softly. She should not be able to hug him. Here, in this world, he had no solid matter but was just a blurry "something".
He saw raised his hands and frowned. They still looked transparent, but something seemed to change in them.
He reached for the street lamp next to him, but instead of going through his hand, he could grasp it. He could just touch her.
„OK, that's not normal anymore“, he said softly to himself, „something is not right here at all.“
The time he spent working until he had time left him expecting to think about what was happening to him. He did not even have a clue why he could move between worlds. This was not possible for the rest of his world, but he became the "shadow" of a young woman who might never really be afraid of him.
The lessons moved quickly, but somehow sluggishly. That was how it seemed to him, but at the same time it was interesting to watch the sun move as the shadows changed during the day.
Only his, who was himself remained the same, never changed. A dark gray something whose eyes shone scarlet.
„Hey, you did not have to wait here all the time.“
„It's okay. Clara“, he knew her name, how could he not, but she did not know his, „why did you hug me this morning? It just should not be possible because I do not really exist in your world.“
She did not know. She really could not give him an answer and even if, what would change? He may have been an integral part of your life, but he could never be an integral part of your life.
„I was hoping you would have an answer“, he smiled faintly, at least it was supposed to be one. How exactly could it be said, if its own manifestation was no more than a shadowy mass.
„Your eyes!“, She exclaimed suddenly, „your eyes, they are orange, not red anymore!“
He looked at her slightly suspiciously. What she said made no sense, but what could be the reason for simply telling him some nonsense?
Clara opened the mirror app on her smartphone and held it out to him to convince himself.
It was true, his eyes were orange, an orange like a fire.
„Oh... well, at least better than a red that can really scare you.“
She knew he was joking, but she did not really feel like it. What did that actually mean? Was it something good or something bad?
„Do you still have some time?“, She asked him suddenly and he nodded, knowing that he could never say so exactly. Maybe it was better not to know how and when he would be back in his world. If he had ever really left her.
Clara took him to a place on the Thames, which was still in the city center and was known by only a few.
„It's not exactly a secret, but from here you can watch the sunset very well.“
He could not help but agree. It was really beautiful. They were sitting in the grass with their eyes turned upwards as she suddenly sank back and pulled him away.
Actually, it should not be possible, she would have to go through his shadowy body, but instead she lay on his chest.
„Can you promise me something, please?“
„It depends on what you want.“
Clara took a deep breath, as if she had to breathe all the oxygen in the world.
„Can you please stay with me. Forever?“
He changed his position so that he leaned over her. His voice sounded very lost as he explained that it would not be possible.
„You are probably right. It's just that ... I just fell in love with you, even though I do not even know your name.“
„You would not be able to pronounce it anyway“, he grinned, „but if you want, you can call me Basil. I thought of John first, but that's a little too often.“
She repeated the name and finally found that it suited him.
„But you will not be able to stay, right? There's no way you can be here forever.“
„Why would you want that, Clara? Why do you want to be with someone who's pretty scary?“
„I mentioned that earlier, I love you. I know that maybe you could really have four arms ... But I would not care that either. I just want to spend my life with you.“
He hung his head. If all this was as easy as she wished, but it was not like that. Who cared about the pain a young woman would feel at that moment when he really could not be with her? Hardly anyone.
Clara ran her hand over his face and despite his shadowy form, he radiated the warmth of a human and if that was possible, then she could also... It was maybe a little crazy, but were her feelings, which she for him Did not it, too?
She had to try it anyway, otherwise she would spend the rest of her life wondering what it could have been like. So Clara put her lips on his and let them stay there. He was warm here too, with no indication that she was kissing a creature colder than the Antarctic.
„We should not do that.“
„I want it though. I love you, I do not know when those feelings started, but I know that I've never really been so scared of you. I do not care if I never see your true figure, all this is more than I would ever expect.“
Basil, as he called himself, gently pushed her aside and stood up. He looked at her with one last, sad look.
„Clara, I'm sorry, but even though I can be here, it would never work. Here, in this wonderful world, I will always be a shadow.“
He slowly broke up, but Clara, nicknamed The Impossible Girl, just did not want to let him go, so she clung to him and found herself in sudden darkness.
„Where are you here? It is so dark.“
„This is my world. There is no light here, only heat. I do not even know what I look like.“
Clara turned on her flashlight app and shone it. When she really saw him this time, she let out a scream.
That could not be. It was not possible for him to be!
„Clara? Is everything ok?“
She was still staring. How could she explain it to him?
~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~
Many years ago ...
The raven, who was approaching her, suddenly stopped. He knew he had to finish his job, but he also knew that the young woman in front of him had not really lived all those years.
And so he decided to take her life, but at the same time give her the future.
„You, whose fate awaits you now, but also be confident that this is not death, but only a new future. A future that begins in the past. It will take a long time, but be sure that it will pay off.“
~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~ ° ~
Ever since that day, when she was back in Blackpool, living with her family and finally moving to London, since that day she had been waiting for the day to see him again.
„Doctor“, she whispered softly and suddenly she found herself in his arms. He just held her tight. It was he, the man with the silver-gray hair and the blue eyes. The man who was so strange to her in the beginning and whom she loved more than anything else.
„Clara, my Clara. For all the months, I was afraid that you would not recognize me. That you would be very afraid of my appearance. I was afraid that you... I love you, Clara. I had hoped all the time you would feel the same way.“
„Do not recognize you? Doctor, I love you, I love this me who stands before me. I do not care if you existed in my world only as a shadow being. I love you, no matter who or what we are. I just want to be with you.“
He could do no more than pull her close and kiss with all the pain and passion that had accumulated over the years.
And while they were just kissing, this world, which had always been shrouded in darkness, was bathed in a soft light. They could not live together either in his world or in their world, but they could exist together as light, as giving warmth.
And if you, should you sit outside one evening and look at the stars in a clear night sky, then you will sometimes have the feeling of seeing a brighter light in one place and at the same time feeling a warm breeze, while at the same time the voice of one Raven, who tells the story of a very specific Doctor and his Impossible Girl.
The end.