‘Hitchhiking?’ said Lucas. ‘At Christmas? Have you gone insane? We’ll freeze to death before anyone gives us a lift.’
‘Probably,’ said Clara, stamping her feet on the snowy roadside for warmth. ‘I think this is the worst prompt for the Topsy-Turvy Challenge so far.’
‘What, worse than being dead?’
Clara opened her mouth to reply, but a chipper voice cut over her.
‘Hello,’ it said. ‘Need a ride?’
The speaker was a thin man with a cheerful face, and brown hair sticking up as though he’d had an electric shock. He wore a long brown raincoat over a two-piece suit, and had canvas shoes on instead of the more traditional polished leather.
He leant nonchalantly against a blue telephone booth with “Police” emblazoned over the door.
‘Has that always been there?’ Lucas muttered in Clara’s ear.
‘Must have been,’ she replied, frowning. ‘Police boxes don’t just appear from thin air.’
‘Ah, well,’ said the man, strolling towards them. ‘Sometimes they do.’ He held out a hand enthusiastically. ‘I’m the Doctor.’
‘Oh?’ said Lucas, shaking the hand uncertainly. ‘What are you a doctor of?’
The man pulled an exaggeratedly thoughtful face. ‘Just the Doctor. So,’ he said, clapping his hands together. ‘Where can I take you guys, hmm?’
‘We wouldn’t want to take you out of your way,’ said Clara cautiously.
‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ said the Doctor. ‘Wherever you like, just say the word.’
‘Er,’ said Lucas, looking up and down the empty country lane. ‘Where’s your car?’
The man walked back to the police box and rapped the side.
‘Hop in,’ he said, opening the door.
Clara shrugged and started to walk forward, but Lucas pulled her back.
‘What are you doing?’ he hissed. ‘The man is mad.’
‘That box is warmer than the side of the road, and I’m frozen,’ replied Clara. She shrugged again. ‘We’ll think of a way to get rid of him once we’ve thawed out a bit.’
She dashed across the road and into the police box.
She stumbled out backwards, a stunned expression plastered across her face. She walked around the box, stuck her head back through the door, then gave the Doctor a look of shocked puzzlement.
‘Good, isn’t it?’ he said, grinning.
‘How…?’
‘Don’t ask questions like that,’ said the man. ‘Are you two coming or what?’
Clara ran back to Lucas and dragged him over to the police box.
‘I don’t know what’s happening,’ she gabbled. ‘But this is going to be fun…’
Hitch-hiking with Dr Who? Count me in!
More Topsy Turvy fun on Friday! See you then x
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