FAMILY CAMPING TRIP

Chapter Two

The TARDIS landed and powered down and the Doctor turned away from the console with a triumphant look on his face.

"So! We're now on Planet Musskor, one of the most dangerous planets ever," he said ominously to his family while they stood around him. "Forget Utahraptor skeletons, here a Utahraptor skeleton could come alive and eat you! So…are you ready?"

"Okay, how are we going to go camping if we're gonna be running for our lives every moment," Amy said.

"Dunno, that's the fun part," the Doctor said gleefully.

"Do you get the feeling that he gets a sadistic pleasure from tempting fate?" Rory said.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Each of them carried some camping gear out of the TARDIS and into the surrounding forest. The suns had nearly gone below the horizon and the woods were darkening and becoming creepy. They found a clearing about fifty feet from the TARDIS. The Doctor set up the tent while Rory used a spade to build a fire pit and River and Amy went into the woods with hatchets to find wood for the fire.

"So…keeping busy then?" Amy said to her daughter.

"Yup. Like I said, I was leading a dig before Hubby showed up again," River said.

"And you dropped all that and went with him."

"Mother, you and I both know that the Doctor is a man child. If I refused, he would have batted his little eyelashes and begged till I gave in."

"Are you sure? Because I figured you'd want to see him again," Amy teased.

"I do but…I do have a life outside of him. That's why I refused to travel with him full time. The Doctor is wonderful and I love him with all my heart but he's best in small doses."

"I agree with that," Amy said.

River pointing to a small tree with thick tree limbs. The two of them used the hatchets and began chopping down bits of wood.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"There we go," the Doctor said when he finished the tent. "It's bigger on the inside so plenty of room. That's why I only set up one tent."

"So…it's like Harry Potter then?" Rory said. "I mean, they had a bigger on the inside tent as well. Did you get the idea from the books?"

"You mean, I stole from JK Rowling? No, I had one first so JK owes me royalties for the theft of my intellectual property," the Doctor said with a grin.

"And is that tent able to withstand any horrors this forest has?" Rory said.

"Um…dunno. But the four of us together, we can do anything!" the Doctor said, walking over and patting him on the shoulder.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Amy and River returned and they were able to start a fairly large fire after Rory finished digging out the fire pit and surrounding it with large stones. The Doctor had brought some inflatable chairs that they could sit in while they cooked their food. He set up a spit and put some steaks on that were brought from the TARDIS. He had also brought a large wicker picnic basket and a tiny guitar case. While his family was relaxing, the Doctor opened the guitar case and brought out a ukulele.

"Now…I shall entertain the masses," he said to them as he tuned his ukulele.

"Won't that alert the dangers that we're here?" Amy said.

"Yeah. Can't wait to see what shows up," the Doctor said. "Anyway…any requests for songs?"

Everyone was silent. The Doctor shrugged. He plucked a few of the strings before he cleared his throat and began to strum while he sang.

"Here we are, deep in the woods. But the four of us, we got the goods. We'll fight anything that comes near. Boy, I wish I had a nice, cold beer!"

He fell silent and stopped strumming while he waited for applause. His family glanced at each other before River gave him three sarcastic claps.

"Thank you!" the Doctor said, nodding his head. "Now…" he said while he strummed lazily on the ukulele. I think I should favor you with a story, a tale of scariness and suspense. Perhaps I shall tell you of the things that lurk just beyond our campsite?"

"If we say we're not interested, will that stop you?" Rory said.

"No, Father, it won't," River said to him.

"First…there are the Vovos," the Doctor said while he casually plucked out a tune on the ukulele. "Hideous ten foot spiders that come down from the trees, pounce on you and eat you alive!"

He paused for dramatic effect while his family looked at one another with withering looks on their faces.

"Yes. Even now, the Vovos might be lurking above," the Doctor said dramatically.

River rolled her eyes when he punctuated that by furiously strumming on his ukulele for ten seconds. He stopped strumming and stared at them with an intense look on his face for another ten seconds before resuming his little melody.

"Yes. The Vovos are dangerous but some say that the power of music can lull them into a calm state. That is why I'm playing right now."

"Well, I hope they're fans of crappy ukulele music then," Amy said dryly.

"Some say the Vovos were once humans," the Doctor said as he played. "Some say that they were evil men who were turned to spiders as a punishment for their misdeeds."

"Some say that I'm being bored to tears listening to this," Rory said.

"Now…the Vovos spend eternity feasting on the flesh of the unwary."

"Will you stop that?" River said when he did another dramatic fast strumming of the ukulele.

"What?" the Doctor said. "You want me to stop playing and possibly invite the Vovos into our midst?"

"At least fighting the Vovos would keep me awake," Amy said.

"Fine," the Doctor said, setting his ukulele aside. "But if the Vovos come en masse and kill you all, don't come crying to me!"

"Kill us? What about you?" Rory said.

"I'll regenerate. None of you have that advantage," the Doctor said smugly.

"He forgets that I was the one that gave up my regenerations to allow him to continue to have this so-called advantage," River said to her parents.

"And I am forever grateful, River," the Doctor said.

"So that's it then? Just huge man eating spiders to threaten us?" Amy said.

"Oh no, that's just the beginning of the horrors that await us here," the Doctor said.

He fell silent along with everyone else. Rory listened but all he heard were crickets.

"So where are these other horrors," he finally said. "I mean, surely the campfire and the music and the smell of burning meat would have brought something here by now."

"Oh…but that's the thing," the Doctor said to him. "You see, they are very clever. They wait in the trees for the right opportunity to strike!"

River sighed when he snatched his ukulele off the ground and did the dramatic strumming again.

"Beware of the beasties tonight," the Doctor said dramatically as he stared at each of his family members in turn. "For they wait with baited breath until…THEY STRIKE!"

"Anyone else ready to eat now?" Amy said to them when the Doctor did his dramatic strumming again.

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