THE SCAVENGER HUNT
Chapter Three Martha studied her clipboard while she walked down an unfamiliar corridor. So far, she had only managed to check off one thing on her list, one of the roundels. Other than that, she had no clue where anything else was. She had wandered up and down the passageways peeking into various rooms, most of which had been empty. She hadn’t seen Rose or Donna so far and had no idea where they had gotten to. She had never been this far and the silence was beginning to creep her out. She wondered how far back the TARDIS went, but at the same time was afraid to find out the answer. “I just hope the TARDIS can lead me back once this hunt finishes,” she muttered to herself. “I hope there’s another kitchen around here too. I’m starting to get hungry.” She turned the corner and went to the first door on her right. She opened it, stepped inside and froze when she noticed she was in an ice cream shop. The room was large and there were several table and chairs positioned near the door. On the other side of the room was a huge freezer filled with ice cream and a long counter that had several jars of sweets sitting on top. To Martha’s surprise, a man with slicked back black hair and a handlebar mustache was standing behind the counter drying a parfait glass with a cloth. “Can I help you, miss?” he said cheerfully. Martha stared at him. “Who are you?” she asked. “I am android twenty three. I run the TARDIS ice cream shop. Is there something I can get you?” “Um…chocolate ice cream?” Martha said, hesitantly. “Bowl or cone?” “Um…cone, please.” “One scoop or two?” “Just one.” The android set the glass down and went to the freezer to make Martha her ice cream cone. While he was doing that, Martha glanced around. To her right, she noticed a huge portrait-sized photo of the Doctor. He was standing in front of the counter holding a banana split in one hand and a plastic spoon in the other, a huge grin on his face. Above him was a wooden plaque that said, WELCOME TO DOCTOR’S DELECTIBLE DELIGHTS ICE CREAM EMPORIUM and underneath the picture was a little gold plaque that read, OUR FOUNDER. “Here you are, miss.” Martha turned to the android. He was holding out the ice cream cone. She took it from him. “Um…what do I owe you?” The android smiled. “Everything in this shop is free of charge for the Doctor’s companions. It’s one of the privileges of traveling with him.” Martha grinned. She thanked the android, settled down in one of the chairs and relaxed as she licked her ice cream. Donna slowly opened a door and peeked in. She took a look around and noticed that there seemed to be a large forest inside. “Wow, what haven’t you got, Doctor?” she said, stepping inside. She also had only checked off one item. A spoon from the TARDIS kitchen. Like Martha, she had been wandering around, looking in various rooms. At first, she had only gone to familiar places like the den or the kitchen or the sleeping quarters, but eventually she got up enough nerve to leave the familiar corridors and see what was in the rest of the ship. She closed the door behind her and assessed her surroundings. In front of her was a little dirt path through the woods and beside that was a little sign on a pole. Donna read it. SERENITY WOODS. Donna looked down the path. To her amazement, she could hear birdsong coming from the trees along with the distant sound of a waterfall. “You have actual real birds in here, Doctor?” she muttered to herself. Curiosity got the better of her and she followed the path. At first, she glanced around nervously, her acquired fear of monsters hiding behind bushes taking hold of her. But, once she realized that Serenity Woods meant exactly that, she relaxed and slowed her pace. Birds were singing overhead, but Donna couldn’t see them, so she wasn’t sure if it were real birds she was hearing or just a recording. In the end, it didn’t matter because the woods lived up to their name. Being in the tranquil woods filled her with peace and happiness and she let out a contented sigh as she headed towards the waterfall. “I’ll have to remember this place. This is nice,” she said to herself. She paused when she noticed several monarch butterflies flitting among the flowers on the forest floor. “I’ll be damned, he really does have live animals in here,” she said. “I wonder how he takes care of them. I’ve barely seen him leave the console room, let alone come back here.” She continued on. “Then again,” she said. “I’ve never seen him sleep much, so maybe he takes care of them when we’re all asleep or maybe the TARDIS does it for him. Ah well, doesn’t really matter. They’re beautiful and that’s what counts.” She rounded a bend and smiled when she saw the waterfall through the trees. She walked towards it and stepped into a clearing. There was a green wooden bench directly in front of it that had bushes on either side. Donna stared at the tiny pink flowers on the bushes and smiled. “Yup, definitely gotta remember this place,” she said. She walked around the bench and noticed a large leather-bound book resting at one end of it. She sat down on the other end, picked it up and opened it. Her eyes widened when she read… 500 YEAR DIARY. “Oh my God, is this the Doctor’s diary? I had no idea he even kept one,” she said. She hesitated a moment wondering if she should read it. Curiosity got the better of her and she turned towards the back searching for the last entry. She finally found it and began to read. It’s been awhile since I’ve written in my diary. There’s so much that has happened to me in the past couple of years. My regeneration. The loss of Rose and now, Martha coming on board. It’s been so hectic that I haven’t had time to come to my thinking spot until now. Serenity Woods has always been one of my favorite places to go to sort things out and be alone for awhile. That’s why I haven’t told any of my companions about it, not even Rose. Oh, I’ve wanted to many times, but somehow I’m afraid if I do then this place will lose its specialness. There are times I just need to get away and I don’t want to come back here and have to shoo someone out, so I can think. Sitting in front of this beautiful waterfall fills me with peace that I rarely find nowadays. Martha and I have just returned from a spaceship that was on a collision course with a living sun. Everything was resolved and the ship was saved. Unfortunately, lives were lost again. Not many, but one is always one too many for me. Such a senseless waste of life and all because of human greed. I love humans but they can be the thickest species in the universe. Sometimes even I’m amazed they’ve survived this long. And then there’s the fact that I ended up possessed by the sun and nearly killed everyone on the ship, including Martha. The thought that I could be forced by another being to turn on my friend and destroy her terrified me to the very core of my being. But, I have to confess that what terrified me even more was she wasn’t Rose. I haven’t been traveling with Martha for very long and even though we’ve become friends, I’m still not used to the way she does things. Rose and I were a team and if I was in a pinch, I could always count on her to do the right thing. I don’t have that same faith in Martha. Oh sure, she’s proven herself several times and I know I could trust her with my life, but still, it’s odd looking over and not seeing Rose there. I know that I scared Martha to death especially when I blurted out how scared I was, but it was the truth. I could feel my insides burning as the sun spread within me and became stronger and my mind was being overwhelmed with thoughts of killing everyone on the ship. I have never felt so out of control and for the first time, I was terrified I wouldn’t walk away unscathed. In my agony, I vaguely remember Martha pleading with me to have faith in her while she prepared to put me in the stasis chamber and I tried, I really tried to believe in her the way I believed in Rose, but… Rose, Rose, Rose…why does everything lately revolve around her? Why am I judging others based on what she did or said or thought? Why, even now, is she reaching across the void and affecting my life? How could one little girl have so much power over me? Martha is not Rose, will never be Rose and yet I’m expecting her to act like Rose and talk like Rose and assist me the same way Rose did. God, it’s been nearly seven months now and I still haven’t let go of her. I got over every other companion who left me and went on with my life, but not her. Why? What is so special about her that I desperately need her in my life? Is this why I went back for her when she refused my offer to travel with me? Because deep down inside, I knew she was meant to be with me? But if that’s true, why did the universe take her from me? So many questions and I doubt now if I’ll ever find the answers. One thing I’m sure of, I will never find another person like Rose Tyler. She was and is one of the most special people the universe has ever created. And even though her ghost is haunting me and will probably haunt me for the rest of my lives, I’m so glad I met her and was with her for a time. Donna finished reading the passage. She sat quietly for a moment with the diary in her lap and then slowly closed it and set it back in its place. She leaned back and stared at the waterfall, listening quietly to the rushing of the water, but after reading the part about how this was a private sanctuary for the Doctor, she suddenly felt ill at ease being there, as if she were somehow violating the place with her presence. She lingered for a few minutes and then with a sigh stood up and walked back the way she came.
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