"I wasn't done," I said quickly. He looked at me with a weird expression, and I continued quickly, my scientific thoughts pouring out. "The doors must be a link to another dimension, or perhaps the bigger part of this room is out of phase with outside, so that even though it's technically there, I could walk through it in my backyard."

He smiled at me, and nodded, but his eyes seemed conflicted. "You didn't say it's bigger on the inside," he almost pouted.

I thought of what he'd said. "Well, to put it simply, it could be that. But I think it's out of phase, or another dimension. Perhaps advanced cloaking? Almost the same as out of phase... Which one is right?" Looking up at him questioningly, he squinted and studied me again, as if he'd discovered something new about me, so significant that he needed to reassess his thoughts on me.

"You're smart," he said, as a compliment.

I bit my lip and looked through the glass floor, to the mechanical workings below it. "I'm a nerd... hey, what're the gears for? Is that an engine?" I gasped. The noise must've been the box landing here. "Is this a ship?!" I asked excitedly.

Suddenly, he seemed confused, and he blinked. "Hold on... your backyard?"

I looked up. "Engine?"

"I landed in your backyard?" He muttered, then groaned. "But you're American."

"Landed? This is a ship! Wait..." My attitude changed quickly. "You don't like Americans?"

"What? No! I mean, I do! I do like Americans," he defended himself quickly. "but I was trying to land in England." His voice trailed off, and he looked back at the screen.

I peeked around him to look at the screen, but I could see nothing but a bunch of numbers. My inner nerd jumped up excitedly. "Um, what's that?"

He turned the screen off quickly. "Nothing."

I nearly rolled my eyes. "That wasn't nothing, mister. Hey, what's your name?"

He glanced at me, as if scanning me... again. I looked him straight in the eye, trying to seem confident. "Your name?"

He held the stare for a few more seconds, then nodded, as if I'd passed the test. "I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor of what?" I asked quickly. "Medicine? If so, what are you doing in a spaceship?" I almost laughed.

"How did you know this is a spaceship?!" He exclaimed.

I shrugged. "I just figured it out."

"No. Nobody could just figure it out." There he goes, scanning me again. As if making eye contact will tell him who I am.

"It was kind of easy." I said. "I heard a noise, and came outside to see a box that hadn't been there before. The box probably made the noise. Now I see what looks like an engine..." I looked through the glass floor again, then up at the hexagon, which was covered in buttons, knobs, levers, and... a phone, binoculars, a typewriter... "and this could be the control panel?" I finished with a question.

"Yes," he replied quietly, still staring me down.

"Are you human?" I asked excitedly, questions rushing out. I didn't want to stop them; I loved asking questions.

"No." He straightened and looked away, at the screen again.

"Cool..." I whispered, then I giggled. He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Sorry, it's just... oh, wow."

I saw a hint of a smile light up his eyes. "You're not...?"

"Not what?" I asked quickly.

"Afraid? Uncertain? Freaking out?" He glanced between me and the screen, still covered in ever-changing numbers.

I shook my head slowly. "I am curious, though."

"Ah, curiosity!" The man chuckled and pressed a few buttons. "You never did tell me your name, miss curious.

"Neither did you." I replied.

He pretended to be hurt. "Yes, I did. I'm the Doctor."

"A Doctor of what?"

"The Doctor of... well, this." He flipped a lever, and the whole room shook a little!

I broke out into a grin. "Okay. An out of phase space ship with an alien who calls himself the Doctor..." The man started nodding in agreement with me as I talked. "and a British accent."

"Oi! I like it, don't you?" He played the hurt puppy act again, and I shrugged.

"I do have a biased opinion of my own accent, but... yeah. It's cool."

"Most definitely."

I sense an adventure ahead...

There it was! That voice again! But I ignored it; the Doctor was talking. "Did you see anything strange in your backyard?"

I shook my head. "No, but... it was dark, so I can't be sure. Why? Do you have enemies out there?"

"Possibly." My eyes widened in both excitement and a bit of fear. But not that much fear. Well... "Exactly how dark was it, miss curious?"

"It's dark," I said plainly. "It's nighttime."

"But how dark?" He asked frustratedly, glaring at the scanner. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and I saw his attitude change dramatically. He looked shocked, scared, and apologetic, all at  the same time. With that expression, he glanced at me, then looked at the ground just behind my foot.

I looked down and moved my foot a little, but there was nothing there.

"No, don't move!" The man's voice was quivering slightly. Was it fear? Worry? I couldn't tell.

"Why not?" I asked quickly, but I did as he said. I kept still.

Something in his expression and tone of voice told me he was frightened, and that I should be too. "Just don't move. If I can get another target for them, they should leave you alone..." He looked around the hexagon hurriedly, searching for something.

"Leave me alone? What would leave me alone?" I was a little scared, but more curious and confused.

"Just stay still!" He shouted as he ran down the stairs and down a hallway. Every bone in my body wanted to follow him, but the desperation in his voice somehow kept me waiting for his return.

And, twelve seconds later, he returned, holding a brown paper sack. I gave him my best 'I want to know what's going on' glare, but he wasn't looking at me. Again, he was looking just behind my foot on the ground. I huffed in annoyance, but he shushed me with a finger. "Stay very still."

"Why?" The question stung, almost like it was burning. I was so confused.

"Count to twenty in your head, then ask again. Slowly!"

I frowned, but did just that. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three...

The Doctor opened the bag. Four Mississippi...

He pulled out three chicken legs, still staring down the floor behind me. Seven Mississippi, Eight...

He set them on the ground, in a line, with one just barely touching my shadow. Eleven Mississippi... Wait...

I lost count as I watched what happened next. My shadow left me! It moved along the chicken leg, devouring the meat as it went! Then the next leg, and the next! The Doctor kept laying out chicken legs, until he had one left in his hand.

He walked over to the hexagon and opened the door to the outside with a switch. The shadow started to follow him, but then the man tossed the chicken leg out the door. The shadow immediately chased after it, and once it had left, the man used another switch to close the door.

I had lost count of the Mississippis, and I stared bewilderedly at the Doctor. For a moment, all was quiet as he glanced behind my foot again. Then, he sighed in relief. "It's gone."

"What is? The shadow?" He nodded quietly. "It ate those chicken— oh, wow."

"What?" He asked me. "Oh, you can move now."

I nodded to that, then looked behind me. There was still a shadow!

The Doctor noticed what I saw. "Oh, don't worry; that's your real shadow. The other one..."

"...wasn't." I finished the sentence for him, then looked up, trying to catch his attention. "Thank you."

"For what?" He asked, already looking back at the scanner.

"For, um, well, saving me. It ate those chicken legs; I'm sure it could have eaten me instead. You distracted it. Thank you, uh... Doctor."

He smiled when I said 'Doctor,' and he looked up, meeting my eyes. "You're very welcome. Now, Miss curious, your name?"

"Kaylie," I said quietly.

His smile widened. "Beautiful name!"

I grinned and looked down, then back up. "I like your name, too."

"Aw, no, it's not that great," he said playfully.

Giggling, I replied. "I think so."

"Well, thank you, Miss Kaylie." He bowed a little, making me giggle again.

"Just Kaylie."

"Alright then, 'Just Kaylie,' would you please get out of my spaceship?"

Immediately, my smile dropped. "Why?"

He turned to me, completely serious. "I have a job to do. Get in your house quickly, and the shadow should ignore you."

"Can't I come?" I asked quickly, not wanting to be left behind. Sure, I just met this guy, but I wasn't one to turn down an adventure. And I know this for sure: a spaceship + an alien + a job to do = an adventure!

"It'll be dangerous." He warned me quietly, those big eyes boring through mine again.

The fact that he didn't say 'no' encouraged me. "That's okay."

"Really?" He looked confused. "You're just a kid."

That made me straighten up a bit. I wanted to proclaim that I was fifteen, but I thought for a moment. "Home of the brave."

He grinned, and I smirked in pride at my patriotic statement that totally fit the situation.

"You're still a kid."

Well, that did it. "I'm fifteen!"

"That's a kid!"

I huffed in annoyance. "How old are you?"

"Nine hundred and seven!" He said quickly, then he looked at me to see my reaction.

I just nodded. "Makes sense. I mean, you are an alien."

He smiled at me strangely, like how someone looks at a doughnut with sprinkles on it, amongst eleven other regular doughnuts. Like I was something different. Something special.

"You realize that if you come with me, there'll be lots of running," he whispered.

"Sounds good to me," I grinned, but then I realized... "But I'm not wearing my running shoes!" I pouted, looking down at my flimsy flip-flops, with my socked feet awkwardly placed in them.

He grinned. "I guess you'll have to go get them. I'll wait here."

I protested right away, knowing that he'd leave while I was getting them.  "No. Uh-uh. You'll fly away and leave me here."

His smirk dropped. "How did—"

"There's probably a closet or something on this ship. I can find Nikes in my size."

"Sure, sure, but wait... How did you know I'd try to leave?"

I giggled. "Ah, he confesses! You were trying to make me leave!"

He played defensive. "No! I... I mean, but... how did you know?"

I sighed, smiling. "Well, if I were a highly intelligent alien," he smiled a bit at that, "and I had a pesky human that I didn't want to bring along, that's what I'd do."

"I never said you were pesky..." He said quietly.

"So, then, I'm coming with you?" I meant it as a statement, but it came out as a question.

He studied my eyes for a moment, then he stepped a bit closer. I gulped and held my ground. "Why do you want to come along? You don't even know where I'm going."

Thinking about my answer, I hesitated. Why did I want to go with him? I had a Mom to take care of. Schoolwork to do. But I didn't have anything exciting happening in my life. Nothing... unusual or unexpected. Those are the things I love. The things I've always wanted to do.

"I like the unexpected. I like... learning new things, exploring new places, and... I like the un-ordinary. Nothing like that has ever happened to me. At least, not until now." Looking around the ship again, I sat in one of the chairs near the hexagon. "So! Where to?"

"Don't you have a family?" The Doctor asked quietly, still standing.

"My Mom, and... a few distant cousins, aunts and uncles I rarely see. They live in another state. But just for one night! Please? Mom will never know I was gone!"

"Don't you need sleep?"

I shrugged. "I can run on adrenaline for one night."

He arched an eyebrow. "Just one night?"

I shook my head to say no, then hesitated. "We'll see after this trip, like this is the test run. Deal?"

After a few seconds of studying my eyes again, he nodded ever so slightly. I jumped out of my seat and did a victory dance, making the Doctor giggle.

"Yay! So, where to first? You said England, right?"

"London, to be exact!" The Doctor pressed a few buttons on the hexagon.

"But first, where's the closet? I need running shoes."