December 25th 1997
Caroline's eyes snapped open. Something had woken her up from a deep sleep. A deep sleep where she
had dreamt of snow and hooded figures floating over churches. But as soon as she was awake the dream had already started to fade.
She rubbed her eyes and turned her head to her bedside cabinet. The digital readout on her clock told her that it was 08:00...and that it was Christmas day.
Christmas day! Brilliant!
She quickly sat up and got out of bed, scrambling around for her slippers. She eventually found them at the other end of her bed and was about to open the door to go downstairs when she heard the house
phone ringing.
She listened and could hear her mum speaking:
"Hello...yes. Yes, hello Danny. Well, yes, it is a little too early for you to be calling...I don't know...she should be up soon...I'll get her to call you back."
"Wait!" shouted Caroline, opening her door and running down the stairs.
"Slow down, sweetheart," said her mum as Caroline grabbed the receiver from her.
"Thanks, mum," grinned Caroline.
"And a Merry Christmas to you, too!" said her mum, rolling her eyes and walking through the hallway, back towards the kitchen.
"Hello?" said Caroline on the phone.
"Merry Christmas," came Danny's voice on the other end.
"Hey," smiled Caroline.
Her and Danny had been seeing each other for a few months now and things were going great between them. She hadn't gotten chance to see him yesterday as he'd been out and about with his parents, visiting relatives, but he had promised to call her.
"Have you opened it yet?" asked Danny.
"Not yet," said Caroline. "I've just gotten up."
Danny laughed. "I wanna be there when you open it."
"You can't come round here at this time, Dan. My mum'll go spare."
"Then come out. Come meet me. Down at the old house."
Caroline laughed. "How the hell am I meant to sneak out now? Mum and Dad'll be wanting me to open my presents."
"Offer to go to the shop or something," said Danny.
"You daft idiot," she whispered. "The shop’s two minutes away. The old house is five minutes away, not to mention the time we spend there."
"Okay, okay," said Danny, a little annoyed. "Why don't we meet tonight?"
"She'll wonder where I'm going."
"Tell them you're off to meet me."
"No way!" said Caroline, glancing back towards the kitchen, looking out for her mum. "You know how
worried they get."
"Caz, you're almost sixteen now. I'm sure they can trust you."
Caroline closed her eyes and then smiled. "Okay, I'll be there. But we'll have to be quick."
The day had passed slowly. After breakfast Caroline and her parents had opened their presents together. Caroline had gotten the latest Oasis CD and a new hi-fi system. Her Dad had gotten a pair of slippers and a few new shirts for when he was at work and her mum had gotten a new coffee machine.
There were more presents to come tomorrow, on Boxing Day, but this was all they were opening for now.
Then her grandma had come around for the Christmas meal. Caroline had eaten more than she could cope with and for the last two hours of the afternoon had sat on the sofa watching old comedy repeats on UK Gold.
She checked her watch. It was almost 6pm. She excused herself from the living room and ran upstairs. She went to the bathroom and brushed her long brown hair. She then applied some red lipstick and got
changed.
She went back down the stairs and back into the living room.
"Going somewhere?" asked her mum, her arms folded.
"I'm popping to Jenny's house."
"Dressed like that?" said her mum, indicating the blue dress she was wearing.
"Yeah. We thought we'd get dressed up nice and everything."
"Don't you even think of trying to get into any pubs," said her mum sternly.
"Don't be daft, mum," said Caroline. She had attempted it once, earlier in the year, gotten drunk and vowed never to drink again.
"And you're not off to see that Danny, are you?"
"No," said Caroline a little sheepishly.
"Right. Well, I want you back here by 8pm."
"You're joking? That doesn't give me much time!"
"You'll do as your mum says, young lady," piped up her dad, before taking a sip of sherry.
"Fine!" said Caroline, putting her jacket on and storming out of the living room.
When she had left her mum turned to her dad.
"Thanks, Tony, for the support."
Tony simply looked at his wife, shook his head and turned back to 'Only Fools And Horses'.
Caroline made her way down the snow-covered Lansdowne Ave and towards her and Danny's school. It was surrounded by fields and up on the top of a hill was an old, red-brick house that had belonged to the old school caretaker. He had long since died and the house had become neglected. Now the kids used it as a hang-out.
"Over here," said Danny.
Caroline smiled when she saw him standing inside the house, looking through one of the broken windows.
"Did you have any problems?" he asked.
"Not really. They think I'm at Jenny's, but I've gotta be back by 9pm."
"Ah, that's alright," smiled Danny, helping her over the window ledge and into the building.
They were standing in an old, large room with peeling wallpaper and rotten doors. Danny pulled an
ripped curtain across the window and crossed to the middle of the room where there was a blanket and a small candle.
"Did you bring it?" asked Danny.
"Yeah," said Caroline, going in her pocket and taking out a small, wrapped-up present.
Caroline sat beside him on the blanket and began to open the present. It was a small, black box.
She turned to Danny and he smiled, his perfect white teeth making her heart melt.
"What is it?" she asked nervously.
"Open it and look," he said, moving closer towards her.
She opened the box and inside was a small, golden ring with a glittering diamond on top.
"Oh my God!" gasped Caroline. "It's...perfect."
"It was my Grandma's. It was her wedding ring. She left it to me and told me to give it to someone I truly loved. Someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."
Caroline turned to Danny. Her eyes were wet. "Thank you."
Danny leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"And I'll always feel the same," said Danny.
"Me too," said Caroline. "I don't want to ever lose you. Ever."
December 25th 2010: One Year Before The Doctor
Caroline sat in her living room, a plate next to her on the sofa with a few crumbs left over from a sandwich she had eaten. On the TV was the latest Christmas episode of EastEnders and there was a small glass of wine in her hand.
There was a knock at the door. She got up to answer it. Standing there was her landlord, Mr Cope.
"Hi, Mr Cope."
"I've told you before," smiled Mr Cope. "It's Brian."
Caroline smiled.
"You okay, love?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, a little tired and weary.
"You look shocking, if you don't mind me saying so."
Caroline sniffed. She had caught a cold a few days ago, but if she was being honest with herself she
really hadn't felt up to celebrating Christmas. Not on her own anyway.
"Just got the Christmas blues, I suppose," she said glumly.
"You need to get yourself a nice man," said Brian. "Me and my wife were together fifty years. You
don't want to be alone at this time of the year."
"I've given up trying to find anyone," said Caroline. "Years ago I used to believe that love was
forever. That you could love someone forever and it'd never change."
"If you work on it, then it's possible."
Caroline smiled. "I gave up on that a long time ago."
"Well, that's a shame." Brian turned to go. "If you ever need someone, you know where I am."
"Thanks, Mr. Cope," said Caroline with a little smile, and then she closed the door.
She went back to the sofa. Her phone was flashing. There was a message. She picked it up and looked
at it. It was from Danny.
"Merry Christmas x" was all that it read.
She hadn't heard from him in quite a while. She was about to write back, when her phone rang. It was Sarah. She answered it...and forgot all about the text from Danny.
Across the country, in Manchester, Danny sat alone in his cold, studio apartment. He sat holding his
phone in his hand, waiting for the reply from Caroline. A reply which never came.
He sighed and put the phone down and crossed towards the mantel piece around the electric fire. He took the top off a little, porcelain cat that sat on the mantel. Inside was a small, golden ring with a diamond on top. He picked it up and looked at it.
Then he shook his head and put it back in the porcelain cat.
"Merry Christmas, Caroline," he said, and walked away.
THE END
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