One Thousand Oceans
Title: One Thousand Oceans
Characters: Ninth Incarnation, Rose
Rating: General Audience
Word Count: … short
Spoilers: None
Warnings: None
It was called the planet of one-thousand oceans. The Doctor had no idea if there actually were one-thousand of them, but sometimes he thought about taking the time to count them. He reckoned he’d have to plant a flag at the shore of each one so he wouldn’t count one more than once, but then he realised that from another part of the shore he could mistake an already-counted ocean for one he hadn’t seen before, so, generally he dismissed the idea.
He sat down on an outcropping of rocks within view of one of the thousand or so oceans and breathed in. The atmosphere was Earth-like. A little more oxygen-rich and a slightly higher count of negative ions, so it was actually better than Earth. Peaceful. Calming. The tang of salt in the air and the sound of the waves rushing in and out against the sand added to the peacefulness.
The only thing wrong was the lack of any sort of animal life. There were no sea birds. There were no sea birds because there was no sea life for them to feed on. This planet had formed in a way similar to Earth with all the right ingredients, but there had never been the necessary spark to put things in motion.
Rose sat down next to him, slipped her arm around his, and rested her cheek against his shoulder. “I feel like we’re the only two people in the world.”
“We are,” he said without taking his eyes off the horizon. “This planet is completely uninhabited. It’s the best-kept secret in the universe.”
“How’d it get named, then? Someone must have lived here or visited at some point, right?”
“Nope. This place doesn’t exist. It’s completely made up. It’s the construct of some small tribe on a planet just…” He turned his gaze to the sky, “just over there, I think. The Jatkas. This is their heaven.”
“Jak…”
“Jat. Jat-Ka. Jatka.”
“Jatka. This is their heaven? Then how are we here?”
“We’re not.” He faced her, grinning broadly. The smile didn’t erase the sadness around his eyes. “You’re dreaming, Rose.”