Rose Tyler, age seven, ducked through the hole in the fence between her yard and the neighbors, and found her two best friends-John, eight and Donna, nearly ten-sitting on the back porch. John had his Lego sets spread out around him, and was busily building while his sister read nearby.

"Hey," Rose said, sitting down next to John. "What're you makin'?"

"A time machine." He pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Well, it's more than that. It's also a spaceship."

"Oh yeah?" Rose scrutinized the rectangular blue box. "Looks like a blue box. A small blue box."

"Bigger on the inside." With intense concentration, he finished his blue time machine, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. "It's called a TARDIS."

"TARDIS?"

"Time and Relative Dimension in Space." Donna gave a derisive snort, and he threw a Lego at her. "Just because you have no imagination doesn't mean that you can make fun of me for mine."

"And who flies this thing?"

"I do. I'm called The Doctor." John looked up with a big grin. "And you, Rose Tyler, are my companion."

"I am, am I?" Rose grinned right back. "Where's this thing gonna take us?"

"Anywhere or anywhen you want! How does New Earth in the year five billion and twenty-three sound? New New York?"

"What happened to regular old New York?"

"Gone." He stood and grabbed her hand. "Come on, Rose! We have to visit the hospital in New New York. Did you know that the hospital was run by cat nuns?"

"Cat nuns?" Rose laughed as he pulled her out into the yard.

"In wimples! They desperately need our help!"

"You're mental!"

"We have to save them!" He grinned at her. "Let's go!"

They lay on their backs in Rose's backyard, staring up at the night sky.

"That's Orion," he said, "and that one is Ursa Major."

Rose squinted, trying desperately to see the constellations he was pointing out to her. "Okay."

"And that one is Pegasus..." He looked over to see her frowning in concentration. "What's the matter?"

"I know you say these constellations make a picture that tells a story, but I...I just can't seem to see them."

He scooted closer to her on the grass, so that their heads were touching, and took her hand in his and lifted them up. "Follow my finger, okay?" He began to connect the stars with their fingers. "That's Andromeda. She's chained to a rock."

Rose could kind of make out the shape. "Why's she chained to a rock?"

"Because her mum, Cassiopoeia," he moved their finger and traced another constellation, "said that Andromeda was more beautiful than than the sea nymphs, so Poseidon had her chained to a rock as punishment for Cassiopoeia's arrogance."

"Seems kind of harsh."

"It's Greek mythology, Rose. Not exactly the nicest people, the Greek gods."

She laughed as their hands dropped down to their sides, still entwined. "Where'd you learn all this?"

"Gramps." He grinned at her. "But we're not allowed to tell my mum I know all these stories, she thinks they're all full of sex and violence. 'He's only eleven, Dad!'" John did a fair impression of his mother, and Rose laughed.

"Oh. Are they?"

"Yep." He popped the 'p'. "They're like the East Enders of ancient Greece."

Rose laughed. "I can't imagine my mum watching a show where a girl gets chained to a rock because her mum said she was prettier than the other girls."

"Clearly you haven't seen the American dramas my sister seems to enjoy."

"Oh, I have. Your Greek myths are much more interesting."

"Here's one I think you'll like." Taking her hand again, he traced a constellation with their fingers. "Corona Borealis. Ariadne was the daughter of the king of Crete, and had commanded a sacrifice to the minotaur in the labyrinth-that was Theseus. Ariadne fell in love with him, and gave him a golden thread to help him find his way out of the maze. Of course, Theseus was a jerk and dumped her."

"After she helped him?" Rose huffed. "Tosser."

"It's okay, though, because in the end she married Dionysius, who was the god of wine and the harvest, and he put her crown in the sky."

"She showed him."

"She did."

Jackie's voice carried out into the backyard, calling Rose in for bed. With a sigh, she sat up. "See you tomorrow?"

"Of course." John stood and pulled her up by the hand. "Goodnight, fair Ariadne."

"If I'm Ariadne, who are you? Theseus or Dionysus?" she asked, giving him a smile.

He laughed. "You're not Ariadne...you're more of a Hero."

"Who's she?" Jackie's voice called out again, and Rose rolled her eyes. "Tell me tomorrow, yeah?"

He watched as she ran into the house, turning and waving at him before disappearing inside.

"Rose!" Her bedroom window slid open, letting in the chilly early evening air. He climbed in through the window, landing with a very undignified thud.

"You'd think you'd learn to come in through the window without landing on your bum," she replied with a cheeky smile, turning back to her homework.

"Oi!" John gave her a look. At twelve, he was tall and gangly, all elbows and knees and sticky-up hair. "Come see what Granddad got me!"

"Gotta finish my maths first."

With a dramatic sigh, he picked up her pencil and finished her homework before she could say a word. "There. Come on!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair.

"How am I supposed to learn if you do it for me?" she replied, hoisting herself out the window and into the tree. "If I fail my class, I'll tell them it's because you were always doing my homework for me." She shimmied down the tree and stood, waiting for him.

With much more grace than before, he climbed down and landed on both feet, grinning manically. "You won't fail, you're brilliant!" John grabbed her hand and they ran through the yard to the hole in the fence between their houses, stopping at what appeared to be a rocket.

"Is that…a rocket?"

"Yep," John popped the 'p' as he always did. "Granddad got me a kit for my birthday. Wanna give it a go?"

"You're mental!" Donna's voice called from the back porch.

"You mean it works?" Rose asked.

"Sure! What's the point of a rocket if it doesn't work?" He picked up a box with a large red button on it. "Shall we?"

"You are mental," she replied with a grin. "Let's do it."

With a flourish, John hit the button. The rocket began to spew smoke from the bottom, and a moment later it soared into the air with a great roar.

"I don't suppose it occurred to you that this rocket will eventually come down," Donna called to them.

John and Rose turned to look at each other. "Shit!"

There was the distinct sound of metal on metal and breaking glass, and a car alarm began droning. A moment later a voice cried out, "John Noble, wait until I call your mother!"

Donna smirked at her brother. "She's got Mum on speed dial."

John and Rose took one look at each other and burst into hysterical laughter. Grabbing Rose's hand, John tugged her towards her own house. "Run!"