Challenge #01574-D113: Not So Nice and Quiet
There was a beach, with a gentle swell and white sand. A beautiful forest glade was behind them, and a gentle creek burbled to the ocean. It looked the most tranquil place in the universe . . . . -- Anon Guest
"I don't like it," said the Doctor, side-eyeing a stand of picturesque stones.
"Wrong colour?" teased Holly.
"It's peaceful. Just the right temperature. Perfect weather. The right amount of breeze. Even the susurration of the ocean and the forest leaves is at just the right harmonic to put any sapient life into a state of perfect relaxation. Even the sand..." he bent to scoop some up. Poured it from one hand to the other. "Have you seen sand that's so white?"
"Well, there is this beach off the coast of Queensland that has the highest silicone content in the--"
The Doctor was not listening. He had a jeweler's scope in his eye. "Every grain is perfect. Everything is perfect. We've been standing here for ten minutes and our feet haven't got wet!" The monocle magnifyer went away into one of his baffling pockets.
"I've been standing around," said Holly. "You've been bouncing around like a flea on a hotplate."
"And there isn't any sand in my shoes," exclaimed the Doctor, holding one foot up as evidence. "Perfect! Too perfect! And, further to my point, the TARDIS wouldn't have taken us here if there wasn't something drastically wrong with it."
Holly had an alternate hypothesis. "Maybe the TARDIS thinks you need a time-out. Relax. Chill out. You desperately need some green time. Let's see what's down that forest path, eh?"
"Be on the look-out for skeletons, giant spiders, and man-eating plants," intoned the Doctor. "Any sign of disaster at all, really."
Holly took his hand and lead him into the verdant depths. There were no skeletons, no giant spiders, no carnivorous plants seeking revenge against vegetarians. Not even a mildly homicidal robot. Not even someone who was definitively creepy.
"Isn't this nice?" tried Holly.
"Too nice," said the Doctor. "It has to be a trap. Don't you hear what's missing?"
"I can only hear you moaning," said Holly.
"Exactly. No birdsong. No wildlife. An ecosystem like this... there should be a million insects!"
"Just one," said a new voice. If one could imagine a gigantic beetle, one that had somehow been able to evolve into a humanoid form, then one might come close to imagining the speaker. They were shorter than Holly, and very distinctly alien. "What are you doing in my terrarium?"
The Doctor grinned. "Ah," he said. "Now we're getting somewhere..."
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / shalamov]
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