15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge: Savoury

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Isolation

by Red Wolf

The wolf circled the blue box warily. She'd heard an odd rhythmic mechanical sound, come to investigate and was surprised to find a sign of civilisation, albeit one she'd never seen before, standing under the shade of the trees at the top of the beach.

Getting closer, she sniffed the box. The footprints may have disappeared with the shifting sand, but the scent was still there. Someone had left the box.

Staring up at the door, she cocked her head as she felt more than heard a low hum from within. It was an anomaly, but one she was interested in learning more about. She walked around the box again, before settling down in the shadows to wait for its occupant's return.

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It had seemed a good idea at the time. Drop by an uninhabited Caribbean island to collect a few orchid specimens and be gone again in a couple of hours. The earlier pre-Columbian inhabitants had long ago succumbed to introduced diseases and the island was now a temporary refuge for pirates.

What the Doctor hadn't known was that it had recently been settled. But, while the settlers hadn't been able to make a go of it and had either died or departed, their abandoned livestock had found the place more to their liking.

This was why he was currently running for his life from a very large boar.

He'd managed to keep ahead of the beast when he had the trees and undergrowth to slow it down, but to get to the TARDIS he needed to head for the open ground of the beach which would put him at a distinct disadvantage.

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Looking up as she heard what sounded like a small herd of elephants crashing through the bush, the wolf saw a man race onto the beach with a wild boar close on his heels.

Realising he couldn't outpace his pursuer, the man bounded over an outcropping of boulders and made a grab for a low hanging branch and hauled himself to safety.

The wolf stood, shook herself off and melted into the deeper shadows of the trees.

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Straddling a tree limb, the Doctor watched the boar circling below his perch. It looked like his quick trip was going to turn into an exercise in waiting to see who would make the next move.

He leaned back against the trunk and closed his eyes, making a mental note to have the TARDIS check uninhabited islands for feral livestock next time. With any luck, it shouldn't take long for the pig to get sick of hanging about under the tree and leave. At least, being on a small island, he didn't have to worry about large carnivores.

The Doctor started when he heard the pig squeal in pain. A large wolf had slammed the beast to the ground and had its jaws buried in the animal's throat.

Sighing to himself, the Doctor was quietly thankful that he hadn't mentioned the island being under attack from Godzilla in case a giant papier-mâché dinosaur foot had descended from the sky. He almost wondered if things could get any worse, but that would really be tempting fate.