A Hole in the World Read Online Free PDF Page A

says.
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘I don’t know...’ She reaches out, brushing her fingertips along the jagged edges of the rock, like she did in the dream. This time, however, she comes away with blood on her skin. ‘I just... I don’t...’
    ‘Don’t what?’
    ‘I don’t think it’s the right time yet...’ She shakes her head. ‘You must think I’m mental .’
    He laughs. ‘I don’t think you’re mental. Actually, I lie. I know you’re mental. Always have. But this doesn’t add to it or anything.’ He raps his knuckles against the rock. ‘Seems solid enough. Want me to go in?’
    ‘No!’ Bianca exclaims. She grabs him and pulls him back. ‘ No , Scotty. Really... No. Don’t.’
    ‘Okay...’ He shrugs. ‘We could go get a pasty or something instead? If you wanted...’
    ‘Yeah.’ She smiles. ‘Okay.’
    *
    ‘I can’t sleep. Talk to me.’
    ‘Biancs?’ Scotty sounds tired. He yawns and grumbles. ‘What’re you doing phoning me at this kinda hour?’
    ‘I can’t sleep, I told you. Just... talk to me about something.’ Bianca rolls over and looks at her clock, which is blinking two am into the darkness.
    ‘We have school tomorrow, Bianca. I really can’t talk. I need my beauty sleep, unlike you. You’re already beauty.’ He yawns.
    ‘If I’m Beauty, who are you? Lumiere? Cogsworth?’
    ‘I’m too tired to talk about this. Seriously, Bianca. Go back to sleep and... just sleep, okay?’
    Bianca shrugs, even though he can’t see it, and mumbles, ‘Yeah, fine. Night, Scotty.’
    ‘Night.’
    There’s a click as he hangs up and Bianca sighs, rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling.  It’s dark, but the small amount of light coming from the small lamp she’d turned on to find her phone is casting shadows across the walls and ceiling.
    She’s restless, unable to even lie still for even a moment. She rolls onto her side, then restlessly returns to staring at the ceiling. After a moment she sits up. Then she lies down. Then she wriggles. A lot. Finally, she groans and gives up.
    ‘Oh, whatever .’ She sits up and moves the duvet, reaching for her trainers and slipping them onto her feet.
    *
    Half an hour later, with her thick, fuzzy and warm coat wrapped tightly around her shoulders, covering her pyjama top and shielding her from the numbing cold of the late winter night, Bianca nervously approaches the hole in the wall.
    ‘This is stupid,’ she mutters, to herself. ‘It’s just a hole. It leads to some private property or something and no one’s ever bothered to fill it in because it’s small and hardly an issue. Pull yourself together...’ She stuffs her phone into the pocket of her coat and clambers up onto the outer wall, careful not to let the loose laces of her trainers snag on anything. She pulls herself up onto the edge and reaches for the jagged rock of the hole.
    Her fingers close around the edge and she pulls herself through with one determined tug.
    She squeals as she falls forward and rolls over herself and into the cavern beyond. She lifts her head, hair a mess now, and stares around her in disbelief. 
    The cavern is immense, too big inside to fit into the small area behind the hole.
    ‘Oh, my god,’ she whispers, clambering to her feet and staring around. ‘TARDIS cave.’
    She calms herself down with long breaths, unsure whether she’s excited or terrified. The cavern is exactly the same place as she remembers from when she was younger, when she still had pigtails and an innate curiosity that lead her to crawl into a hole in a wall while older girls knew it was unwise to do so.
    Except... she’s doing it again now. She’s exploring an impossible cavern instead of turning around and going home. Her survival instincts tell her it’s not safe, but every other instinct and every gut feeling whispers, take a chance .
    ‘Hello?’ she calls out, making her descent down the slightly sloped tunnel ahead. ‘Anyone here?’ Her words echo around the