Clara Oswald hated Mondays, facing restless students, traffic, and a new week of grading papers. But today was special, it was Clara's birthday. She was turning thirty on this crisp autumn morning and she was excited, life was good for Clara, her teaching job was going well, her relationship with her boyfriend, Danny, was amazing and the two even owned their own house in a lovely neighborhood, everything was perfect.
That morning, peeks of sunlight entered through the curtains waking Clara from a deep sleep, the sounds of humming and dishes clattering from the kitchen indicating that Danny was already up. She slowly shifted and stretched in the bed, before glancing at the alarm, it was still early, she realized. She was tempted to steal some extra sleep, but the smell of pancakes was impossible to ignore! Feeling her stomach rumble, she finally got up grabbing her robe and headed to the kitchen.
Clara was greeted by thin sparkly strands of fairy lights twinkling above the kitchen doorframe, a 'happy birthday' banner in bright red letter hung on the fridge door, she gasped at the surprise decorations.
Danny heard her enter and turned, sporting an apron over his khakis and blue button down shirt, its fabric lightly dusted with flour. He smiled holding up a plate of pancakes and a flipper, "Hey, morning Birthday Girl!" Danny greeted doing a dramatic bow.
"Why, thank you!" Clara giggled looking around, the table was covered in a white and blue layered tablecloth with floral printed China plates and wine glasses of milk, a hot pot of coffee sat in the center, along with a single rose in a crystal vase.
"This is wonderful," Clara smiled in awe. "You actually did all this?" She asked.
Danny casually shrugged placing the plates of food on the table.
"Oh, just a simple birthday breakfast for my special girl," He grinned. "All done by yours' truly, I might add." He boasted.
Clara smiled sitting at the table, "Well, it looks amazing!" She gushed.
Danny grinned then remembered something, "Oh, this also arrived for you," He said placing a small blue wrapped parcel in front of her.
Clara frowned. The plain paper seemed thin and delicate, not your typical wrapping paper, a yellow ribbon neatly crossed the package, it appeared hand tied.
"Who sent this?" She asked.
Danny shrugged sitting down, "No, idea, it arrived early this morning. No return address, no name just showed up at the door."
Clara studied the gift, her fingers gently touching the ribbon. For some reason she felt a strange sensation as she picked up the package, she examined it looking for any hint of sender but found nothing.
Curious, she peeled back the paper revealing a small black box, Clara sighed, "Well whoever sent this certainly is a minimalist," She commented.
Danny smirked watching her as he took a bite of eggs.
"Let's see the big reveal, then." He said.
Clara opened the box, inside lay a silver-braided ring, sapphires glinting along half of the band, and a large purple stone in the center caught her eye, it flashed a kaleidoscopic of sparkling colors.
It was a beautiful ring.
Danny leaned forward, eyes wide.
"That's really nice," Danny nodded before arching his eyebrow at her, "Does somebody have a secret admirer?" He teased.
Clara smirked, giving him a look, "Funny," She said setting it aside. Clara sighed, glancing at it, "Might be from a student but I doubt any of them would spend money like that on me." She scoffed.
"Well, it's a nice gesture, anyway," He replied sipping his coffee. "Now, let's enjoy this birthday meal, yeah?" Danny smiled.
Clara nodded feeling her stomach rumble, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, picking up her fork and marveling at her plate. It all looked so good!
The remaining of the morning was filled laughter, chatter and Danny's bad birthday jokes but Clara's gaze kept going to back to that ring, the stone giving off a faint glow as if it were trying to hypnotize her. But Clara dismissed the crazy thought and continued enjoying her breakfast.
After breakfast Clara hurried to get ready for work, searching through the closet, she finally settled on a white blouse dotted decorated with tiny black polka dots and a sleek black pencil skirt, it was sleek yet smart.
She quickly brushed her short brown hair while managing into her heels, then snatched her bag, giving herself one last look in the dresser mirror.
Then she spotted the ring just lying there, staring at her like a silent invitation.
Clara paused for minute before shrugging and deciding to place the ring on, after all it was a birthday gift, she reasoned.
Slipping on the thin cool band, she suddenly felt weird, the sapphire immediately warmed in color, turning into a dull orange, her finger tingling under the band.
Clara frowned confused, she felt dizzy like the room had rapidly tilted. She desperately gripped the edge of the dresser, trying to steady herself, her knees weak, her voice only managing out faint cries of fear. She had no idea what was happening to her, spasms of pain struck her head as the dizziness got worse.
Darkness soon overcame her and everything went black.
A few moments later, Clara slowly opened her eyes, a slight stabbing pain in her eyes forcing her to wince, there was a strange sent lingering in the air, like damp concrete and diesel.
She finally managed to open her eyes, slowly sitting up, she quickly realized she was no longer at home but sitting on cold, uneven cobblestones. Above her, a low gray sky drizzled down, a mist, confusing her. She swore it was sunny outside just a minute ago.
Clara slowly stood, studying her new surroundings, her pulse racing as she spotted several double decker buses pass by, off white and red brick buildings painted with peeling adverts surrounded her, even the people were dressed strangely, everyone was wearing dated preppy and punk clothes, they walked past her like she wasn't even there. It was surreal.
Clara stood there, trying to make sense of everything, her head swimming with questions and panic. It looked like she was still in London just not her London!
She staggered, regaining her posture reminding herself she was still in heels. Then she spotted a newspaper stand, she frowned swearing she had never seen it before. Clara walked over, it was filled with magazines and newspapers, but it was the date that caught her eye, she shook her head wondering if what she was seeing was real, in bold letters, February 9, 1989, was pasted on the bottom. She was no longer in 2026!
Clara let out a gasp between disbelief and dread as realization finally, hit her, "It's1989." She muttered.