The Lichyrwick Abomination (audio story)
The Lichyrwick Abomination was a special free release in the Short Trips audio range from Big Finish Productions series. It was the winning entry in The Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trip Opportunity.
Publisher's summary
Every night, a creature stalks the streets of Lichyrwick. Everyone in town knows that catching sight of it is a death sentence, and no one knows this better than Malcolm. Yet, he won't be able to hide away much longer. The Doctor's in town, and it's time Malcolm finally faced the Lichyrwick Abomination.
Even if it kills him.
Plot
Malcolm lies awake, waiting for his mother and sister to go to bed. When they do, he creeps downstairs and out of the front door. He hears scraping and shrieking, and runs back to his room. Realising he hasn't closed the front door, Malcolm hears a creature claw its way into the house and up the stairs. The creature bursts into Malcolm's room, and everything goes bright. The next morning, Malcolm wakes up on the beach. Someone finds him and takes him home. A week later, his sister Freya is dead. While doctors blame this on an undetected heart condition, Malcolm believes he and the creature are responsible.
A few years later, Malcolm is delivering copies of the local church magazine to houses on the Glebe Road when he notices the town go quiet, and decides to head home quickly. As he passes Aston's Chippy he hears an unfamiliar voice, and looks inside to see a man wearing a leather jacket. Mr. Aston refuses to serve the man, kicking him out so he can close for the night. When the man introduces himself to Malcolm as the Doctor, Malcolm tells him it's not safe to be outside. Fearing that the man might be found dead the next day, Malcolm invites him to stay at his house overnight.
At Malcolm's house, Malcolm's mother is initially angry that Malcolm has invited a stranger back, but eventually concedes that it's for his own safety. She tells the Doctor to leave first thing in the morning. When Malcolm's mother goes to make dinner, the Doctor asks Malcolm about the creature. Malcolm describes it as a curse, saying anyone who sees it dies shortly after. As the three eat dinner all of the sound outside the house suddenly falls silent. Malcolm's mother urges everyone away from the windows, but the Doctor heads over to take a look. A shadow passes the closed curtain, and a shriek is heard. Malcolm's mum drags Malcolm into the hallway and the Doctor joins them a second later, looking like he's seen a ghost. He says "you were right. Don't look out there".
The next day, the Doctor asks Malcolm to show him around Lichyrwick. He notices that the town feels "unnaturally old". At the harbour, they find the corpses of several birds floating in the water. The Doctor examines one with his sonic screwdriver, determining that it's a "mismatch" of wings and legs and torsos from a variety of different birds. He then says that the creature itself is "dead, but fine", before saying that "time itself is sick".
On the high street, the Doctor tells Malcolm that the whole town is sick. He points down an alley to a lamppost. At first Malcolm can't see the lamppost, as if something is repelling his vision, but the longer he looks the more it comes into focus. At first it appears to be a contemporary, silver metal lamppost, and then it appears as an older, black gas lamp. Eventually the two versions appear to fuse together. As they move down the high street, the Doctor and Malcolm find more of these anachronistic objects. The Doctor says that time has fractured, and the residents of Lichyrwick are unable to see the town as it really is due to this time distortion. The Doctor then notices a pattern, the time distortions become more frequent when walking in one particular direction, and the two follow this trail all the way back to Malcolm's house.
Inside, the Doctor explains that the creature does not belong here, and that its presence is causing the temporal fluctuations. Looking at a map of the town, he works out that the creature is walking the same path every night, always ending at Malcolm's house. The Doctor then tells Malcolm that the creature is looking for him. He then asks Malcolm to take him to the beach where he had woken up after the creature visited the house all those years ago. Eventually, his mother lets him go, but only if he promises to come back alive.
At the beach, the Doctor and Malcolm find themselves drawn towards an outcrop of boulders. Malcolm finds that looking at the largest boulder makes his head hurt, in the same way the lamppost did. After a moment an entrance appears to open in the boulder, revealing a deep passageway, and the Doctor and Malcolm step inside. They descend into a cavern, where several waterfalls run upwards. Malcolm smells something rotten, and sees a nest assembled from scrap metal and wood, and old boats. The nest stirs, and the Lichyrwick creature rises from it. To Malcolm's surprise the creature appears to be frightened. it isn't quite a monster, and looks more like a giant vulture. One of its wings is limp, and Malcolm realises the creature is injured. It charges, knocking Malcolm over, before fleeing the cave. The Doctor and Malcolm follow, and when they reach the surface they realise night has falled. The Doctor explains that the cave is the "eye of the storm" of the temporal distortions. With the creature nowhere in sight, they return to the cave.
Back inside, they see the creature cradling a small boy. When the creature lays him down, Malcolm sees that the boy is himself at a younger age. He approaches cautiously, and the creature lets him. Malcolm finds a large splinter protruding from the creature's injured wing and slowly pulls it out. The creature then stretches its wings triumphantly. The Doctor tells Malcolm he's going and will be back soon, and Malcolm sits with his younger self while the creature falls asleep. Instinctively, Malcolm scoops up his younger self and carries him to the surface, before laying him on the beach in the spot he was found in years before. He heards a sound from the cave, and returns to find the creature has gone. When he comes back up to the beach, he is back in his own time.
The next morning Lichyrwick is full of life, as if the creature had never been there. Malcolm finds the Doctor on Welco Green, leaning against a blue box. The Doctor tells Malcolm that the creature is safe and healthy, and won't be coming back. He also tells Malcolm that it knew he was the one who could help it, and that's why it visited his house every night. Malcolm then hands the Doctor a bag of chips. The Doctor thanks Malcolm and steps into the TARDIS. When it dematerialises Malcolm recognises the noise as the one he'd heard in the cave before the creature disappeared. For years after, Malcolm looks up at the stars and remembers his time with the creature and the Doctor.
Characters
References
- Seagulls are mentioned.
- The Doctor attempts to buy chips.
- Malcolm's mum owns a wicker chair.
- The harbour smells of rotten seaweed.
- The Doctor jokes about buying a postcard.
- The Doctor refers to time distortions.
- The Doctor finds an old map of Lichyrwick.
- Malcolm buys chips with vinegar.
- The Doctor has to pick up some friends from the Spice Girls 1998 tour.
Notes
- The working title of this story was Back on the Map.
- Performed in the style of The Companion Chronicles, this story was told from Malcolm's perspective.
- The story was recorded on 19 November 2021 at PRL Studios.
Continuity
- The Ninth Doctor also encountered a wound in time in TV: Father's Day.
External links
- Official The Lichyrwick Abomination page at bigfinish.com
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