Homework (short story)

Homework was the fourteenth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Defining Patterns. It was written by Michael Coen. It featured the Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot. It was also published as the first story in Short Trips: How the Doctor Changed My Life.

Summary
Norman Bean is reading a comic book when he is visited by what he thinks is a ghost. The ghost looks similar to his father but claims to be Normans older self, visiting Norman from thirty years in the future.

The ghost tells Norman to buy several toys (but don't open them), which will make Norman rich in a few years. Since Norman tells the ghost that he did not have any money, the ghost tells him to steal the money from his grandmother, who will die in a week and won't need the money anyway.

A short time later Norman meets the Doctor and Zoe. Zoe tells him that it is wrong to steal even if his grandmother won't need the money.

Then the ghost reappears. He is happy that he can travel in time but is taken away by the Doctor and Zoe. After this the Doctor closes the time-rift which the older Norman used to travel in time.

Before Zoe and the Doctor leave, Zoe tells Norman to remember what is important. Norman does not know what Zoe means by this, but he thinks he'll find out about it when he is older.

Characters

 * Second Doctor
 * Jamie McCrimmon
 * Zoe Heriot
 * Norman Bean
 * Norman's mum
 * Norman's grandmother

Worldbuilding

 * The older Norman is wearing a Buffy the Vampire Slayer T-shirt.
 * Young Norman Bean is a fan of football and Roy of the Rovers. He knows of Star Trek and the Beatles. He compares Jamie to Hot Shot Hamish. He later becomes interested in spacemen.
 * The Doctor offers Norman some jelly babies.

Continuity
to be added