It was in southern Alabama when Mr. Crane first encountered the mysterious man .
Mr. Crane was rushing into his office when he was blocked at the door. There was something in the doorway, blocking his entrance. Something. Wait! A man! But a very… mysterious… man, yes, a mysterious man indeed. For the tall man was clothed in black, black as a crow, pure black, all black, with a nice black hat atop his bald head. But that wasn’t the strange part. What was strange was that in a fully lit building, with the sun peaking above the horizon, you could see nothing of the black-clad man. All there was was a silhouette. A simple, black silhouette. But it was clearly a real man! He was dressed in all black, standing in the door, in the flesh! How could that be? A mysterious man indeed.

“May I help you?” Mr. Crane asked, slightly puzzled.

But the man, the mysterious man, just stood there, not moving a muscle. Mr. Crane stood there, wondering what to do, who this strange man was.

“Um, pardon me, but could you please move? I gotta get into my office, you see,” Mr. Crane said.

But the man just stood there. Not moving, not making a sound, not even showing any sign that he knew someone was standing in front of him, speaking to him.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Mr. Crane thought.

Mr. Crane moved to slip past the mysterious man, but as he was about to reach the man, the man disappeared. Completely disappeared. Mr. Crane glanced around wildly, wondering what had happened to that man.

“It must have been my imagination,” he thought. But deep down inside, he knew it wasn’t.

Mr. Crane went to work, and over the course of the day, he completely spaced out about the mysterious man. He went home, fixed up dinner, and was just about to sit down at the table to eat when he had the feeling that someone was watching him. Looking up, he saw the mysterious man looking at him, standing at the other end of the table. But before he even had time to shout, the man was gone.
Mr. Crane sat down, utterly confused and bewildered. He began to play with his food, but having lost his appetite, soon got up to go to his laptop. He went to Google, and made a search for ‘the mysterious man’. After scrolling down a bit, he found a link that read: “The Mysterious Man in Black”. He clicked on it, and it took him to a page that read:
The mysterious man always has a purpose.

“A purpose? What could he possibly want with me?” Mr. Crane thought to himself. “Who IS this man!?”
He went to bed at midnight, pondering about the mysterious man, with more questions than answers. He didn’t get much sleep, for he kept dreaming of that mysterious man, watching him wherever he went, whatever he did, always watching, watching, watching.
Mr. Crane got up the next morning, and as he was getting ready to go to work, he kept glancing over his shoulder, checking to see if the mysterious man was there. A plan was forming in his mind….
Mr. Crane walked out to his car, and he stopped short, having spied the man standing by his car. He gathered all his courage, and walked up to the man, ready to take action on his plan.
“Excuse me, sir, but who err y’alland what is your purpose?” Mr. Crane asked.
And again the man just stood there. Staring. Not moving.
“Um, I was wondering what your purpose is. I heard that you had a purpose, so I was wondering what I could do for you,” Mr. Crane said.
The man stood there. And stood there. Then, suddenly, he lifted his hand, and removed his hat.
“My name…is…the Doctor…,” the mysterious man said in a slow, raspy voice. “I am here…to help…you….”
Now it was time for Mr. Crane to just stand there.
“What?” Mr. Crane exclaimed, utterly bewildered. “Doctor Who?”
“I am… the Doctor. “I have…been sent on…a mission…,”….
“But I don’t need help!”
And then the mysterious man, the Doctor, disappeared.
Mr. Crane stood there, still as a statue.
“What just happened?” Mr. Crane thought as he moved jerkily toward his car. “Work’s a-gonna to be fun today. Yeah, I’ll definitely be able to work today!”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next morning, Mr. Crane got up, and opened his eyes to see sunlight spilling through the windows, engulfing his room in yellow and white. But as he looked around, he saw something black out of the corner of his eye; Mr. Crane was filled with a deep dark dread. Standing there, in the doorway, the Doctor stood, still nothing but a silhouette. Standing there, eerie as ever, in sharp contrast against the sunlight’s warm embrace, a mysterious, black silhouette that creeped him out. Mr. Crane attempted to ignore the Doctor, but once he knew he was there, it was impossible. The Doctor had been haunting his thoughts and dreams ever since he had appeared.
Just as Mr. Crane opened his mouth to speak, the Doctor spoke….
“I…will always…be watching you…. You…are in need of…help. It is…my job…to give you that help….Until next time, Mr. Crane.”
And much to Mr. Crane's dismay the Doctor disappeared, leaving him to wonder when and if he will return.