She Won't Be Home (short story)

She Won't Be Home was the twenty-second short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: The History of Christmas. It was written by Joseph Lidster. It featured the Sixth Doctor.
== Summary ==
It's Christmas and Linda Grainger is hanging out at the pub, depressed because her boyfriend dumped her.
It's Christmas, and the Doctor is hanging out at a bar, depressed because she has left him.
Linda leaves the pub and takes a taxi home. The taxi driver takes her on a quick detour to the taxi rank so he can pick up a few more passengers.
The Doctor leaves the bar when he learns that they are using human toes as a bar snack. He heads for London.
At the taxi rank, Linda, the Doctor, and several others are held captive by the taxi driver and the receptionist, who, though appearing human, suddenly change into alien form. They plan to take the humans' toes to fulfil their quota.
The Doctor and Linda work together to save the other humans. The Doctor gives Linda different non-verbal signals, and she helps the others out of the room while the Doctor distracts the aliens. Finally, only Linda and the Doctor are left with the aliens, whose names are Hoyt and Agar.
With several of the humans having escaped through the skylight, there is broken glass on the floor. Agar steps on a piece of glass, and one of its toes comes off. To the Doctor's and Linda's surprise, the toe grows back. Seeing their shock, Hoyt and Agar suddenly realise that human toes don't grow back. Embarrassed, they allow the Doctor to take them home.
Later, the Doctor comes back and offers Linda the opportunity to travel with him. She declines, and decides to visit her family for Christmas.
== Characters ==
* Sixth Doctor
* Linda Grainger
* Chrissy Chambers
* Barman
* Robotic barman
* Leonard
* Claire
* Pete
* Connie
* Hoyt
* Agar
== Worldbuilding ==
* The Doctor offers Linda the chance to become his new companion but she declines.
* Linda is a vegetarian.
* Hoyt and Agar are Festulasions.
== Notes ==
* This story is the first mention of Edward Grainger, who is later the subject of the anthology Short Trips: The Centenarian.
** The opening sentences of the final paragraph of this story are used as an epigraph in Short Trips: The Centenarian. The scene is dated to Tuesday 25 December 1990.
== Continuity ==
to be added
Category:Sixth Doctor short stories
Category:Short Trips: The History of Christmas short stories
Category:Stories set in 1990
Category:Stories set in London