May 2001

Jim laid back on his bed, tossing his graduation cap up in the air and catching it over and over again. I'm a college grad. That's insane,he thought as he surveyed his pratically bare childhood room. After graduation, he had returned home to his parents's house to pack up the rest of his belongings. In the morning he and his college roommate, Mark, would be moving to the small town of Scranton, Pennsylvannia to join the working world. He'd been lucky to land a job right away, a salesman at a small paper company, Dunder Mifflin. It wasn't exactly a dream job, but hey, he had to start somewhere. And he was looking at a pretty decent start. He knew he should be excited to begin this new chapter of his life, but a (not-so) tiny part of him couldn't help but long for the innocence and simplicity of his childhood.

For the past two days he'd been rummaging through all his stuff, both in his room and in the attic, rediscovering childhood treasures-a box of GI Joes, his ancient Super Nintendo game console, his old Bugs Bunny piggy bank, and another box full of Hardy Boys mysteries. He remembered that when he was a kid, he'd sing along whole-heartedly with the Toys R Us commercial-I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid... Running around climbing trees, pulling pranks on his family, friends, and teachers, pretending to be a superhero, every day was a new adventure-he knew these were the best years of life. And he had tried to hold on to them as long as he could. But while going through his belongings, it had finally hit him: no more excuses, he was a full-fledged adult.

March 2002

"Are you serious, he orders deer urine?"

Everyone around the table laughed as Jim recounted his horror stories of Dunder Mifflin, mostly about his neurotic boss, Michael Scott, and another salesman, Dwight Schrute.

Brad and Jason, two of their old college buddies, had called him and Mark up for a little mini-reunion. Mark had brought his girlfriend, Amy, and Jim brought his girlfriend, Christie, though it had taken a considerable amount of persuasion to get her to come along.

"Dude, you should so pull a prank on him!" Jason said, just as the waitress brought them their round of imported beer.

"A prank?" Christie questioned with a hint of disapproval in her voice. Which everyone else seemed to ignore.

"Yeah, Christie, you would not believe the stuff this guy used to pull back in collge," Jason continued, oblivious to the disgusted look Christie was giving him. "Remember senior year, Neil Paterson?"

"Hell yeah!" Brad explained to the girls, " One of our other friends was a die-hard Democrat. So around voting season, Jim had the brilliant idea to steal a ‘Vote for Bush' sign off of someone's lawn and stick it onto back window of Neil's car."

"That's right! He was so pissed off, he almost kicked a dent into his own car!" Mark laughed. "He never had a clue it was Jim."

Jim chuckled, "What can I say, I'm the master of pranks. But seriously, guys, that was college. This is real life, my job. I can't just go around pranking the top salesman of the company. I kinda need to pay rent."

"Aw, look who's all grown-up and taking his job seriously," chided Jason, before changing the subject.

Later, in the car, Christie kept going on and on about Jason and Brad. "Jim, those guys act like their still freshmen in college. Are you sure they're the same age as you? I'm so glad they don't live close enough for you to hang out with them more often. Can you imagine? Pranks at the office? How do they even have jobs? I'm so glad you've outgrown that stage."

Jim had been quiet the whole ride so far, not really listening to Christie, but lost in his own thoughts as he remembered days where life didn't always have to be so serious. When each day held the promise of a new adventure and not the dull, predictable routine of an office job. "Yeah," he said absently. "Me too."

September 2002

Jim looked over at the reception desk for the fifth time in the last hour. He couldn't help it. Most people would say this new receptionist, Pam Beesely, wasn't much to look at. She had frizzy hair, wore practically no makeup, and work ill-fitting clothes, but Jim was simply captivated by her. Unfortunately, she was engaged to one of the warehouse guys. So he tried to keep his distance, but that soon proved to be an impossible task. She'd only been here a week and a half, but already Jim felt a connection that was getting harder and harder to ignore. He found that for the first time since his employment at Dunder Mifflin, he actually looked forward to going to work, just because she was there.

Later that day, after Jim had to listen to Dwight go on and on about the many uses and nutritional value of beets, he got up from his desk to eat some jellybeans from the candy dish Pam had put out on her desk.

"I swear, if I hear one more fact about beets, I'm gonna have to throw my phone at Dwight."

Pam laughed. Jim decided it was the best sound in the world. "You should prank him."

Jim's hand stopped moving halfway to his mouth. "Excuse me?"

"You should pull a prank on him. Bring some excitement into this office. Because I have to say, things are kinda dull around here." Her smile held a challenge.

Right then and there, Jim knew life was an adventure again. As long as there was a Pam Beesely employed at Dunder Mifflin, work would be anything but dull.

"Well, we can't have you sitting here bored all day. " Jim said, a thrill rushing through him as he leaned over her desk. " Alright, Beesely, what did you have in mind?"

She smiled up at him. "Well, while I was looking through cupboards in the break room, I found these packs of lemon Jell-O..."