Jim rubbed his eyes and stepped out of bed.

“Uh… Excuse me?”

“I am the Ghost of Christmas Past!”

“I am aware of that but…” Jim took a deep breath. He told himself to just play along. He continued his sentence. “Are you the ghost of the world’s past?”

“No. I am the ghost of your past.”

Jim gulped. He had to put his hand on the wall to keep his balance.

The ghost spoke again.

“Come. Touch my hand and rise with me. We must begin the journey before our time runs out.”

Jim did as she asked. All of this seemed strange. It had to be a dream. He must be dreaming. But everything seemed so real…

Before he knew what had happened, he and the ghost were in the parking lot at Dunder Mifflin.

“You are familiar with these surroundings?” The spirit asked.

“Um, yeah…yes. I work here.”

“Jim, times have changed since your first day here only a few years ago.”

Just then, a woman stepped out of her car. She appeared to be Pam. As she walked by Jim, he called her name. Pam kept walking.

“We are not able to be seen by these people. They are unaware of our presence.”

“Oh.”

Jim was still in awe over this whole thing. He was gradually starting to believe that this was real.

A tall, lanky man stepped out of his red Corolla.

Jim noticed it was himself. It was awkward for him to be watching himself.

The spirit spoke again. “You were happier then.”

Does the ghost even know what she is saying? I had to suffer through each day and fight the feelings I had for a girl that was to be married!

The more Jim thought about it, the more he realized that he really wasn’t much happier now. He could actually see why he was happier then. Now it seemed as if everything was being wasted. His time. His love. Everything now seemed so unclear. He didn’t understand half of the actions he took.

“Excuse me, but what day was this?”

“Your first day to work at this company. Come, let’s go ahead into this day.”

The surroundings of the office changed and then he and the ghost were at Cuginos. They went to the table where he and Pam were sitting. He watched as they laughed at each other’s jokes and talked endlessly about the most random topics. All of a sudden, Jim watched as his smile turned into a frown.

Pam had just told him she was engaged.

Jim could remember this day clearly. He remembered how his heart sank and how he felt like he should go ahead and quit his job. He couldn’t get himself to, though, because he had already made such a strong connection with the receptionist. Now, all of it had changed. He and Pam were so distant from each other.

“What is that on your cheek?” The spirit asked.

Jim noticed how a tear had escaped.

“Oh… I’m sorry…”

Jim wouldn’t take his glance from Pam.

“Come. We must continue our journey through the past before our time runs out.”

Jim took one last look at Pam and took the spirit’s hand once again.

The next scene was at the 2006 Dundie Awards. He noticed Pam was up at the microphone receiving her “Whitest Sneakers” award.

Jim remembered how he saw how sad Pam looked watching the previous Dundie tapes when Michael gave her the award of “Longest Engagement.” He went up to Michael and told him to give her a different award. He partially changed it because he hated seeing Pam so sad when Michael gave her the same award every year, but he also changed it because he hated being reminded of Pam’s engagement.

Before he knew it, he was watching Pam give Jim a drunken kiss. How he wished he could go back and actually experience that again. It was so unexpected, but it was one of the highlights of his year.

He had to shake those thoughts out of his head. He was with Karen now. He was happy.

“That was a big moment for you.”

Jim shook out of his thoughts and nodded his head.

“The next day you never brought it up. You just treated it as if nothing had happened.”

“She was engaged.”

“Engaged isn’t married.”

Jim was immediately reminded of Michael telling him those exact same words on the Booze Cruise.

How did the ghost know everything? He was becoming even more convinced that this was all happening. And Jim knew that everything happens for a reason.

The next place the spirit took him was the Dunder Mifflin Christmas Party, 2006.

He watched as Pam laid the teapot on top of the reception desk.

He also saw himself take away the Christmas card he had written her, explaining all of his feelings.

The spirit spoke once again.

“Why did you not give her the card?”

“I knew it would cause trouble. I wish I could have…but I chickened out. Roy would have killed me and Pam would have been mad…”

“You don’t know that for sure. How do you know that she didn’t feel the same way?”

“Because she was engaged!”

“She’s not anymore now, is she?”

Jim didn’t reply. He just remained silent. He could feel tears rushing to his eyes. If only he could go back to his first day at Dunder Mifflin and change everything, maybe then he wouldn’t have caused himself so much grief and sorrow.

“Take me home. I think I have seen enough.”

“Our time isn’t up yet. I must take you to visit a couple more places before you return.”

The office started to turn and they were soon standing in front of Pam and Jim in the kitchen at their office.

He remembered the moment as soon as he saw it. He was telling Pam about the crush he once had on her.

As he watched her nod her head and walk out of the kitchen, his heart sank. She looked so sad and heartbroken for a girl that was going to get married.

“You lied to her.”

“Excuse me?”

“You told her it was only a crush and that it ended a long time ago.”

Jim looked away from the ghost.

“I did.”

“There was yet another time you could have told the woman of your feelings toward her.”

Jim nodded his head. He couldn’t speak because he was trying to hold in his tears. He was beginning to regret a lot of the things he had done in his past. So much had changed over the course of a year.

“We have one more time to visit before our time comes to an end.”

Soon, Jim was standing before Pam. She was talking on the phone in a dimly lit office.

“Yeah I… I think I do,” Pam said.

Jim watched as he walked into the room.

“Mom, I have to go...”

The next thing Jim saw was him kissing Pam. She was kissing him back.

He had to close his eyes. Watching that moment again flooded back so many memories even though the event only happened a year ago. His eyes remained closed until he felt the ghost put a hand on his back.

When he opened them he saw Pam leaning against his desk, crying.

He wanted to hug her and feel her warm body against him again.

Why am i thinking these things? I'm with Karen! I can hug her whenever I want to.

“You went to Stamford after that.”

“I couldn’t let myself be around her knowing that we would never make it. She rejected me. Twice.”

“You told her when it was too late. If you would have spoke up earlier the response would have been different.”

The tears were falling again from his eyes. He spoke again.

“Please. Take me home.”

His room started to appear, and the image of the crying Pam started to fade.

“These are but shadows of things that have been. I leave you now for you to reminded of the things that once were, the feelings that you once and may still have, the relationships you were so fond of, and the man that you used to be.”

The Spirit of Christmas Past was suddenly gone. He heard a distant voice say, “You will be visited by the second ghost when the clock turns to 1 a.m.”

Jim returned to his familiar and warm bed. He pulled the blankets up to his neck and closed his eyes. He repeated the last thing the Ghost of Christmas Past had said to him. The feelings he still may have? The relationships? The person he used to be? What did the spirit mean? At first none of it seemed clear, but the more he thought about it, the more he began to understand. It all had to do with Pam. It was the relationship part that let him know.

At that moment, he wanted nothing more then to be with the curly haired receptionst that used to be his best friend.

Was it too late for him to go back and start over with her?

He fell into a sleep that was quickly interrupted by a deep laughter. His eyes flew open and he saw a man that looked like a fat version of his boss Michael Scott sitting in a chair filled with food….and toys that his boss would own.

When the man spoke, his voice was deep. Much deeper than Michael’s.

“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present!”