The Thunder Storm
Chapter 3
We Are Family
Pam sat in an office chair with her legs crossed, “If anyone needs to use a cell phone,” she held up a small black device, “Then you can use mine.”
Jim furrowed his eyebrows and leaned close to her, “Your cell phone is broken.”
“I know,” she grinned playfully, “But yours isn’t, and we’re dating so it’s almost like it’s mine.”
His eyes grew big as a smile spread on his lips, “Oh, really?” he questioned, “Well I guess that makes this flashlight almost mine,” he grabbed for the flashlight and tried to wrestle it away from her hands as she laughed wildly.
“Hey,” Dwight yelled as focused his flashlight on the couple, “You’re both wrong, it’s my flashlight and if you can’t use the power it welds with responsibility, then it will be taken away.” The camera panned over to Kevin who was sitting sadly without a light.
Angela scoffed, “We’re in the middle of a crisis here, you two should learn to keep it in your pants,” her voice was a little edgier than usual and an awkward silence followed her outburst.
(X)
Angela held a proper smile with her hands folded neatly in her lap, “When I was little, I was taught that thunder was just God bowling.” Her smile faded as her emotion rose, “But now that I’m older I understand it’s the product of his wraith at uncontrolled delinquents who can’t keep their public displays of affection for their private homes.”
Her mood settled but she still seemed disconcerted. With a frown and saddened eyes she added, “The raindrops are his tears.”
(X)
“Alright,” Michael threw off his blanket and stood up straight, “I’m sick and tired of us working against each other instead of as a team. We’re like a family,” he looked around the room at the faces his generally unmoved employees, “I mean sure there are some race issues, and that can be settled with adoption. And I guess Jim or Pam has to be adopted since we don’t live in Kansas, although the storm certainly thinks so,” he let out a dry laugh.
Jim puckered his lips and leaned back in his chair as Pam stared blankly.
“What we need to do right now, is to make sure that every member of this family is present,” Michael announced as the light around him grew dimmer and dimmer.
Jim raised his hand, when Michael acknowledged him he informed, “Meredith’s not here.”
“I know,” Michael sighed heavily, “I hit her with my car remember.”
“Right,” Jim nodded stiffly with a hidden smile.
“Guys, come on, this is between life and death,” Michael complained as he stretched out his arms for attention.
“No it is not,” Stanley replied slowly from where he working on a crossword puzzle by a flashlight.
“You know what? I’m still your boss,” Michael shouted.
Phyllis looked up sadly, “But office hours are over.”
“Yeah, well, we’re still in the building and it’s illegal to leave. So how about your put your flashlights on me instead of doing shadow puppets, and Pam, get me a cup of cocoa.” Michael demanded, “And Jim, really a dog? Anyone can do that.”
(X)
“Yeah I lost myself for a bit at the beginning,” Michael crossed his legs and leaned back in his office chair, “right after it hit me how big this storm was. But then I thought, “Michael Scott, these people are depending on you to lead them through this unknown territory they have to travel.” And I remembered a trick from one of my war movies, which is try to remember something to help you out in a situation like this, and I did. Thanks to Peewee Herman.”
(X)
“Alright, so is all the chillin’ present?” Michael asked, his voice adopting a strong Southern accent that Stanley rolled his eyes at. “Sorry Stanley,” Michael apologized with his head hung, “And sorry for the term, ‘blackout’.”
“What do you mean by that?” Stanley drawled out as he finished off another puzzle.
Michael shifted uncomfortably, “Well , you know—“
“Meredith still isn’t here, Michael,” Kevin muffled his giggle as he played off of Jim’s joke.
“I know Kevin,” Michael shouted clearly growing agitated at the situation, “She wasn’t here this morning so of course she isn’t here now.”
Pam jabbed a thumb towards the break room, “Toby’s not here.”
“Yeah, Toby’s in the back where I left him and that is where he’s staying. He can stay back there, all by himself in the dark, just like he did in his marriage,” Michael spat and crossed his arms childishly.
“Where’s Creed?” Oscar interrupted moving into the middle of the circle to draw attention.
(X)
The camera zooms in through the storm to the parking lot where Creed is seen stretching blue tarps out across to cars, letting them sag in the middle.
“Rain water is the most natural way to collect clean water,” he informed with a slanted smile and a nod of his head, “its how we did it in the sixties before indoor plumbing.”
(X)
“Creed is like a hundred years old, I wouldn’t be surprised if he can control this storm,” Michael sighed and fell back into his seat, apparently giving up.
“I think we need to recollect ourselves,” Jim suggested almost sarcastically and placed a finger on his lips.
“I thought that’s what we just did,” Pam tilted her head to the side with a playful smile.
Angela sighed loudly through her nose, “Could you please keep it to a minimum? At least for tonight.”
Jim and Pam exchanged brief puzzled looks, and then Jim responded, “You’re right.”
“That was inexcusable,” Pam agreed.
“Guys,” Michael moaned and threw his hands over the back of his head in frustration, “Could we stop ragging on Jim and Pam’s raging sex drives for a moment and work together to achieve our next goal?”
Phyllis glanced up with furrowed eyebrows, “What is our next goal?”
An almost evil grin began to spread across Michael’s face, his teeth glowing in the eerie light, “We’re going to have a pajama party!”
“But we don’t have any pajamas,” Phyllis reminded sadly.
Oscar arched an eyebrow, “Do you really think that we need to stay the whole night?”
Michael stomped his foot and stared at the ceiling, apparently getting control over his emotions, “Now you guys are just making this a suck party.”
"A pajama suck party," Jim added with a large smile.
“I am not participating in a pajama party,’ Angela re-crossed her arms and fumed silently.
(X)
“During my school years, my father refused to let me go to any pajama parties because of the illicit acts that occur at them,” Angela tucked a stray bang behind her ear and looked almost proud at this declaration. “He actually wouldn’t let me go to any parties. I understand why now.”
(X)
“Everyone is going to participate and we’ll all have plenty of fun,” Michael threw his blanket to the ground with newfound hope. “We can play games against each other on the internet.”
“Nope,” Jim’s answer was curt, “Power’s out.”
Michael looked a little thrown off by Jim’s response, but continued, “Well then fine, we can all watch Forest Gump because life is like—“
“Michael, the TV needs electricity,” Phyllis soft voice interrupted him.
His eyes squinted and his lips pursed, but he added, “Then we’ll just have to listen to some CDs. You guys are just lucky I brought the soundtrack to Hairspray.”
(X)
Michael shoved his hands out beside his face. While waving them around, he added, “You can’t stop the beat.”
(X)
Pam sighed and leaned in on her hand, “All those need electricity.”
“Well then this just sucks.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter End Notes:
Hey guys, the next five chapters will be added tomorrow. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Shiggityshwa is the author of 1 other stories.
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