God Bless Us Every One
"Paaaaammmela Beeeeesly. Paaaaaaam Beeeeeeesly." Pam’s head jerked upright. Despite it being just one week before her wedding, she’d been in the middle of her normal Saturday night ritual (dosing on the couch in front of “Legally Blonde”). She was not quite aware that she had fallen asleep, but hearing her name had jolted her awake.
“Roy?” It hadn’t sounded like Roy, but who else would be there? The voice had been familiar, but…
“PAAAAAAAAAM BEEEEEESLEY.”
The voice was clear, close, and unmistakable. Springing from the sofa, Pam spun around in fear and anger. “What the hell are you doing here, Michael!?” she shrieked.
He was standing very close, and very still. Totally aside from the fact that he was standing in her living room (which he had never done before) in the middle of the night (which was wildly inappropriate) and that she had no idea how he’d gotten in (which was freaking her out), there was something really weird about Michael’s appearance. For one thing, he was dressed in a simple white outfit that resembled hospital scrubs. For another, he was wrapped up in a large, heavy-looking chain. For a third, he was slightly transparent.
It was when she noticed him being transparent that Pam actually relaxed a bit. She was dreaming, that was all. She’d been having very vivid dreams lately, as the wedding drew closer. None had featured transparent Michael, but some of them had been intense and some had featured co-workers doing things more inappropriate than being see-thru.
“Hey, Pam. I’m not exactly Michael. I’m a spiritual manifestation of Michael’s heart.” Yep, she was dreaming.
“Nice to meet you?”
“Thanks. I mean, no. No, it is not nice to meet me, because of why I’m here. You’re in danger, and I’m here as a warning.” Pam was glad she knew she was dreaming because that was creepy. DreamMichael looked so serious, and so sad. He continued, “These chains are all my regrets. I have to carry them around all the time, even though no one else can see them. There’s one link for every bad decision, every time I chose what was safe instead of what would make me happy, every time I was too scared to take a risk. I’m here to warn you that your chains are already bigger and heavier than these, even if you don’t see them yourself…” He shook the chains to make them rattle ominously. “I just don’t want you to be chained like this, Pam.” He stopped and looked at her expectantly.
To fill the awkward silence, Pam forced herself to speak. “You are a dream and I don’t know what you are talking about,” she managed to say, although not confidently. “I’m going to lie back down and you will go away.”
“Fine, I’ll go. But I’m going to send three of my lackeys to try to change your mind. Expect the first one when the clock strikes midnight. Oh, and Pam? I like your sheep pajamas. Rowr!” And with a small popping sound, he was gone.
Pam shook her head slightly to clear it. Weird dream, she thought. She turned off the television and went to bed. “I don’t have any regrets,” she whispered to the empty bedroom. It was a lie and she knew it. She regretted the way things had ended with Jim. She couldn’t be with him (she was engaged, she was getting married), but she’d never wanted to hurt him. She regretted handling things in a way that meant they couldn’t be friends anymore. She regretted giving in to his kiss the night of the casino fundraiser…
That’s a lie, too, she thought as she snuggled under the covers. You don’t regret that at all.
The Michael dream had been unsettling, and Pam wished fleetingly that Roy would get home before she fell back to sleep. She knew that was highly unlikely. This was the night of his big bachelor party. One week from this moment she’d be leaving her wedding reception, officially married to Roy. She was already more than half asleep, so she didn’t hear the sigh that escaped her lips when that thought crossed her mind.
