AN: It was fate—I caught a random glimpse of this episode, and just wanted to theorize what was going through Pam's head as she watched Michael retrieving his dollar. And I got the title from watching a little bit too much Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (If you haven't seen it, they're trying to prove someone's a witch, and their theory involves whether or not wood can float. It's my favorite scene.)
Oh. And I own nothing related to the Office. I am merely borrowing it for my own creative pleasure.
Pennies were the least effective. Pam Beesley had facts. Scientific research in the mall had proven this when she was young. It had taken her exactly twenty-two minutes and seventy five pennies to figure it out. Months of saving floated slowly through the murky waters of the Steamtown Mall. Seventy-five cents and she hadn't gotten any closer to the pony at Christmas.
Nickels were unreliable. Once, her mom had taken her to the mall, in search of the perfect First-Day-of-First Grade outfit. In a panic, she threw her only nickel in the fountain, hoping that Savannah Grace would stop picking on her for liking crayons so much. Her attempts were in vain. And once, her brothers had reluctantly taken her along on a football jersey run. Then they abandoned her at the fountain with a bag full of nickels. She wished for a sister, and had one by the end of the school year.
Dimes were the most stable in her experience. Even though everyone her age thought that wishes were just fanciful, a week before junior prom, she was looking for a dress. She closed her eyes, wished really hard that someone popular would notice her for once and whisk her away on a magical evening for all that Prom is supposed to be. That day, she ran into Roy at the food court, and somehow they managed to start talking. The day ended with a question and date set.
Ten years later, a few dimes were tossed with one wish: to break up with Roy for good.
The mall trip had not been the best, to say the least. By the end of the exhausting day, Michael had insisted that everyone make a wish. Since nobody seemed to attending to Michael's wishes, he decided to take it upon himself to make wishes for everyone else. She watched him take out his wallet and throw in a dollar bill. She then watched him take off his shoe and begin to retrieve this dollar back from the fountain. She thought about all the wishes she had made in fountains and while some had been granted, there were others that had gone horribly awry. Sixteen cents was all that she had in her pocket. She needed to make it count.
She threw in a penny, hoping that Karen would be transferred to New York.
She threw in a nickel, wishing that she would have the courage to tell Jim the truth.
She threw in a dime, hoping that Jim was thinking about her, even for just a second, like she was thinking of him.