Hey guys! This is my first ever The Office fic... i'm so excited! Anywhoo, it takes place somewhere between seasons three and four, after Pam's fireside post-walking-over-hot-coals confession but before Jim breaks up with Karen. Eww.... Karen.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Office OR The Wizard of Oz. I do, however, own Benji. :)
Enjoy!
"C'mon, Benji! Hurry up, boy!" Pam said to the small black Scottish Terrier ambling down the sidewalk behind her. Benji belonged to her friend Melissa from art class, for whom Pam was house-sitting while Mel was in Cuba with her new husband. Melissa lived about a half hour drive outside of Scranton, so Pam was staying there for the two weeks of her friend's honeymoon. It was sort of annoying to have to make that long of a commute to get to work, but hey, that's what friends are for, right?
Although adorable, Benji was a terror. Her first day of house sitting, she'd returned to Mel's place after a stressful day at Dunder Mifflin to find the house almost completely obliterated. It was hard to comprehend how such a big mess from such a little dog. She'd nicknamed him the Tiny Terror. He'd been standing there amongst the debris just wagging his little tail and looking so pleased with himself that Pam had just wanted to kick him out the window.
It wasn't really his fault. She'd forgotten to take him for a walk that morning, so he'd just had a little too much pent-up energy. And she'd been in a bad mood anyways because of all the stuff that was going on at work. Namely, Jim. And Karen. Stupid, dumb Karen who had nothing at all wrong with her to give Pam a reason to hate her, which made Pam hate her just that much more. They were in New York right now, for a job interview. Together. And she was still here in Scranton, all alone, cleaning up pillow stuffing after a hyperactive pooch's rampage.
Anyways, after that little incident, Pam had been diligent about taking the dog out for daily walks. But today, Benji was being more stubborn than usual. He was strolling along down the street when all Pam really wanted to do was get inside out of the torrential downpour. She'd lacked the foresight to wear a sweater with a hood for the walk, believing that her umbrella would be sufficient in keeping her dry. However, the nearly gale force winds had blown the umbrella back on itself about twenty times before she decided to give up altogether.
She didn't see how Benji was so unbothered by the storm. The little dog was soaked, but he still didnt seem all that eager to get back inside. He just strolled along the street as if it were any normal day.
That is, until he saw a squirrel crossing the street. Then the little terror tore off after it, ripping the leash from an unsuspecting Pam's hand before she had time to tighten her grip on it.
"Benji!" she'd called desperately. "Benji come back! Heel, boy! Heel!"
Of course, Benji didn't listen to her.
"Damn it." she muttered. And then tore off down the street after him.
For a dog with suck tiny legs, Benji sure was fast. Pam pelted after him as fast as she could, cursing the little mutt with every stride, but she couldn't seem to get any closer to him. Finally, after about twenty minutes, he seemed to tire out and lay down on the wet grass beside the sidewalk. Pam caught up to him and picked him up, holding him close to her body in an attempt to warm him up. And, of course, to keep him from escaping again.
"Bad dog." she muttered, and turned back in the direction on Mel's house as the torrential rain continued to pour. She was freezing, and all she could think of was getting back to Mel's so she could make some hot chocolate and relax.
What she hadn't realized, though, was that while she'd been chasing Benji, the sky had turned an alarming shade of green, and the wind had picked up substantially. She was practically leaning into it as she fought her way back down the street.
And then, just about three minutes away from the house, she saw it. A large funnel-shaped cloud a few miles away and getting closer by the second. She stopped in shock, a thousand different thoughts running through her head, the first being Scranton isn't in tornado country. and the last being Screw that, RUN!
And she did. She clutched the little dog to her chest and ran as fast as she could towards Melanie's house. But the tornado was faster. As she got into eyesight of the house, she heard tree limbs snapping behind her. She'd never make it in time!
In desperation, she ran towards Mel's small studio in the backyard. It was safer than the house, anyways. Closer to the ground, with only one window. The key was under the mat. Tucking Benji under one arm, she fumbled for the key, and unlocked the door with shaking hands. Keeping a firm grip on the wriggling, yipping, pooch, she ran to the opposite wall and huddled in the corner.
Her heart was beating like crazy, and it was all she could do to keep a good hold on Benji and keep herself from completely freaking out. She head terrifying noises outside, crunching wood, shattering glass, and shrieking metal, and thought for sure that this was it. She was going to die alone with only an incredibly annoying Scottie for company. Suddenly, there was a moment of calm. She raised her head to see out the single, small window and et some clue of what was going on.
Then she heard shattering glass, felt an immense pain in her head, heard Benji yipping frantically. Then, darkness.
When Pam awoke, she was still in Mel's backyard studio. But instead of darkness outside the window, she saw sunshine. Really bright sunshine. And instead of stuff breaking, she could hear birds singing. She picked herself up off the floor, and looked around for Benji. He was curled up beside her, asleep.
Of course, she thought to herself, Only the Tiny Terror could sleep through something like that.
She nudged the tiny dog, who yawned, shook himself, then got up and started sniffing around. He made his way to the door, then pawed at it and whined, looking imploringly back at her.
"Alright." She conceded, smiling. Annoying as he was, Benji was growing on her. and of course, she was just happy to have survived that tornado. "Let's go see what's going on."
She opened the door, and was shocked at what she saw.
Instead of the dull suburban landscape that had been outside when she'd entered the studio, she was standing in a beautiful rural setting. It was... well colourful. That was really the only word to describe it. And... bizarre. The trees were oddly shaped and hyper-coloured-green, the sky was an insane shade of blue. There were flowers everywhere, and.... was that a peacock standing next to that tree?
Suddenly conscious of the fact that Benji might try to chase down the bird, Pam looked down at him... and was shocked by two things. The first was that she wasn't wearing what she had been when she had been walking Benji only a few minutes earlier (jeans, a sweater, and a waterproof jacket). Now she was wearing a ridiculous blue dress, and her hair was in pigtails. Even more shocking was the fact that the normally highly-strung Benji was just sitting at her feet, without his leash on, obediently. He'd noticed the peacock, but made no attempt to chase it.
Now Pam thought she really must be either dead or crazy.
Before she had a chance to contemplate her conundrum any further, she noticed a large pink bubble descending from the sky. It reached the ground and popped in a shower of sparkles, revealing none other than Angela, wearing a ridiculously poofy white dress and crown, waving a pink sparkly wand. Her blonde hair fell in ringlets around her usually-angry (but now almost stupidly sweet) face.
"Welcome, newcomer." She said in a melodious voice that hardly sounded like hers at all.
"Newcomer?" Pam asked incredulously. "Angela, it's me, Pam. You know me. What on Earth going on here?"
"Angela? Earth? No, no, no." she giggled sweetly. "My name is Glinda the Good Witch of the North. Welcome to the Land of Oz."
Pam's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and she looked down at the small dog who lay obediently at her feet.
"Benji," she said, "We are soooooo not in Scranton anymore."
And there you have it. First chappie... done! Love it? Hate it? Either way, send a review my way. Construtive critcism is accepted, but nothing too mean plzz. Next chappie there will be more actual characters.
REVIEW, and you shall be rewarded with cookies and shiny things!
