"So in my dream last night, it was the 1990s, and we all had apartments and jobs, and we were sat round in this coffee house..."
"And not in this Hooverville" said Phoebe, interrupting Chandler. "Not in this Hooverville" Chandler went on. "And even though it was about 60 years into the future, the women all wore long skirts".
"Lousy dream" said Joey, poking the fire, on which a smashed up coffee table was burning. The smoke from the fire now rising into the open air was making Phoebe, Chandler, Joey and Monica's eyes water. The rain was holding off for now but the armchair where Joey was seated was still somewhat wet from the downpour of half an hour ago. The large sofa which the other three were sharing was only slightly less wet. "Oh look, Mon" Chandler announced. "It's Mr. Sunshine".
Monica's brother Ross was making his way towards the group. He had a sack slung over one shoulder and a morose expression on his face. "Sweetie" called Monica, waving to him. "Did you find anything good to sell?"
"Encyclopedias" replied Ross. "THAT's all that remains of your humble home with Carol?" said Chandler with mock incredulity. "That and the metal fire screen", Ross continued, taking said fire screen out and placing it by the fire. "Well, if you remember, we rented our apartment already furnished, so there wasn't an awful lot for the landlord to throw on to the sidewalk" he concluded, dropping his sack to the ground.
"And was that all?" pressed Monica. In reply, Ross took a wooden photo frame out of the sack, showing hm and Carol on their wedding day. Monica could see the glass in the frame had broken, and mostly fallen away. Ross gazed at the picture for a few seconds and then threw it onto the fire. "That's it, Ross, forget about her!" yelled Joey. "I mean, if it had been my wife who ran off with a travelling saleswoman..." Monica and Phoebe looked at him reproachfully while Ross stared at the ground.
Chandler took it upon himself to raise everybody's spirits. "Well, look at it this way, Ross" he started, "you got the chance to live the bachelor lifestyle again. Once you've got yourself back on your feet...". He tailed off looking round at the shantytown the five friends now called home. "I don't even care about living the bachelor lifestyle?" Ross whined. "I just want to be married again!" It was at that moment that they all saw a figure in white running towards them. Was that actually a bride, decked out in a full length dress and a veil? "That's some fancy get-up" commented Phoebe. "It was, until she got caught in the rain" Chandler responded. The bride was wet from head to toe, and the hem of her gown had trailed in mud. "Monica" she cried as she approached them. "Monica, is that you? I just went to your boarding house, and they told me you were living here now".
"Rachel!" exclaimed Monica. "Come and sit down by the fire. Quick, Ross, go over to Central Perk and get some hot soup for Rachel". Ross headed to a large brick structure bordering on the Hooverville. It currently housed a busy soup kitchen run by an order of Catholic monks.
"So this, ladies and gentlemen, is Rachel Green, another survivor of Miss Halton's Seminary" announced Monica, taking off her shawl and draping it around Rachel's shoulders. "Wait, Monica" said Chandler interrupting. "Are you including me in 'ladies' or 'gentlemen'?" Monica carried on. "Mr. Smartmouth over there is Chandler Bing, this lady is Miss Phoebe Buffay and this is Mr. Joey Tribbiani". The shivering Rachel shook hands with all of them.
By the time Ross got back to the group, Rachel's veil, stockings and satin shoes were all drying on the metal fire screen. In their place, Rachel was wearing a pair of knitted socks and a shabby felt hat belonging to Phoebe, as well as Monica's shawl. "From the Central Priory of Elinor Regis Kitchen to you" announced Ross as he handed Rachel a steaming mug of soup. "I told Brother Gunter to put in some extra pieces of carrot" he added, this time addressing Monica, who smiled approvingly at her brother as he seated himself in an armchair across from Joey.
"So tell us" said Monica. "Do we still call you Miss Green or did you actually go through with your wedding?" In reply, Rachel launched into a tale where she described looking at her wedding presents about half an hour before the wedding and realizing she loved her new gravy boat more than she loved Barry, her husband-to-be. "Ugh, I'd forgotten how superficial she can be" thought Monica. "If I owned a flying horse AND a cloak of invisibility, I wouldn't need an Aladdin's lamp as well" thought Chandler. Phoebe looked at Joey, frowning. "Is he the one I can hear playing the paper and comb in his head?" she thought to herself. In the meantime, Ross took a spoon out from his pocket, put it in Rachel's soup and began stirring. "Thank you " said Rachel.