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The radio station felt both warm and cold at the same time.
Mike reached back, his hand touching the top of his head. It hurt, he thought absently. Well, he wasn’t exactly keeping up with sleep, and he couldn’t remember when he last drank water…
Mike looked around.
Kali and El were somewhere in the back, talking, arguing soon. Lucas and Erica were bickering, and Joyce and Hopper were probably making out. Robin, Will, and Murray were who knows where….provably arguing as well.
God, everyone’s fighting.
Mike leaned down. The world tilted sideways. And it didn’t stop. It kept going, and turning and rotating until Mike feels the oddly cold carpet on his cheek. He closed his eyes and the room was gone.
Instead, he was looking at a street. It was a very nice street, clean, but it wasn’t shoveled. Flawless, white snow covered it entirely. The only thing indicating that it was a street at all was the snow plow coming from the other way. Off in the distance, Mike could make out lights.
And he started towards them.
The snow was cold and deep, but it kinda get nice. It felt numb, like he felt when talking to Dustin lately.
Eventually, the lights came into shape. The town was small, cozy, something you’d see in a Christmas Movie.
He walked a little, people walked past him, and a window caught his eye. It displayed plushies. There was a blue creature, smirking next a red and black one, though that one looked mad. Mike’s eyes drifted up as he peered into the shop. At the far corner of it stood two boys. One had black curly hair, he was wearing a purple shirt. It said something about salt. The other had blondish brown hair, more curly than the other guys, but not overly long.
They were laughing.
Mike smiled. He almost walked away, but before he could, the black haired boy put his arms around the other. The other boy looked back with a smile and he twisted out of the hug, and gave him a kiss on the lips. Mike’s smile faded. They looked so…carefree, like they didn’t care if anyone saw them. Mike found himself staring, watching, deep down hoping that he could experience that one day, maybe with...no, no no no, he was with El! Or... he was... They'd kind of drifted apart in the past few months...
“I know them,” a voice said to his left.
“Carson and Rico. They were in one of my classes last year.”
Mike turned, and standing next to him was a girl with short brown hair and pale skin. She was wearing overalls and a jacket that almost covered part of her face.
“Oh…that’s uh, nice.” Mike answered.
He turned to walk away, but the girl called after him again.
“Mazie!” She said. “My name’s Mazie.”
Mike stopped to see her run shakily toward him. And for the first time since the shit show of a crawl, Mike wondered: What was he doing here? What was actually going on back home? And why?
“You, uh, you wouldn’t happen to know why I’m here, would you?” He asked Mazie.
“To understand.” She replied.
Confused, Mike asked again.
“That’s… not really an answer, how would I do that? What do I need to understand?” His voice was rising now, but Mazie just looked at him.
“You know that old movie your mom watches every Christmas Eve? It’s a Wonderful Life?”
Mike stared at her without words.
“No?” She asked. “Well, the premise is, this guy wants to commit suicide, and before he does, a guardian angel appears to him, and takes him to a universe where he didn’t exist. And it’s enough that he appreciates his life.”
Mike started to walk away, mostly because he hated the movie, even more so than Holly, who had cried every year not even knowing what it meant yet.
“You, Michael Wheeler, are not in need of a wake up call like that.” Mazie shouted after him.
“All I want to do is to show you something you’d appreciate!”
“And why should I trust you?” Mike called back.
“You’re just some tango person who probably kidnapped me and took me here.”
Mazie sighed.
“Can I just…show you some things?” She asked. Mike hesitated.
Then he followed her into the town further. They stopped at a cafe, the sweet scent of peppermint drifting through the air. As Mike took it in two girls sat down outside the Cafe. They were laughing.
And suddenly, Mike could see everything. One of them-Meghan-got into a fight with her dad three days ago, and the other one was going through a breakup. Yet they still took the time, the time to meet and talk, and trust each other with their issues. Mike thought about Lucas, sitting next to Max at the hospital, or Dustin, fighting bullies who offended him and Hellfire club. It would be nice… for one moment it would be nice if they still trusted Mike with their problems, maybe he could help.
“Gabriel!” A voice shouted, and Mike took his eyes off the two girls.
A small boy was yelling to an older one to come over to him. When the older boy, Gabriel, Mime assumed, reached the younger, he looked at the camera in front of them as another one joined them. A second later, two adults were at their sides, each of them praising the kids for how well they stood for the picture, or kept his brother in track, or was able to make it. Everyone was accounted for. No one left out, not young little Jaxson, or Terra, not even Gabriel, the middle child.
Mazie led him further down, to a lake frozen over. There were groups, mostly of three, and one girl sat down tying her skates at a picnic table. When she had finished, a group called out, telling her to come skate with them. And she did. Without having to ask them, they asked her. She was included without telling them to include her. Mike’s eyes prickled with tears. It seemed like everyone here had what he wanted: freedom to live who you want, people who trusted you with burdens, a loving and inclusive family, friends who actually wanted him there without him asking. He closed his eyes and felt a warm hand grab his hand.
But as he opened his eyes, expecting to see Mazie there, he was back at the radio station, with Will holding his hand. He did it discreetly, no one else noticed. What Mike did see, however, was Robin’s encouraging smile and the fact he wasn’t on the floor anymore, but on the couch. And as he drifted into sleep, a real dreamless sleep, Mike thought back to Max and Rocky.
Maybe someday…