Episode 78


Aaron

Aunt Maggie

Gary Ewing

Justin Ewing

Abby Fairgate Ewing

Greg Sumner

and

Digger Barnes


Craig Byrne

and

Justin Stiles


Chad Cox

Mark Hill

Jesse Murray

and

Justin Stiles


Craig Byrne

Kristin Cashmere

Chad Cox

Karin Schill

and

Andy Smithers





Southfork Ranch





       J.R. reached fluffed the pillow behind his head and reached over to turn off the bedside lamp. Once the room was bathed in complete darkness, J.R. relaxed and closed his eyes. To his surprise and annoyance, the light suddenly came on. He opened his eyes and it blinded him. Feeling for the switch, J.R. managed to knock the lamp off the table. There was a bright flash of light, then a buzzing sound, and the room went dark.

The light suddenly came on once again and J.R. rolled over and gawked when he saw the night table—the lamp was sitting on it, as if it had never been knocked off.

J.R. sat up. “Who the hell is there?”

There was a laugh.

“Well? Show yourself. Who is it?”

J.R.'s eyes grew wide when he appeared before him. “Hello J.R.”

“Oh my Gawd…not you again.”

“J.R., how utterly unperceptive. Why on earth would you confuse ME with HIM?”

J.R. was confused and felt groggy. “But you're Adam aren't you?”

“Adam? Adam…heheh. Nooo, I'm not Adam.”

“But you look just like him. Wait a minute, what the hell are you trying to pull? Adam was all in my imagination…none of that stuff ever happened. Momma didn't die, Bobby wasn't a loser, Sue Ellen never was in a soap opera.”

The man who looked like Adam stepped out of the shadows. He was wearing a white suit, just like Adam had been—at first anyway. “That's true…none of that happened. But, it's time to give me my credit. You'd be six-feet under a well-mown lawn right now if it weren't for me…”

“Who are you kidding? You tried to get me to kill myself, you crazy bastard.” J.R. stood up.

The man laughed. “Once and for all, I AM NOT ADAM! You shot Adam nearly nine years ago—rather, you shot the mirror, but at any rate, you DID do away with him.”

“Well who the hell are you?”

The man cringed. “Oh please, don't say that word—and I mean that. I am Aaron. Adam represented your evil inner-self…I represent the good in you…”

J.R. laughed. “Shouldn't you be smaller then?”

“What?” said Aaron. “Ohh, little joke I see. No J.R., surprisingly enough, there's just as much good inside you as there is evil—as a matter of fact, there's more good.”

“You're the first person that's said that. Why are you here?”

“Why ask questions…but, if you insist…I was sent here by a greater power. See J.R., you're happily skipping down the path to eternal damnation. If somebody doesn't stop you, then you're going to get there a lot quicker than you think.”

“That's ridiculous.”

“Call it what you want, but I'm here to prevent that from happening. Now…better put those slippers on. Wouldn't want you catching cold.”

“It's warm in here.”

“Yes, but it's not warm where we're going.”

“Where are we going?”

“We're going to take a little trip into the past J.R.”

J.R. laughed. “Oh, I see. Well, at least that means I won't have to put up with you for long. I do get a new ghost for the present and future don't I?”

Aaron chuckled. “No, I'm afraid you're stuck with me for the rest of the night.” The window suddenly flew open and a gust of snow flew into the room. The room seemed to vanish into the whiteness and by the time the white disappeared; they were no longer in J.R.'s room—or Southfork for that matter.

J.R. found himself standing out in the snow, next to a small house. “Where are we?”

“We're peeking in on an old friend of yours actually. Care to venture up to the window?”

Without hesitation, J.R. walked to it and peered in. Inside, there were four people sitting at a small table. “Who are we looking at?”

Aaron laughed. “You don't recognize them? The little red-head is that 'Barnes girl' and the little boy is that 'idiot Barnes'.”

“Oh my God…that's Pam and Cliff?”

“Yes, that's Pam and Cliff…thirty-five years ago.”

“And…and that's Digger Barnes. I'd recognize that old drunk anywhere. Who is that woman? Rebecca?”

“No. That's Maggie. Remember, Rebecca left them when they were both young. They never were quite as fortunate as you were—didn't have both parents growing up…didn't even have one really. Digger was always drunk you know…”

“What are they doing?”

“Having Christmas dinner, what else?”

“That little bit of food is Christmas dinner?”

“Digger hasn't been working lately. Maggie put in enough hours to kept them all fed, but that was about it. Poor kids.”

“Why are you showing me this? What does it have to do with me?”

“Nothing really…I just wanted to give you an idea of how things were for Pam and Cliff as children, compared to your own life at Southfork.”

“What are they saying?”

“Why don't we listen…” Suddenly, their voices could be heard.

“Aunt Maggie, this is the best turkey I ever ate!” little Cliff shouted.

Maggie smiled. “Thank you Clifford.”

“Needs a little Jack Daniel's on it, then it would be just fine,” Digger said. His speech was slurred and J.R. could tell he had been drinking.

Maggie frowned at her brother. “I think you've probably had enough of that for one day. Pam, why are you so quiet?”

Pam took a bite of turkey and put her fork down. “I was just thinking 'bout Santa Claus.”

“Oh? What about him?”

“Well, last year he was so nice to us all, with his gifts and all, that I was just worried he might not stop by this year.”

“Now why on earth would you think that?”

“It's just that he left enough last year…he might not have anything left for us this time.”

Aaron whispered to J.R. “Last year, Digger managed to get a job around the holiday…no such thing this year.”

J.R. turned back to the Barnes family. Little Cliff spoke up. “Yeah, I bet he'll stop by Southfork and give everything to that stupid J.R. I bet we don't get anything this year.”

“Oh Cliff, I'm sure Santa will bring us something…it just might not be as much as last year.” Pam smiled and touched her brother on the arm.

J.R. turned to Aaron. “Well? What happens?”

Aaron laughed. “You mean you actually care?”

J.R. grumbled. “No, not particularly, but I am curious.”

“I'm afraid that Maggie wasn't able to give them anything else but a pecan pie for desert that Christmas…no toys on Christmas morning.”

“You said she was working.”

“She was, but Digger found the money a few days before. Let's just say he gave himself a little Christmas cheer with it.”

“That old bastard…taking from his kids like that.”

“Tsk tsk J.R. You've done the very same thing. It wasn't that long ago that you swindled your own son out of his 25% of Ewing Oil.”

J.R. frowned. “I gave it back to him.”

“That doesn't matter. Now, while this picture is fresh on your mind, why don't we look at a slightly different picture at Christmas.”

The snow swirled again and J.R. found himself inside his bedroom back at Southfork…

Twelve-year-old J.R.'s alarm went off at 3 a.m, just as he planned. He jumped out of his bunk, and quietly headed downstairs. Santa had come, J.R had long given up the belief of St. Nick, but his brothers still believed. He crept downstairs and gazed at the room full of presents in the living room. There was a pile for himself, one for Bobby, and one for Gary. As expected, Gary's pile was larger than his. J.R went through Gary's gifts very carefully, placing each item he wanted in his own pile. He stopped when he found a silver watch.

"What!" J.R knew this watch belonged to Jock. J.R had wanted it for himself; he knew his daddy would want him to have it. It must have been Momma that put it into Gary's pile. J.R placed the watch into his pocket, this gift he would chance his mother making him return to Gary. He headed back up the stairs and stopped at Gary and Bobby's room. He ran in and jumped on the beds, waking both his brothers up.

Gary jumped to life, a huge smile on his face. "Did Santa come, did Santa come?"

"Gary, there is no such thing as Santa Claus, Mamma and Daddy buy the presents, don't be so stupid!"

Gary sat back on his bed, his eyes welled with tears, Bobby ran to Gary to console him. J.R walked back to his room, smiling an evil grin, a Grinch like grin.

As an older J.R. watched, he turned to Aaron. “Why are you showing me this?”

“Just so you'll remember you've been the way you are since you were just a child. But, that's enough of your past—it's fairly boring.”

“Hey, watch it…”

“To the future we go…”

Southfork disappeared and suddenly, J.R. and Aaron were standing in a different locale.

“Where are we?”

Aaron just smiled as J.R. looked on in confusion at the insanity going on around him. People in flashy costumes were running back and forth, while various technicians carried around equipment, all with determined looks on their faces.

“We at some kinda Las Vegas show or something?” J.R. asked.

“Better yet. A concert. Why don't we go see who the performer is.” Aaron led J.R. to a small observing area next to the stage. A few moments later, the lights in the stadium that they were looking into dimmed. The crowd, which was enormous, grew silent. J.R. saw one tiny stream of blue light focus on a specific spot on stage. Then, as if by magic, a small hole in the stage opened, revealing a woman being raised on a platform. The crowd went wild.

It was Afton.

The crowd roared as the words “Afton Cooper!” lit up behind her.

“What the hell is this?”

“Welcome to the concert of one of the country's biggest acts---Afton Cooper.”

“You're kidding me? She can really sing?”

“Oh, what she lacks in talent she makes up for in charisma.” Aaron responded.

“What happened? How did she get so big.”

“Believe it or not, she did it all by herself. She got sick of Cliff, and his cowardice. She just got to the point that she felt like he was holding her back.”

“What does this have to do with me?” J.R. asked.

“Oh, you were the catalyst that caused her to leave. Before you left this Earth, so to speak, you and Cliff were in another one of your battles or whatever you call it. Afton got sick of it. It was really the last straw for her, so she divorced Cliff and took him for everything she was worth.”

“Then what happened?”

“Well, you died and Afton, now rich, started on a career of her own. She had the money to buy herself a new image. Eventually, she got some really big singles, and boom! Here she is.”

“I don't believe it. She actually made something of that singing.” J.R. looked at Aaron. “I always thought she had no talent, to be honest. I got her the first singing job she ever had in Dallas.”

“I'm sure she's eternally grateful,” Aaron said sarcastically. Something quickly caught his eye. “Oh, look. There's another old friend of yours,” he said, pointing towards the other wing of the stage.

J.R. looked over and was shocked to see Pamela Rebecca, now a fully mature woman, standing there with a clipboard. She looked very professional.

“What the hell is she, a roadie?”

“She's her mother's manager, and quite successful at that. As much as she has been a nuisance to your family, Pamela Rebecca is quite a smart girl. Once she had her mother's career to focus on, she proved to be a very capable businesswoman.”

“This is too much,” J.R. shook his head. “What about Barnes?”

“Oh, I'm sure you'll really like this,” Aaron said, snapping his fingers.

A moment later, J.R. found himself in a dingy bar. Aaron was right next to him. “Where are we now?” He asked.

“Welcome to Rose's tavern on the East Side of Dallas. Ever heard of it?”

“I think so,” J.R. said non-commitently.

“Well, so has Cliff Barnes. In fact, he's a regular here now.” Aaron pointed towards the corner, where Cliff was sitting haggard and obviously drunk. He looked like he hadn't bathed and showered in three days.

“What the hell happened to him?”

“Afton left him. You and he had a big business war, and he ended up losing the Clifford Group.”

“To me?” J.R. asked hopefully. That would be satisfying. It would really be getting the best of Barnes.

“Ha. Not exactly,” Aaron responded. “You actually passed away shortly after. But Cliff had lost everything---Afton, and after a big fight with Pamela Rebecca, the rest of his family too. He lost contact with Pam.”

“What the hell is she doing anyway?” J.R. interjected.

“All in good time,” Aaron tempered him. “With nothing, he resided to the fate of his father. A drunk. Like father, like son.”

J.R. smiled. “The future don't look that bad.”

“Oh really?” Aaron asked.

“Nope.”

“Maybe I will show you what eventually happened to Pam.”

Aaron snapped his fingers and J.R. found himself standing on a sandy beach. The waves lapped upon the shore. “Where are we?”

“California. More specifically, Knots Landing.”

“What does this have to do with Pam?”

“Your constant plots and schemes eventually drove Pam and Bobby away from Southfork. They ended up buying a house in the cul-de-sac near Gary and Val's house.”

“But Bobby owned Southfork…”

“He gave it to Christopher. Christopher stills lives there with Karen.”

“Back to Pam and Bobby…”

“Tragedy struck a few years ago.” Aaron shook his head. “What a shame.”

“Tragedy? Pam have another run-in with a gas truck?”

“Nope. Pam's just fine.”

The beach disappeared and they two were standing in a kitchen. An older Pam removed a pan from the oven and dropped it onto the counter. “Where's Bobby?”

Pam heard a noise and looked out the window to see a car drive up. “My Honey is home,” she said quietly. She wiped her hands on a cloth and went to open the door.

“Apparently he's alright, because that's him at the door,” J.R. reasoned.

“Nope. A huge earthquake—and 8.2, hit Knots Landing a few years back. It was about two years after Bobby and Pam first moved here. Bobby was killed—a rather tragic death. Would you like to know the details? Or maybe I could go back in time a few years and let you witness it firsthand?”

“No! Not Bobby.”

“Yes Bobby.”

J.R. was immediately saddened, to think that he had something to do with Bobby's death. “Then who is at the door?”

Gary Ewing walked into the kitchen with Pam in his arms. He kissed her deeply before letting her back down. “How was your day at work today?” Pam asked.

“Just fine Sweetie,” Gary smiled.

From the corner, J.R. watched. “Oh my Gawd, you can't expect me to believe Pam would date that loser.”

“Date? Who said anything about dating? They're married.”

“Married? Where the hell is Valene?”

Aaron began to recount the story. “After Bobby's death, Pam grieved for five long years. She was in severe depression and Gary's friendship helped her out of it. Eventually, their friendship grew into love and they began an affair. Valene found out and she left town after divorcing Gary.”

J.R. stared in disbelief as Pam and Gary kissed again. “You expect me to believe that?”

“Believe what you want, but this is the future if you don't change your evil ways.”

J.R. was deep in thought. “Say, Aaron, could ya do me a favor? Since we're already in California, I wanna drop in on my old friend Abby Fairgate—just to see how she's doing.”

Aaron grinned mischievously and snapped his fingers. J.R. found himself in a place that he normally wouldn't be caught dead in—a fast food joint. J.R. looked around. “Why the hell are we at McBurger Queen??”

“Why don't you find out? You're next to order…”

J.R. reluctantly stepped up, before remembering that no one could see him. Another man stepped 'through' him and took his place before the cash register. Standing behind it was Abby. J.R.'s jaw dropped.

“You've shown me some crazy stuff, but there's no way in hell you could expect me to believe that Abby would ever end up working in a place like this…no matter what I did.”

“You changed her life too. You two were involved in a business deal that fell through. Only thing was, you jumped overboard and left her holding the bag. She had to take all of the blame and ended up losing her fortune.

“What about her family?”

“She turned into a despicable woman. None of them had anything to do with her afterwards…”

“Turned? Hate to burst your bubble, but she was always a despicable woman.”

J.R. watched as Abby snarled at the customer. “What do you want?”

The man proceeded to order. “I'll take a super-sized McBurger Queen Combo with an order of fries and a large vanilla shake.”

Abby began to enter the order into the cash register, but ended up breaking a finger nail in the process. “Damn it!”

The man frowned. “Oh yeah, and hold the tomatoes. I don't like those.”

Abby growled. “Why the hell can't you just pick them off?”

“Because I'm the customer and the customer is always right—Blondie.”

Abby turned her nose up at Greg Sumner. She truly hated her pathetic life the most when someone she knew came in. But Abby knew Greg wouldn't normally come to McBurger Queen—he just wanted to see her working there.”

Unheard by anyone but Aaron, J.R. was near the point of howling with laughter. “Aaron, why that's the…funniest thing I've seen all night. Thank you for a good laugh.”

“Funny eh? Maybe it's time to bring you down then. Abby has led a miserable life and it's all thanks to you.” Aaron snapped his fingers and J.R. was transported to a house similar to Southfork, only much larger.

J.R. saw a man standing at the door—he instantly recognized him as John Ross. John Ross appeared to be in an argument with someone. J.R. and Aaron moved in to hear.

“Justin, you get the hell out of my house! You are a pathetic, blue-collared excuse for a loser. Hell, you even make our dear old Dad look like someone who is actually worth a shit. You are three months behind on your rent payments. I cannot continue supporting you and your little family.”

Justin Ewing stood outside in the snow. Beside him was a woman, who was holding two children. “John Ross please…it's Christmas Eve. We don't have anywhere else to go. I'll do my best to get the money to you by the end of the week.”

“That's just not good enough this time. Merry Christmas Justin.” John Ross slammed the door in his brother's face and returned to the warmth of the living room. He was all alone on Christmas Eve, but it was better than having to spend another night with his pathetic excuse for a brother and his family.

J.R. turned to Aaron. “Why is he like that?”

“I think you already know. John Ross left Dallas in the year 2000, right after his falling out with you. Once he left, he continued to run Jerrickson Oil in New Orleans and began a man that would rival even your degree of evilness. Poor guy…he just never could escape your influence, no matter how hard he tried.”

“Why is he throwing out Justin?”

“Justin is an poor factory worker. He came to John Ross for help several weeks ago and John Ross agreed to take him and his family in, but forced Justin to pay him monthly rent. Justin scraped it together, because it was cheaper than a place of his own, but still, as you can see, he couldn't afford it in the long run. So now Justin and his family will spend Christmas Eve out in the cold—but even that doesn't compare to the coldness that runs through John Ross' heart—and it's all because of you J.R.”

“What about Jillian? Can't he go to her?”

“Jillian couldn't support her brother. Competition among the prostitutes is big in New York City…she just doesn't get the clients she needs to support herself and him too.” Aaron noticed the look on J.R.'s face. “She too fled Dallas—just got sick of your evil ways.”

“Why doesn't Justin go to Cally?”

“Let's find out. “Welcome to New York,” Aaron declared, throwing his hands in the air.

“Is that where we are?” J.R. should have figured. They were in a giant loft filled with paintings and overdressed people drinking champagne.

“Yep. The big apple, the city that never sleeps, the naked city. Call it what you will.”

“Well who lives here?” Before Aaron could answer his question, J.R. saw Cally turn a corner. She was beautiful. She definitely looked older, but she had aged gracefully. She was smiling, acting as hostess. “She own this place?”

“Yes. It's one of many art galleries. This is the newest one.”

“So she lives in New York City now? Funny, country mouse going to the big city.”

“Oh, she has many homes all over the world,” Aaron replied. “Paris, London, Milan. She's very successful J.R. Perhaps you've underestimated her.”

J.R. was silent. “What happened?”

“Without you around to cause trouble, Cally left Dallas. She came to New York City, and entered the art community here. She made some very influential and helpful friends, and after years of hard work, here she is. The owner of many successful art galleries all over the world.”

“But what about Justin? Why is he so poor if his mama is so rich?”

“Ah. That's the other thing. You troublemaking with Cally didn't stop with trying to gaslight Cally. Eventually, you caused her relationship with her son to crumble. Justin and Cally don't speak anymore.”

“What?” J.R. was surprised at how much that statement effected him. He didn't like to admit what he was feeling: pain and pride. Pride in Cally's accomplishments, but pain at hearing about she and Justin.

“If you didn't notice, you had a very unusual effect on people, Cally being one of them. You hurt her as much as you helped her.”

J.R. got one last look at his ex-wife, looking radiant as she greeted her many guests. He started to feel a twinge of guilt as Aaron snapped his fingers once again, taking them to another unknown destination.”

J.R. tried to get a bearing on his surroundings. It appeared as if he and Aaron were on the porch of a log cabin somewhere in the woods. It was snowing, but J.R. didn't feel anything. He looked through the window. Donna and Ray were sitting on the couch, drinking champagne. They seemed to be very happy. Behind the two was a large Christmas tree, beautifully decorated. Sitting in chairs around Donna and Ray were various men and women. Upon closer examination, J.R. recognized them as an adult Lucas and Margaret, and what seemed to be a much older Charlie Wade. He assumed the men and women around them were their various husbands and wives.

“What's this?” J.R. asked. It was too happy for him to take.

“There's a side to every story. Some people were worse off when you died, J.R., some were better off. This is a case of the latter.”

“Well I'll be damned. Ray and Donna look pretty good!”

“No thanks to you. After you revealed Donna's little secret to the papers, things weren't easy for the two of them. But love's a strong thing.”

“You telling me some 'they're love brought them back together story'?”

“I couldn't have said it better myself,” Aaron smiled.

J.R. turned his attention towards the window, and looked in on Donna, Ray and the rest. They looked to be having a great time. He leaned his head toward the window in order to hear well.

“We've gotten some great Christmas cards,” Donna said, putting her glass down. “You see that one Ray?” She was indicating a Christmas card. “It's from Janice and Todd. That one's from Lucy.”

“Lucy. Now what happened to her?” J.R. interjected, asking Aaron.

“Remember how I told you about the big battle that you and Cliff got in? And how he lost the Clifford Group?”

“Yeah.”

“Guess who got it?” Aaron said.

“Well I'll be,” J.R. responded.

“Lots of surprises, huh? That's not the only one.”

Aaron snapped his fingers again.

J.R. was now transported to a hospital, where he saw a familiar face…

“Oh My God. Sue Ellen.” J.R. was looking down at his ex-wife. She was lying in a hospital bed, with lots of wiring and monitors hooked up to her. “What happened to her?” He moved over to his ex-wife. There was hurt in his eyes.

“After you died, Sue Ellen took a real turn for the worse.”

“What happened? Tell me, please.” J.R. was pleading. He couldn't take looking at Sue Ellen, strapped to all those wires.

“She couldn't take your death. It hurt her more than she ever imagined.” Aaron looked at J.R. “You two are connected in deeper ways than you could ever imagine, you and Sue Ellen. You're lives have always, and will always, be entwined one way or the other.”

“Why is she here though? Is she hurt?”

“She drunk herself into a coma. She couldn't handle your death, so she started drinking again. It pushed Jack away; in fact it pushed everyone away. One day she drank too much, got into an accident and she's been in the coma ever since.”

J.R. didn't even register the passivity in Aaron's voice. He was too consumed with thoughts of Sue Ellen. “Can't the doctors help her? What about the family---someone had to be able to do something…Ray or Pam, or someone.”

“They pay for her hospital bills. They visit her. That's all they can do.”

“This isn't fair. She shouldn't end up like this.” J.R. couldn't take his eyes off the bed, and Sue Ellen.

“As I said before, you have quite an effect on people. J.R. Ewing. Some people thrive when you're dead---others can't survive.”

“Things can't turn out this way though.”

“And why not?” Aaron asked in response.

“Because it's not right.”

“A lot of things aren't right. A lot of things you've done aren't right. A lot of things you're doing aren't right---you're little plot with Cally, Donna's past, your scheme with Gary.”

“That's the past though.”

“It's the present. This is the future. It's your decision J.R., to let this continue. This could be next Christmas, or the Christmas after that. Time is funny like that. It sneaks up on you.” Aaron raised his hand, and placed his fingers in a position that suggested he was about to snap them. “It's your decision to make. And now it's time for our grand finale.” With that he snapped his fingers.

J.R. found himself looking through a small, steel-reinforced window. It was attached to a door with a sign that only read:

Keep Door Closed At All Times

He looked over at his tour guide, who had his arms crossed, frowning. “What are we doing here? It looks bad. I don't think I can take seeing someone else hanging on by loose threads.”

“I've saved the most important for last, J.R. I hope you are ready for what you're going to see.”

After Aaron finished his last sentence, a muffled scream broke out from inside the room. J.R. closed his eyes and when he opened them again he found himself inside the room, sitting in a corner on a metal chair. He looked up and met the underside of a metal cap with various colored wires hooked to a machine behind the chair.

J.R. looked over at Aaron standing beside him. “Electroshock therapy, you've gotta be kidding me, it's 2015!”

“Electroconvulsive Therapy. The years may have changed J.R., but people haven't. There are still sick and twisted people in the world that'll do anything for a few extra dollars. In this case, a couple thousand extra dollars,” he explained, a little bewildered.

It was then that J.R. saw the person in the middle of the room, with an identical metal cap attached to her head. What he saw horrified him.

“Oh God, no. Not mama,” J.R. started crying like a child, “Anyone but mama.”

A smaller version of Miss Ellie was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, cap on her head, a brace in her mouth, and restraints on her arms and legs. It was physically Miss Ellie, but she looked different. She stared absently at something in front of her, not seeing anything.

Aaron continued talking, amid J.R.'s emotion.

“I've already told you what an effect your actions have on everyone around you. This is the worst example of it. Your underhanded ways of doing things didn't catch up with you, but with your mother. After you died, some of the people you double-crossed came to collect. All the harassment and threats literally drove poor Ellie insane and led to Clayton's death,” he said, pausing.

Both of them watched as Ellie's small frame jolted back and forth in the chair she was restrained to, pain spreading across her face. The same muffled scream they had heard before escaped again. A small trail of blood formed at her mouth and after a few more seconds the power was turned off and she fell back against the back of the chair.

“Oh God, Mama…I'm so sorry. Oh God, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.” J.R. could no longer live with himself, he never realized how his life would affect even his mother, the very person who, so many times, tried to convince him to stop his ways. But he was too concerned with being number one – too concerned with material things and his repuatation, to think about anyone but himself.

One of the men in the white jackets turned on the power again and raised the voltage slightly, sending Ellie into another spasm.

“I think you've all you need to, J.R.”

“This can't be real, Aaron. Mama can't be hurt because of what I've done.”

“It will be very real, J.R., if you don't stop what you're doing right now. This will be Ellie's fate, Sue Ellen will end up laying brain-dead in that hospital bed, if you don't change your ways. I hope I've been able to bring you out of the darkness and into the light, to see that it's time for you to stop. It's time for you to think about your family, J.R., instead of your self and your selfish motives.”

With that, Aaron snapped his fingers and the world went black, Ellie's screams still lingering in the air.



J.R. woke up in a sweat, and quickly looked around the room. The sunlight was filtering thrown the drawn curtains. There was no sign of Aaron. No sign that Aaron had ever been there. What happened? He remembered everything, everything that Aaron had showed him. His children. Donna and Ray, and Pam and Gary. Cally. Sue Ellen. He couldn't get the image of Sue Ellen out of his mind. Aaron had warned him that if his behavior continued, if his scheming went on interrupted, then the fate he was shown could become a reality. It was a disturbing thought to J.R.

His thoughts drifted to his family. His son, Justin. He missed him. He wished he were here at Southfork, all the time. J.R. got angry thinking about Gary, and Ray, and Donna. They were always causing trouble, always getting in the way of his plans.

Then he thought about his visit from Aaron. He got up and looked out the window. He had a dream. A bad dream.

And that's all it was, J.R. thought to himself and smiled. A bad dream.






Our next episode will be available on Monday, December 27. It will be a very short episodes that will tie up a few loose ends from Christmas.

Episode 80 (the New Year's Eve special) will air on December 31, 1999. Then, we'll take a one week break and Return to Southfork will return on January 14, 2000 (Y2K willing). After that, we'll have just a few more episodes until the big season four finale in early February. Stay tuned!

Also, be sure to send us your comments on this episode of RTS! We love hearing from you and we always take your suggestions/comments into consideration for future stories, etc. The form below doesn't require e-mail and leaves you totally anonymous.

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