Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Part Seven: By Rose

Meanwhile, in the “real” world, a crash from the closet jolted Metty awake. A glance out the window told her that the sun was just coming up. Without bothering to consult any of the others, she ran to the hall and opened the closet door.

The reassembled robot sat in a tangle on the floor, moaning.

“What happened?” Metty couldn’t help asking.

“My balance coordinators must have blown out in the explosion,” the robot replied. “Man oh man, am I a wreck! Why did you put me back together?”

“Because we need to find out what happened. Five of our friends just disappeared into thin air, and since we found your remains in the living room, we figured you would be the pers- uh, the one to ask.”

“Disappeared?” the robot frowned. “That shouldn’t have happened unless my creators decided to dispose of the bodies.”

Metty panicked. “Bodies?”

“Yes, assuming that the plan worked. I was sent here to interrogate and spy on the Earthlings and report everything back to the ship, but if I was discovered, I was to self-destruct. They discovered that I was not human, and the one called Desy laughed when I threatened to explode. So I exploded.”

Metty sat down on the floor, stunned. “But why hide the bodies?”

“I do not know. Let me ask and see what has occurred.” The robot produced a microphone on its thumb. “Calling Zlotnik, calling Zlotnik!” After a few seconds, it called again; after another pause, it frowned. “Odd.”

“What?”

“The ship is no longer here. I cannot make contact.”

“Angels and ministering spirits, defend us,” Metty quoted as a prayer, leaning back against the wall.


Meanwhile, in the TV dimension, Nancy pounded on the bathroom door. “Jean? Jean, are you okay?”

“No,” came the sniffly reply. “Go away. I’m so humiliated I’m never coming out.”

“But there’s only one bathroom,” Desy pointed out. “You can’t lock yourself in there forever. Besides, you’ll starve.”

“Well…” Jean sniffled.

“Come on, luv,” Davy coaxed.

Jean opened the door a crack. “Where is he?”

“Hiding under ’is bed. ’E says ’e’s never coming out, either.”


“Mike, come on,” Peter sighed upstairs. “She feels bad enough as it is.”

“I can’t face her,” was Mike’s muffled answer.

“She locked herself in the bathroom, Mike,” Tippy pleaded.

Mike poked his head out. “She did?”

Tippy nodded. “An hour ago. We didn’t really think about it until we were all ready for the day and discovered she hadn’t come out. Davy, Desy, and Nancy are trying to get her to at least unlock the door.”

Mike hid again. “I can’t face Desy, either.”


“This is embarrassing enough without the two of you carrying on like this,” Micky groaned.

“Okay, I’ll come out,” Jean said resignedly. “But I don’t know long it’ll be before I can face him.”

“It’ll be okay, luv,” Davy reassured her with a hug. “We’ll figure something out.”

“You know what this proves, don’t you?” Desy asked.

“What?” retorted Jean and Davy at the same time.

“We NEED our own place.”

“Amen,” agreed Micky, coming downstairs. “Hey, Jean. Looks like we got one ostrich out of the sand, anyway.”

“He still won’t come out?” Jean paled again.

“Nope. Says he can’t face you or Desy. I’ve never seen him so totally embarrassed in the whole time I’ve known him.”

Desy took Jean firmly by the hand. “C’mon, girl, we’ve got a job to do.”

“What?” Jean asked apprehensively as they headed up the stairs.

“You apologize and the two of us help Peter and Tippy talk Mike out of becoming a dust bunny.”

Jean laughed in spite of herself.


On a secluded part of the beach, the aliens were bickering.

“Why didn’t you get her when she was alone?”

“The house monitor showed that Mike was up and watching the clock and her. There wasn’t time to do the replacement last night.”

“Well, I don’t see how we’re gonna get to her now. If Mike’s that watchful of her…”

“Oh, quit worrying. I have a feeling he’s going to be out of commission for a while.” The female alien pointed to the screen, which showed Peter and Tippy trying to talk Mike out of hiding.

The male smiled evilly. “Oho…”


“Whaddaya mean, they’re gone?” Linds shouted.

The robot, which the girls had managed to maneuver onto the couch, shrugged. “I don’t understand, either. If they’re anywhere in this universe, I should be able to contact them. But that doesn’t make sense… unless…” It paused, recalling information from the past.

“Unless what?” Connie demanded.

“Unless they returned to our home dimension.”

“You mean you’re not from this one?” Tiff frowned.

“Wait a minute,” Metty interjected. “Are you saying your ship came from the TV dimension?”

The robot nodded. “If the information in my data bank is correct, we came through an interdimensional wormhole to try to conquer this version of Earth, assuming that people here would not believe we really existed. But I don’t know why they went back. It was supposed to look like a terrorist bombing.”

“Maybe they got scared,” Connie conjectured.

“Or maybe the others got sent there by the explosion,” Linds shrugged.

“But why would they follow the others?” Tiff asked. “I mean, there’s no real point unless… unless they didn’t want them telling… but then…” She stopped, confused.

“Well, one thing’s for sure,” Metty sighed.

“What?”

“This is not a normal situation.”


While Jean apologized all over herself and Desy threatened to pelt Mike with popcorn for overacting if he didn’t come out from under the bed, Nancy went into the girls’ room to find Rose still sacked out on the floor.

“Rose? Rose?” she said, gently shaking the younger girl’s shoulder.

Rose growled.

“C’mon, honey, time to wake up.”

“What time is it?” Rose mumbled.

“About 9:30.”

“Come back at 11.”

“Rose…”

“I said wake me at 11!” Rose grumped more loudly.

“Nancy.”

Micky’s surprisingly authoritative voice made Nancy turn to see him standing in the doorway. The look in his eyes was kind and loving yet stern.

“Mick…” Nancy began.

Gently but firmly, Micky ordered, “Leave her alone.”

“Thanks, bro,” Rose half-grinned and rolled over.

Nancy sighed resignedly and started to leave. Micky caught her in a hug on her way out the door, then steadied her so she wouldn’t swoon again and helped her out to the couch.

“What was that all about?” Nancy asked as soon as she felt she could speak.

“She needs to sleep,” Micky shrugged. “So let her sleep. That way she stays healthy and we don’t have to deal with her being a grouch until she wakes up. ‘Sides,” he added with a grin, “it’ll give me more time to talk to you.”

Before Nancy had time to melt again, Peter and Tippy came downstairs.

“It’s hopeless,” Tippy sighed. “We’ve tried everything. He just won’t come out.”

“’Ere, let me try,” said Davy. “I’m the only one who ’asn’t taken a shot at ’im.”

Nancy started to get up. “Well, I haven’t either, but…”

“Nah, let Davy do it,” Peter interrupted. “This probably takes a guy’s touch, anyway. By the way, where’s Rose?”

“Still asleep,” Micky reported.

“You guys won’t let me do anything today,” Nancy complained, slumping against the arm of the couch.

“Well, if you weren’t so prone to fainting…” Davy began, then ran upstairs chuckling before Nancy could get off the couch to hit him.

“Oh, Davy, thank goodness,” Desy sighed as he appeared in the doorway. “We were just about to give up hope of ever seeing Woolie again.”

“Mike, you’re embarrassing me even worse now,” Jean whined.

“Will you just go away, both of you?” Mike moaned.

“That’s it,” declared Desy. “I’m going for the popcorn.”

“Leave ’im to me, girls,” Davy chuckled.

Jean buried her head in his shoulder. “I’m never going to live this down,” she sobbed.

“Now see what you’ve been and gone and done?” Desy and Davy shot at the bed.

Mike heaved a sigh.

“C’mon, luv,” Davy reassured Jean, steering her out of the room. “You an’ the others go shopping at the mall or something, get out o’ the house and have some fun and forget all this for a while. I’ll talk to ’im, and if I can’t get ’im out from under the bed by the time you get back, we’ll give Desy all the popcorn she needs. Okay?”

Jean sniffled and nodded.

“Did I hear shopping?” Nancy called from the couch.

“Great idea!” cheered Tippy.

“I’ll drive!” volunteered Micky.

“I wanna go, too!” Peter added.

“You up for it, Jean?” Desy asked.

“I guess,” Jean sighed, not sounding very sure.

Davy helped her down the stairs, where friendly hands pulled her along to the garage and into the Monkeemobile. The six of them then sped off toward the nearest mall, and Davy went back upstairs to try another approach to get Mike out from under the bed.

In the silence, a million thoughts ran through Rose’s mind: thoughts of home, memories of the past two days, replayed chemistry experiments, and questions. Lots of questions. Why were they here? Why couldn’t they go home? Should they stay if the choice were theirs? What if they could never leave? What were their friends and families doing? Were they worried, or did they even know?

With a sigh, she got up and wandered through the relatively deserted Pad, still trying to figure out what was going on. The gathering clouds outside added to her gloomy feeling. Looking for something, but not sure what it was, she ambled into the empty garage and explored the shelves. Someone had left three rusty spikes in a corner behind Micky’s toolbox. Rose pulled them out and studied them for a moment. Then, like a thunderbolt, the chorus to a song flashed through her mind, driving everything else aside:

Does He still feel the nails
Every time I fail?
Does He hear the crowd cry “Crucify!” again?

Biting her lip to keep the tears from falling too soon, she rushed into the house, set her glasses and the spikes on the couch, turned to the east where the floor was clear, and fell flat on her face before God.


An hour later, Davy asked Mike, “Are ye sure you’re okay?”

Mike, who had finally come out and gotten dressed, ran a comb through his hair before pulling Woolie back on. “Yeah. It’s just really embarrassing.”

“The girls are talking about finding their own place. So it’ll pass. Micky’s not even making jokes about it.”

“Really? That’s a first.”

“Yeah. I think he’s getting better about his timing.”

Mike turned beet red thinking about the possibility of jokes being made at the remove of two or three months.

“Oh, stop worrying,” Davy laughed, as if he could read Mike’s mind.

Mike sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll probably be able to laugh about it when I’m 50.”

“Now we might have made fun of you if Desy’d started throwing popcorn at you!”

Both of them laughed at that.

Mike grinned at his roommate. “Thanks, Davy.”

“Anytime, mate, anytime. I’m gonna go check on Rose, see if she’s up. So I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

“Oh, and Dave?”

Davy stopped on the way out the door. “Yeah, Mike?”

“Don’t tell Rose.”

Davy chuckled. “No fear! I doubt she’d want to know.”

Mike smiled his thanks, and Davy started down the stairs. He stopped on about the fifth step and had to sit down because of what he discovered in the living room.

None of the things had changed. But there was a holy hush over the room, broken only by the muffled sobs of Rose pouring her whole heart out to the Lord. And the very air seemed thick with the presence of God. Davy scarcely dared to breathe. Before long, he found himself praying silently, something he hadn’t done in several years.

Slowly the tears subsided and Rose, feeling better, sat up and found her glasses. It was another few minutes before Davy felt he could continue down the stairs.

“Hey,” she said softly as he approached.

“Hey. What happened?” he replied, equally softly. Quietness still seemed to be the order of the moment.

Rose picked up the nails. “I couldn’t sleep for all the questions I had that seemed unanswered. Then I found these in the garage, and it suddenly came to me that I’d been trying to do everything on my own. In all the excitement of being here and trying to figure out how to get home if we wanted to, I forgot to seek God’s help and guidance. And it drove me to my knees.”

Davy frowned. “You were on your face.”

Rose chuckled. “It’s a figure of speech, Davy.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t feel bad. I think ‘Christianese,’ as some people call it, is a Southern phenomenon. Fact is, I don’t normally pray like that unless I need to get really serious with the Lord. I’m not entirely sure why I do at all; maybe it’s just a way to show my total surrender and dependence on Him.”

“Why east?”

“What?”

“You were facing east.”

Rose smiled again. “That, I think, may be a little of my Jewish side showing through. But it doesn’t really matter which way I turn ‘cause Jesus always hears my prayers.”

“So did you get an answer?”

“Not as such. I’m still listening. But I do have the peace that comes when I know I’ve been heard. And there are some relevant Scriptures that have come to mind.”

“Like?”

“‘I have loved you with an everlasting love.’ ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’ ‘Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it.”’ And some others.”

Davy nodded thoughtfully. “So ’E’s not telling you exactly what to do now, but ’E’s got it under control, is that it?”

“Yep. Just about.”

The two of them sat silently for a moment, Davy pondering what had just happened, Rose still listening and playing absently with the nails. Finally, when she’d put them in the shape of a cross and stared at them for a moment, she asked Davy, “Does Micky have any wire in his toolbox?”

Davy shook his head, startled out of his reverie. “Wha’? Oh… um… I think so. Why?”

“Just curious.” She headed out into the garage, found the wire and a pair of wire cutters, and lashed the nails together. Then she put away the tools and came back inside. “Maybe this will help me remember better,” she told Davy, setting the cross on top of the chemistry set.

“But you already wear a cross,” Davy pointed out.

“Yeah, but when you get used to wearing something, sometimes it loses its significance for you. I hate to admit it, but it’s true. Sometimes it becomes a statement of who I am instead of Whose I am. Hopefully, if I have to look at that before I start, it’ll remind me to ask God for guidance instead of trying to solve all of our problems by myself.”

“You might end up just moving it and forgetting.”

“That’s true. The temptation will certainly be there. So…” She thought for a moment. “Would you mind being a… well, an accountability partner for me?”

“A what?”

“An accountability partner. Y’know, to remind me if I try to breeze off without thinking.”

Davy’s eyes widened. “Um… well… I… I dunno… thanks, but I’d… feel kinda awkward trying to tell you… I mean, I’m not… I haven’t…”

Rose chuckled. “Not a Christian?”

“Well… not exactly. I mean, I grew up in church, but I never really made a decision to follow God like you ’ave.”

Rose smiled gently. “That’s fixable.”


“Hey, guys?” Jean interrupted suddenly.

Micky nearly ran off the road. Jean hadn’t said much during their shopping trip, mostly just speaking when spoken to, but the pleasant company (and constant antics) had put some color back into her cheeks and a sparkle in her eye. Now that she actually felt confident enough to speak up, everyone instantly gave her their full attention (except Micky, who had to keep his eyes on the road but listened as best he could).

“What’s up, Jean?” Tippy asked.

“I just wanted to thank you guys for everything.” Breaking into the ensuing chorus of “Aw, shucks,” she continued, “No, really. I expected everyone to give me a really hard time about all this. But you haven’t. You’ve just done everything you could to keep me from turning into a complete oyster.”

“Hey, if anyone’s going to be an oyster around here, it’ll be me,” Desy joked.

“Shoot, Desy, you’re the one who’s helped the most!”

Desy blushed and tugged nervously at the hat Mike had loaned her. “Well…”

“I mean it,” Jean replied fervently. “I know you don’t like to talk much, but when you do say something, it’s usually meaningful. And your practicality made me see that I was pretty well making an idiot out of myself by locking myself in the bathroom.”

“And then she dragged you upstairs,” Nancy added.

“And I’m not sure how Mike felt about that, but it seemed to help you for a while,” Peter agreed.

“Yeah,” Jean nodded. “I had to apologize sometime. Thanks for making me do it right away instead of sitting on it until I was too uncomfortable to continue. And thank you all for taking me shopping, and thanks especially to Micky for cutting up so much that I couldn’t help laughing.”

“You’re welcome,” Micky answered heartily.

“Hear, hear,” Nancy agreed.

“Indeed,” smiled Tippy. “That’s what friends are for.”

“Yeah,” Desy continued with a wry smile. “I mean, you put up with our weirdness…”

“You’re not weird!” Jean laughed. “I love you guys!”

“All of us?” Peter asked, eyes wide.

“Of course! Well… some more than others…” She got a dreamy look as her thoughts wandered toward her English beau, and she hardly noticed that the others were laughing at her until Desy waved her hand in front of her face.

“Need to thank him, too,” Desy told her in a low voice.

“I was planning to!” Jean whispered back.


Rose’s heart was about to burst with joy. She knew for a fact that no chemical high, no three-second win, not even true love’s first kiss could come close to giving her the kind of feeling she had at that minute.

She had just led a Monkee to Christ.

Davy wiped the tears from his eyes. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you from the bottom of me heart.”

“Welcome to the Kingdom, bro,” she answered, hugging him.

“Jean’d kill y’all if she saw that,” Mike remarked on his way down the stairs.

“No, she wouldn’t,” Davy and Rose replied at the same time, beaming at each other.

Mike raised an eyebrow. “You sound awful sure.”

Rose laughed. “You don’t know Jean like I do, Mike. And you don’t know the whole story on this’n, either. Trust me, she’ll be bouncing off the walls when she finds out.”

“She’s right, Mike,” Davy nodded.

Mike shrugged and headed out onto the porch for a breath of air. He thought he heard the Monkeemobile pull in, and he didn’t want to be the first person Jean saw when she walked in the door.

“So now will you be my accountability partner?” Rose asked.

“Gladly!” Davy grinned.

The pair burst out laughing just as Jean opened the garage door.

“What’d I miss?” she asked, carrying a couple of shopping bags to the table.

“I’m a believer!” Davy declared gleefully.

“What?”

“Don’t steal my song, man,” Micky joked, ushering Nancy into the house.

“No, I mean I’m a believer!”

Jean’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped as the significance of the statement registered. “You mean…” She glanced from Davy to Rose.

“Yeah! That kind of believer!”

“You’re kidding!”

Rose’s eyes shone like bright blue stars. “Nope. It’s true. PFM strikes again.”

“When?”

“Just now!”

Jean squealed in delight and ran to hug her cyber-twin.

“What? What happened?” asked Tippy as she and Peter walked in.

“Don’t look at me,” Nancy shrugged.

“Davy’s a Christian!” Jean cheered, bouncing over to hug Davy.

“No way!” gasped Desy.

“Yes way!”

Davy suddenly found himself getting a group hug from Tippy and Desy as well as Jean.

Rose looked out the back window to see Mike staring at the commotion. She winked at him.

“Who woulda guessed…” Peter said thoughtfully, sitting down on the bandstand and resting his chin on his hand and his elbow on his knee.

Micky shook his head, then looked over at the chemistry set. “Hey, where’d this come from?” he asked, walking over and picking up the cross.

“I made it,” Rose explained.

“But why’d you put it there?”

“Because,” she quoted from a Ginny Owens song, “beneath the symbol of a lost cause I will take my stand.”

Micky looked at her as if she’d fallen out of a well.

Jean interrupted, “Rose, you’ve got to tell us all about it—after I show you what I found for you at the mall!”

She opened a bag, and the other girls also came over to show off their newfound treasures. Davy looked on in interest.

Mike came back inside with a sigh and sat down next to Peter. “Looks like we’re in for a really nasty storm,” he reported. “It’ll probably rain out the beach party.”

Peter started. “Oh, hi, Mike. Didn’t hear you come in.”

Mike looked at him. “You were thinkin’ pretty hard there. What about?”

“What about what?”

“What were ya thinkin’ about?”

“Oh, just this whole thing with Davy becoming a Christian. The girls seemed really excited.”

“Was that what that was all about?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

“I’m just trying to figure it out, that’s all.”

“What’s to figure out?”

“Well… Christianity.”

“What?”

“The whole concept. And why Davy chose it, and why the girls got so excited.”

“Why are you trying to figure that out, big Pete?” Micky asked, sitting down on the other side of him.

“Well, I’ve always been more into Buddhism and the other Eastern philosophies. But I’ve never seen them make such a complete change in a person. I mean, look at Davy now. He’s totally different now. He looks the same on the outside, but there’s just something different about him.”

Micky studied his bandmate for a moment. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said at last. “That’s not the same Davy who fell for Vanessa Russell or Fern or any of those other girls.”

“Or the one who tried to trick his grandfather into thinking he was rich,” Mike added.

“Or who always won at Spin-the-bottle,” Peter agreed. “Things are gonna be so different now. I have a feeling that that old Davy is gone forever.”

“Oh, that’s lovely, that is,” Davy remarked about a blouse Jean had picked out for herself.

“Um,” Rose agreed.

“And I got one for you, too, Rose,” Jean explained, pulling an identical one out of the shopping bag.

Rose’s eyes sparkled in gratitude. “Leave it to my twin to know exactly what I like! Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome!”

A loud thunderclap broke in on the discussion and was quickly followed by a heavy downpour.

“Manna!” Rose joked.

Nancy looked out the back windows. “Aw, man…” she whined. “You can’t even see past the end of the porch!”

“Looks like you were right, Mike,” Micky added, standing up and moving over to where Nancy was standing. He then slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Guess the beach party’s off. Oh, well.”

“Ah, that’s okay,” Rose shrugged. “I’m terrible at volleyball anyway.”

Nancy gave her an odd look. “You sure are easy to please! You’ve been as hyped about all this as any of us!”

“I changed my mind. I thought it through this morning and decided that I didn’t really want to go after all. Besides,” she added with a twinkle, “this way Tippy won’t have hot dogs forced on her.”

“This is true,” Tippy agreed thoughtfully, sitting down beside Peter.

Peter made a face at the thought of eating meat. Mike chuckled.

Desy sat down next to Mike. “Glad to see you finally came out from under the bed,” she smiled.

Mike grinned at her. “Yeah, Davy talked me out of hiding. I didn’t really want to get popcorned, anyway.”

“I might just throw some at you for the aggravation!”

“The hat looks good on you, by the way,” Mike continued in a low voice. Desy blushed.

Jean sighed and sat down on the couch. “Just when things were looking up…”

“’Ere, now, luv,” Davy chided, sliding up next to her and wrapping an arm around her, his accent thickening in concern. “Just because it’s rainin’ doesn’t mean we can’t ’ave a pahty.”

“But I wanted a beach party.”

“We can ’ave a beach pahty anotheh day. I’d ratheh ’ave an ev’nin’ alone wi’ just the nine o’ us for once.”

“Well…” Jean considered.

“Das ist mir recht,” Rose agreed.

Peter nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“Hey, yeah!” Micky chimed in excitedly. “We haven’t really had any time alone with you girls ‘cause we’ve been busy getting ready for gigs the last couple of days. This way we can have some fun with just us!”

The girls looked at each other and burst out laughing at the unintended pun.

“What? What’d I say?” Micky asked, confused.

“Nothing… oh, dear,” Rose gasped, then started giggling again.

“Your latest album in our world is called Justus,” Desy explained.

“Ohhhhhh!” Micky exclaimed.

“Ow,” Jean squeaked, tears of laughter streaking down her face.

“Breathe in, breathe out,” Davy advised with a grin, which made the cyber-twins laugh even harder.

“It wasn’t that funny,” Peter frowned.

“That’s part of a blonde joke,” Tippy sighed, then chuckled.

Once the laughter finally died down, the group set about making plans for the evening. After lunch, Tippy, Nancy, and Desy decided to take a nap. Peter did the dishes, Mike sat down with his guitar to keep working on his composition, and Jean and Davy sat down to have a heart-to-heart discussion about Davy’s decision and life in general. Micky settled into a chair to read and looked up just in time to see Rose slip out the back door.

“Mm,” Rose sighed, drawing in a deep breath of fresh air. The rain had let up somewhat, but it was still coming down pretty hard. She walked to the edge of the porch and leaned against the railing, enjoying the cool air and the rain. After a moment, she heard footsteps behind her.

“Hey, Micky,” she smiled without turning around.

“How’d you know it was me?” Micky asked.

Rose laughed. “Process of elimination. You’re the only one who wasn’t busy.”

“You’re somethin’ else.”

“Thanks.”

“So what are you doin’ out here?”

“Not getting wet… except for my hands,” she joked, glancing up at the porch roof and down at her hands, which she wiped off on her pants. As Micky chuckled, she continued, “I just needed to get outside and get some fresh air, spend a little time alone.”

“Oh. Well…” Micky started to back away.

“No, no!” Rose stopped him, holding up a hand. “No, if I don’t explain it to you, you won’t understand.” She sat down with her back to the glass.

“Okay, shoot,” Micky shrugged, sitting down beside her.

“Y’see, sometimes I just get tired of being around people. It’s not that anyone did anything, I just need my own space. I guess being an only child has made me more of a loner than anyone realizes. I like hanging out with y’all, don’t get me wrong. I just get tired of company after a while. That’s one reason I wanted to stay home tonight.”

Micky nodded in comprehension. “The other girls are talking about getting another apartment for the five of you after what happened this morning.”

Rose half-grinned. “I only caught part of the commotion, but I have a feeling I don’t want to know.”

“You got that right.”

“Well, whatever it was, I’m glad they reconsidered. As you know, I’ve wanted our own place from Day 1. We just didn’t have enough money between us to be able to afford it.”

“I’ll talk to Mike. Maybe you guys can help out with some of our gigs to earn your rent.”

“That’d be good.”

Micky studied her for a moment as she stared out at the rainfall. “What happened this morning?” he asked finally. “It’s like you went from being a hyper little kid to being a sensible adult. What’s the deal?”

Rose smiled. “Trust me, I am nothing like a sensible adult! Sometimes my friends think I’m completely crazy. Of course, they’re also a little crazy, so it doesn’t make much difference.”

As Micky chuckled, she continued, “I just forget myself sometimes when I’m with other people. I’ve been having fun here, but this morning I just had to stop and look at what was going on with my relationship with the Lord. I’m not gonna turn into a wet blanket by any means, but I am gonna try not to be quite so hyper.”

Micky added sadly, “And find a way home.”

She sighed. “I dunno. We have to go home sometime, I’m sure, but I can’t figure out where to start looking for a way. Everyone else thought another explosion would get us home, but I can’t get any of those reactions in that chemistry book to blow. So I’m just gonna let it go for a while, wait for the Lord’s timing and guidance.”

“So I’ll have a little while longer with you.”

“And Nancy,” Rose nodded with a grin.

“Well…”

“No, I’m glad! Really! If she can just get over her tendency to faint every time you catch her off guard, I think everyone’ll be happy.”

Micky laughed, then studied his hands for a minute. “I’m gonna hate to say goodbye to you all.”

“I’ll hate it too,” Rose confessed. “But since we don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here, I should think we’d be better off not worrying about it. Just cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, we’re obviously here for a reason. Until God’s finished with us here, we ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

“Cool.” Micky slipped his arm around her shoulders, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. They sat there for a moment watching the rain. Then Micky sighed. “I guess I’d better get back inside.”

“Okay. I’ll be in in a while.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“All right. Well, I’m here if you need me. Just holler.”

Rose looked him in the eye and said sincerely, “Thanks, bro.”

“You’re welcome, sis,” he smiled.

After a hug, he went inside, leaving Rose alone with her thoughts.


“It would have to rain,” groused the male alien.

The female swore under her breath.

“So much for the idea of nabbing Desy at the party,” the male continued.

“Shut up.”

“I don’t understand it. It’s as if there’s a higher power protecting those five.”

“But the gods of Zlotnik are to be greatly feared. These Earthlings adore their God and speak of Him as a Friend. We consider that weak. Could such a Being possibly protect anyone?”

“That’s what’s so confusing! Any luck translating that prayer?”

“None. It doesn’t appear to be any language spoken in the known universe!”

This time the male alien swore.


After a hearty indoor picnic of oven-fried chicken (and vegetable quesadillas for Tippy and Peter), the group in the beach house played a hilarious round of spin-the-bottle, which Davy didn’t always win, and a few other party games. Jean and Mike found that as long as they looked each other in the eye, they didn’t feel terribly uncomfortable. Then the guys decided they wanted to dance, so they chose fingers for which girl got to choose a song on the jukebox first.

“Count me out,” Desy declared.

“Me, too,” nodded Mike.

“Okay…” Micky said, then counted off for the shoot. Tippy got first choice, then Nancy, Jean, and Rose.

“Oh, boy!” Tippy cheered and ran over to the jukebox. Soon the strains of “Let’s Dance On” filled the house.


Back in Tippy’s apartment, the girls sat tiredly on the couch, exhausted from a full day of wracking their brains to try to figure out what had happened to their missing friends. Suddenly Linds had an idea.

“Have any of you read Nancy’s fic series?” she asked.

“Some of it,” Tiff nodded.

“Remember how they found out that the gadget worked?”

“They turned on Bonanza and saw her uncle.”

“Screen Gems is still showing The Monkees, isn’t it?” Metty asked, catching on.

“I think so…” Connie replied as if half asleep. “Why?”

“I think Linds is on to something. If the other girls are in the TV dimension, there’s a chance they might show up in an episode. And if that’s the case, we might be able to catch them on TV tonight.”

“Anybody seen a TV Guide?” Tiff wondered aloud, her energy returning.


“…To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen,” everyone sang loudly as the song finished. Davy and Jean sat down, and the others, who’d decided to sit that one out, laughed and grinned at each other.

“You were right, Davy,” Jean whispered in his ear. “I’m having the time of my life.”

Davy regarded her shining eyes. “Me, too, luv, me, too,” he whispered back and brushed her cheek with a kiss.

“My toin!” Rose joked, jumping up and making her way to the jukebox. She hemmed and hawed over the selection until one title caught her eye. “Ooh! Hey, Micky, do you swing dance?”

“Yeah, a little,” Micky answered.

“Sweet.” She punched a button, and “In the Mood” by Glen Miller began to play just as she got back to the middle of the living room.


“The remote just had to be broken,” Connie grumbled, manually flipping channels.

“Wait, I think that’s it,” Linds stated.

“But that’s not Monkees music!”

“No, but there’s Tippy!” Metty pointed as the camera zoomed in on the one member of Sidewalkchalk she knew by sight.

“And she’s sitting next to Peter!” Tiff gasped.


“I wish I could dance like that,” Tippy confided to Peter as they watched Micky and Rose spin around.

“What, swing?” Peter asked, surprised.

“Yeah, it’s really big back home,” Jean reported. “People get tired of all the trashy music being recorded, so they get into oldies—this era—or swing. One of my guy friends tried to get me into a dance class he was taking that taught swing.”

“Man, I can’t even line dance,” Nancy stated.

“Line dance? Wot’s that?” Davy frowned.

“Country,” Mike explained.

“Oh.”


The girls in Tippy’s apartment watched until the end of the song, when Micky pulled Rose back into a princess dip, and then the screen went black for a few seconds before the station cut to a commercial.

“I had no idea Micky was such a good dancer,” Tiff stated as Connie turned off the TV.

“Well, I guess that tells us where they are,” Linds sighed.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t tell us how to get them home,” Metty added.

“Hey, at least we know they’re okay,” Connie broke in. “Let’s worry about getting them home tomorrow, okay? I’m beat.”

“Yeah, me too,” Tiff yawned.

So the foursome set about going to bed.


Micky and Rose had hardly stood back up when a very close lightning bolt flashed past the porch and startled them all with a loud thunderclap. Then the lights flickered and went out.

“Great,” said Rose flatly. “Where’s the couch?”

“Of all the random things to happen,” Desy observed dryly from her seat on the bandstand.

“Don’t sit on me,” Peter warned.

“Oh, sorry, Peter,” Rose apologized.

“Here, let me guide you down.”

“Thanks, man.”

“I think there’s a flashlight in the kitchen,” Micky volunteered.

“No, you took it to the garage last month, remember?” Mike reminded him.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Micky? Where are you?” Nancy asked.

“Still in the middle of the room. Where are you?”

“In the chair.”

“Don’t step on me, mate,” came from the floor.

“Sorry, Davy.”

By this time, everyone’s eyes had just about adjusted to the darkness, so Micky was able to find his way over to Nancy’s chair without stepping on Davy or Jean. No sooner had he reached it than someone rapped on the back window.

“What in the world…” Mike wondered aloud, turning around. “Who in his right mind would be out in weather like this?”

Another lightning flash lit the sky as the figure on the porch knocked again.

“Wait a minute, I recognize that person,” Desy gasped.

Du meine Gute,” Rose exclaimed. “That’s…”

On to Part Eight
Main Story Page
Main Page