The DREAM WORLD Series
DAYDREAM REALITY
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Chapter 2
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George
and LB walked along together down the street. Not much had been said since they
left the pad, but they really did need to talk. About everything. About the
change, about what they planned to do next, heck, about what they wanted for
dinner! Anything was better than just walking along in silence.
"So..."
LB tried to fill the void. He was only rewarded with the sound quickly being
sucked back into the silence vaccum. "Come on. Talk to me. You've gotta be
feeling something by now. Shock does wear off, you know."
George
nodded. "I just don't know what ta think right now. At first I was too blown
away ta feel much of anythin', ya know? Then it was this rage over bein' ripped
away from my real life. Now?" He grunted. "It's rather excitin'. An adventure,
even. But---"
"You're afraid to admit that you might actually be having a
bit of fun with it, right?" LB's question was rewarded with an imperceptible
nod. "And then not be able to pull yourself back."
"We should be thinkin'
about how to get back, not 'Oh look! I'm Davy Jones now!'" George kicked a stone
down the street in frustration and shoved his hands in his
pockets.
"Maybe we can find someone else who really knows what's going
on?"
"How da we do that?"
"Well, we are Monkees. Ask a
few pretty girls. I mean, with your baby face and my sparkling
wit---"
"Oh, get over yahself!" They laughed.
At a turn in the
road, George became aware of two young girls walking towards them, both of which
seemed to recognise him at once. Oh boy. Here goes. Time to go into the
act... He was also aware of LB snickering as he walked along beside him. If
he had the time and those four inches that had mysteriously vanished from his
height, he would have slapped the blonde musician senseless right there on the
sidewalk. Lucky for LB, there wasn't time for that right now since---
"Hi
Davy!" The one on the left with long brown hair grinned and waved her
hand.
"'Ey there." George wasn't sure what to say next. Did Davy know
this girl? Was she just trying to get his attention?
"Don't tell me
you've forgotten already! I'm Veronica! We met at your last gig?" She looked
slightly annoyed.
"Ah. Sorry. I remembah now." George lied, and glanced
at LB for help. When none came he kept going. "Just been a long day
s'all."
"Oh I know what you mean!!" The girl beside Veronica suddenly
exploded into speach, scaring the heck out of LB and making him jump a little.
"I woke up this morning and I seriously had the world's WORST headache! Like
someone had run me over with a truck or something. And I had this weird
feeling----"
Veronica's eyes went wide with alarm. How embarrasing to
have her friend get a sudden case of running at the mouth! And right infront of
two of The Monkees! "Sorry about my friend. She talks too much."
George
hadn't heard Veronica's attempt at covering for her friend and most certainly
hadn't noticed her embarrasement. Something the other girl had said caught his
attention. A 'weird' feeling? This was worth pursuing. LB caught George's eye
and turned on the awkward charm.
"H-hi! I'm Peter." He stuttered and made
a show of acting like he was so taken with her that he could barely talk. He was
rewarded with a quick giggle from her and decided to keep pressing his
advantage.
"I'm Melanie." She stifled her giggle.
Pulling Veronica
aside, George could almost hear the gears in his mind grinding on overdrive.
Think Davy. "I think Petah likes your friend." He began lamely. "She
get headaches a lot?"
"Not really. Matter of fact, I can't remember the
last time she got one... I mean, before now that is." Veronica shifted her
weight. "But let's not talk about her right now. I want to talk about you. David
Thomas Jones. Lead singer of The Monkees. There's so much I don't know about
you."
"Well, there's not much to tell." REALLY. I studied this guy,
but I didn't expect a pop quiz on his life. Where is she going with this
anyway? George called up as much information as he could remember. He was
going to need it.
"Modest. There's another reason I like you so much."
She was really trying hard to get on his good side now.
LB felt an
opportunity pop up. "Modest? Davy?" He chuckled. Melanie, by now, was right at
his elbow and she looked utterly star struck. "You sure we're talking about the
same guy here?"
"Petah, why don't you and ya new friend go somewhere...
else." He glared. Throwing his hands up in the air, LB walked off hand in hand
with Melanie, giggling the whole way. George turned back to his date, beet
red.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Waterlogged, Aaron slogged up out of the surf and deposited himself
on his towel laying in the sand. A nice long swim had proved just what he needed
to clear his thoughts. Now he could focus on the problem that lay ahead. They
had fallen asleep on the set in Toronto and had mysteriously woken up here. But
even this wasn't quite the world that the real Monkees lived in. This was like a
world where the Monkees were actually struggling musicians, not just playing a
band on TV. He vaguely recalled the plot of a Star Trek episode where Data had
explained how every time someone performed a task with the potential for
multiple outcomes, each outcome did, in fact, occur... but in an alternate
universe.
"Micky?"
Which was a pretty funny thought. Could that
include any situation? Like if he chose the cheeseburger at McDonald's instead
of the McChicken, would THAT create alternate realities? Just how significant
would it be if he selected the beef over the poultry? What was it's place in the
grand scheme of things?
"Micky?!"
In other scenarios it made more
sense however. Like if America had stayed out of World War One just a little
while longer any number of historical events could have been seriously affected,
or have never happened at all.
"MICKY!!!"
Aaron jumped about a
mile in the air. Somone had been calling him. Still not used to answering to
that name. He reprimanded himself and looked up to see who had beconed
him.
"That is you, isn't it, man?" A young guy, probably in his early
twenties was walking towards him. Somehow the name instantly popped into his
head. Eric. And why exactly was that? Just because Aaron looked like
Micky now, did he really share all of his memories?
"Uh... yep." He
jumped to his feet. He's a sciences major who dabbles in music on the side.
Weird combination. The wealth of data just kept coming to him. Observation
alone told him a lot about the man's character as it was. He wore a rather
conservative outfit, form-fitting, but not outrageously tight jeans with a blue
pullover sweatshirt. His hair was a honey-blonde color, cut relatively short in
comparison to everyone else he'd observed wandering the beach today. To top off
the look, the young man also had a pair of glasses perched on the end of his
nose. Definately a student of some kind but still groovy in his own, unique
way.
"Well, why didn't you answer me? I must have been calling your name
for five minutes." Eric smiled and slapped him on the back. Aaron coughed,
having had the wind slightly knocked out of him. Might look like a book
worm, but man does he work out. Aaron added ruefully to the physical
profile.
"Must've had my mind somewhere else." And boy that was
no lie.
"The other guys around? You remember what you promised!"
Eric stared expectantly and waited. And waited. "You do remember, don't
you?"
"Who, me? Pffft! Of course!" Aaron tacked on a very forced laugh in
an attempt at emphasis.
"You've always been a terrible liar." The young
man chuckled and let out an exasperated sigh. "You promised you'd let me try my
lecture out on you. Quantum Time Displacement Theorems." Aaron's hesitation
apparently didn't strike Eric as out of the ordinary, so he quickly pressed on.
"Oh, I know. You gave me the whole 'I'm not really into that sort of
thing' speach before. Don't worry. I won't be offended if you nod off. I'm
guessing most of my class will too, given their amazing track record with
lectures." A smile spread across his face. "Kinda like a dress rehearsal for the
actual thing. Just don't snore too loudly, k?"
Running a hand through the
curly locks he was still getting adjusted to dealing with, Aaron nodded. What
else could he say? Maybe if he was lucky he would fall asleep and wake
up back on the couch on the movie set.
"So, where are the other guys at?"
Eric stooped and picked up the overstuffed backpack he had been carrying with
him.
Snapping to attention, Aaron replied. "Uhm, Mike's up at the
house... Davy and Peter went out for a walk, I guess. They'll be back
eventually. We have a gig tomorrow night, so they'll have to show up sooner or
later."
Before Aaron had even finished with 'out for a walk', Eric was
off and bounding up the beach house stairs. Oh boy. Better go bail out Jeff
before that guy starts on HIM with the mound of unanswerable questions.
Taking the steps two at a time, Aaron had managed to catch up with Eric just
before he walked inside and would have probably scared the living daylights out
of Jeff.
"Lemme go in first. Mike's probably.... sleeping or something."
Boy, Aaron wasn't used to this quick thinking stuff. At least, he wasn't
accustomed to having to do it several times a day.
Eric
gestured that he understood, even if his head was slightly cocked to
the side in confusion. Not waiting to explain himself, Aaron hurled himself
inside and caught sight of Jeff. "We have company." He said simply.
Jeff
groaned. This 24/7 acting was getting awefully tiresome. "Who?"
The young
science major stuck his head in at that moment. "Hey Mike! What's up,
man?"
"Tha ceilin'?" Jeff replied, bewildered. It was getting really
disconcerting to have all these people recognizing him and to not have a clue
who they were. Recognising Mike. He corrected himself ruefully. Boy
I miss the way things used to be. I'll never take plain old Jeff Geddis for
granted again, that's for certain..
Eric grinned. "I can see you're
in a good mood today." He plopped his large backpack down on the floor with a
thud and unzipped it. "I've come to take you up on that offer to listen to my
lecture for class."
Jeff's jaw dropped to the floor. Aaron was in so much
trouble. The last thing he had wanted to do was listen to some kid's boring old
school project, and Aaron should have known that! "I'm really not up ta that
right now." He tried his best to remain polite about the whole situation, but he
felt his whole mood was sitting on a bomb with a very short fuse that had just
been lit. "Too busy. I don't really 'ave time for your lecture
stuff."
"Uh. Alright... I'll come back later." Eric said, slightly taken
aback. He numbly backed off and headed for the door which he had just entered
through moments before. "M-maybe it'd be better if all four of you guys were
here anyway." He slung his backpack on his shoulder again and walked out. It
hadn't been a strict chastation like Mike usually gave, but he knew the warning
signs and beat knew that beating a hastey retreat was probably the best idea at
this point. For Hell hath no fury like a cranky Texan.
Aaron
turned his shocked face to Jeff. "Oh gee. Didn't know we were going with the
blunt and rude approach tonight. Must have missed the memo." Jeff's only
response was an exasperated sigh followed by trudging over to the spiral
staircase and heading straight up to bed. Maybe some rest would clear everyone's
thoughts. Aaron flopped back down on the couch, wishing with all his might that
just by visualizing the backstage area infront of him, it would miraculously be
there and this nightmare would finally end.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Despite his external cool, Eric was a bit taken
aback to say the least. Micky hadn't given him any indication that he would be
welcomed in with anything but open arms. Mike nevertheless was coming off as
quite hostile and... something else. He had picked up that something else on
Micky too when he had first seen his old pal laying faceup in the sand, come to
think of it. An uneasiness and almost forced feeling had been present in even
the most casual of conversation. As if it had taken great thought to respond.
Something was out of sync around here and he was going to find out
what.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
LB walked
into the pad relatively early considering the girl who had spent the afternoon
firmly attached to his forearm had assumed they were on a date and looked pretty
desolate when he broke things off early. However, his main motive had been to
pump her for information about her headaches and that he had. It was a long
shot, but her sudden feeling of disorientation might have been connected to
their appearance here this morning.
"Hey guys." He walked in to find
Aaron conked out on the couch and Jeff nowhere in sight. "Guys?"
Aaron
started with a snort and sat up. Eyes closed, he turned in the sound of LB's
voice. "Man I was having the weirdest dream." He rubbed the sleep out of his
eyes and stood up. Upon seeing his friend's appearance, he deflated once again.
"Not a dream."
"Sorry." LB shrugged and tossed his jacket into the
corner. "Jeff around?"
Aaron pointed up the spiral staircase. "Sleeping.
Or brooding. Or possibly a combination of the two."
"Guessing George
found a pretty blonde to spend some quality time with?" The curly haired actor
made his way over to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of milk out of the fridge.
LB smirked and nodded. George might not be the real David Jones, but he still
had a lot of the guy's instincts. Including the tendancy at chasing skirts all
around the state. He was a fine one to talk though. He'd become a lot more
reserved and awkward since being slapped down in the middle of Peter Tork's life
too.
"I met this girl today." LB decided the best way to start was at the
beginning. "She was really nice and all and---"
"You're blushing." Aaron
was grinning from ear to ear and proudly displaying a milk
moustache.
"What? No I'm not. I'm fine around girls." LB felt the rising
heat on his cheeks and knew he was going to get nailed for trying to deny
it.
"Well, Luke Bradford Fisher might have been fine around girls, but
remember who's life you're leading right now." Aaron said nonchalantly and wiped
the milk with his sleeve. A silence decended upon the room and Aaron instantly
wished he could have taken back what he just said. Way to go, Idaho. Awkward
moment number 1,379.
"Why do you keep doing that?"
"Doing
what?" Aaron tried to look innocently at him.
"Pointing out what's
happened as if I didn't already know it! Carrying on like we'll never be
ourselves again. Damnit, Aaron, I am Luke Bradford
Fisher!"
"Was." Jeff had come out of the bedroom and was looking down at
his roommates with a sad, almost melancholy gaze. He had been doing some heavy
thinking on the subject. Maybe it was about time they stopped fighting and
resigned themselves to the fact that they were most probably stuck here. The
sooner we accept that, the sooner we can move on. Not the worst lives to have to
live out, right? He was amazed how easilly he could lie to
himself.
"Yep. Your mood changes like the weather." Aaron sat down on the
bottom step of the spiral staircase with a sigh.
"I'm not ready ta give
up hope that we'll get back to our own lives, guys. But we also have ta be
prepared ta accept the fact that we might very well be stuck here." Jeff walked
halfway down the staircase and sat down right behind Aaron. "For a long
time."
Just then, George walked in, wearing a smile with wattage enough
to light up half of the Las Vegas strip. Still walking on a perverbial cloud
nine from his date with Veronica, it took him almost a full minute before he
caught on to the fact that everyone else in the room had been involved in a
heavy discussion. Something Jeff had said when he first walked in jumped into
his head. "What could be for a long time, man?"
"Oh, nothing. Just Jeff
decided we should give up all hope of ever being ourselves again, that's all."
LB bit off his words as if they left a sour taste in his mouth as he spoke
them.
George froze in place. He had let himself have a good time tonight
being under the assumption that the next day he would be back home and his old
self again. Something had told him Jeff and the others would think of what to
do... and now they were calling it quits?! "Wha'?"
"Now, now hold on a
minute there." Jeff rose to his full height and stepped around Aaron to get down
onto the floor. "I never said anythin' like that! I was just sayin' as how we
should be prepared in case we can't get back. No one's givin' up, you hear me?"
He clapped a hand on LB's back to reassure him and added. "I'll getcha back to
auditionin' for the WB before ya know it." Then turning to George he continued.
"An' you.. don't you worry. I wouldn't cut short the recording career of
Bulgaria's most famous singer for nuthin'." Lastly he sat down next to Aaron.
"An' Aaron... well, I'll try to keep ya out of jail." Aaron took a playful swipe
at Jeff's head, neatly missing and tumbling down that last step and onto the
floor.
Eyes popping open, Aaron found himself staring straight up at
Jeff. The guy just appeared more trustworthy by the minute... and annoying. Both
in roughly equal proportions. Yet, he knew that if Jeff said he would get them
back, he would find a way to do just that. Aaron scrambled to his feet and
locked eyes with Jeff. "Thanks for the pep talk, coach."
Jeff shifted his
gaze to LB who, the smile returning to his face, shifted his gaze to
George. Continuing the pattern, George threw Aaron a look that was more
exasperation than "I love you, man", but it would suffice. They were connected
in a very personal way. They all shared not only the time they had had to bond
on the set, but felt a companionship far deeper now that they were the real
Monkees-- a notorious foursome of friends who would do anything for each other.
It was an odd feeling to be that close to three other guys, but also amazingly
reassuring. It was great to feel like one of the gang.
Feeling like you knew
no matter what happened you would have three other guys watching your back.
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The VH1 movie "Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story" is copywrite Pebblehut Productions. I am in no way affiliated with the guys who played the Monkees (Aaron Lohr, LB Fisher, George Stanchev, and Jeff Geddis) in this movie. I just wrote this out of admiration for the guys and the incredible job done on the movie. If you don't agree with my interpretation of one of the actors or one of them happens to actually READ this... I'm simply guessing about what they're (you're) really like. No offense is intended! This fanfic is copywrite Random Fandom. If you would like to link Random Fandom on your own website, be my guest!