Thomas rushed into the house, waving a magazine and forgetting (once again) to take off his shoes. He ran into the kitchen, yelling.
"Mom!" he yelled. "Guess what!"
Nicole and Joanne were sitting in the kitchen, eating lunch. Both looked up as he rushed in the room.
"Thomas, your shoes," Nicole began. Thomas kicked them off impatiently.
"Forget about the shoes, Mom," he told her. "This is more important. We're RICH!!!"
"Rich?" Joanne asked, immediately getting excited. "Yippee!"
Nicole was a bit more cautions. "Thomas, what are you talking about?" she asked.
Thomas held up the magazine. "The song hit number one," he explained joyfully. "We'll be RICH!!" He and Joanne began to dance joyfully around the house, forgetting all about lunch.
"RICH, RICH, RICH, RICH," they chanted.
Nicole, half-stunned, picked up the magazine. Sure enough, printed on the page Thomas had opened it to was " Last Train to Clarksville" at number one.
Before she could react, however, there was a knock at the door. She went numbly to answer it.
Mr. Stevens stood at the door, grinning from ear to ear. "What's all the commotion?" he asked. "I could hear Thomas all the way down the street."
Nicole, still in a stupor, stepped aside and handed him the magazine. Mr. Stevens glanced at the paper, but didn't have time to react either. Just then, Thomas and Joanne raced into the room, yelling and singing, and he was caught up in the moment.
"This is great news," he called to Nicole over the kids' yelling. She nodded, smiling, not bothering to try to shout back a reply.
Far from the cheering and shouting, on a deserted highway headed for Indiana, Micky, Davy, and Peter were fast asleep. The bus continued on.
Mike glanced around him and saw that he and the driver were the only ones left awake. The show had been succesful, and they'd done a few encores. Now the band and crew were especially tired.
Except Mike. Try as he might, his eyes wouldn't stay shut. Sleep refused to come. Mike heaved a sigh. He knew what was bothering him. He'd have to fix it if he ever wanted to sleep again.
Ignoring his premonitions, he reached into the carry-on bag he'd kept with him during the past months and pulled out the envelope.
He glanced around the bus - making sure everyone was asleep, and then opened it. He took out the paper and began to read.
"Hello music fans. You're listening to Tom Thomson on WFYI Indianapolis, Indiana. Thanks for tuning into the morning show today. The time is precisely 6 am and we are fortunate today to have here a group of boys who have just hit number one on the charts. Say hello to Micky, Davy, Mike, and Peter, also know as the Monkees. Say hello, boys."
"Hi, hey, hello, 'ello," the four voices replied.
"Y'all are here to do a concert - one of the many stops on this, your first tour. That's tonight at eight, right?"
"Nine, actually," Micky corrected.
"Right," Tom replied. "I'll be there. I can't wait. Have you guys been gettin' good crowds?"
"Oh yeah," Davy said. "Packed, every night. Great crowds."
"So what's it like for you folks, touring?"
"Tiring," Peter replied. Tom laughed.
"But a lot of fun," Davy added, and the other three agreed.
Tom laughed again. "You boys are the hottest thing out there today. Your album hit number one, and now the single's up there, too. What's it like to have instant success."
"We ain't exactly reapin' in the gold yet, Tom," Mike replied. "We've been on the road".
"No gold swimming pools or any of that yet, ey?" Tom quipped. The others laughed.
"On the bus?" Davy asked.
Tom laughed. "Maybe not."
"It's amazing, the best thing about all this is how much people love you," Micky told them.
"Yeah, we're not used to that," Mike cracked and they all laughed.
"It's been great havin' y'all, boys. I letcha go, since I know you're tired, and you've got that concert tonight, but thanks for stopping by tonight. For the fans, there's also another 2 shows tomorrow and the day after, so if you miss 'em tonight, make sure you get to one of the other shows."
"We can't wait to 'ave ya," Davy told them.
"Right. So come on down. Boys, it's been great chatting. Hope to see you again. I'm looking forward to tonight. "
"Bye," the others chorused.
"And to close out this portion of the show, we're gonna play the song you all know and love, that just hit number one. By the Monkees, it's Last Train to Clarksville".
