Life With the Monkees

The Devil and Peter Tork

~~~summertime~~~

Peter, Davy, Mike, Mickey and I were walking down the street trying to find a place for a gig but we had no such luck. this seems to happen a lot with them. maybe the person who told us about it made up a hoax. who knows. Mike was complaining and Davy was arguing with Mickey. they didn't notice Peter kinda drift from the group. I tried to tap Mickey's arm to warn him but he ignored it, too busy in his argument. I snuck away and followed Peter to a music store. it took him a long time for him to talk to the storekeeper about a very special harp. he grabbed in one moment, picked up a contract that he'd signed and walked out the door. I hid and followed him when he walked further away. thank goodness the pad was very near. that harp must've been heavy.

we made it to the pad in a matter of minutes. he set down the harp and I came in a few moments later so he wouldn't think I was following. the rest of the guys huddled around him and questioned him on it. I was interested more than the guys. Peter attempted to play it, but it sounded like a two year old was playing. "Ya know man, ya should really bring that back". My jaw dropped when Mike said it. I knew Peter could learn how to play the harp if he wanted to, he might not be very good at it now, but he'd get there.

A man with a cruel face showed up in the room then. I didn't trust him one bit. "Where is Mr. Peter Tork?". Pete stepped out from behind the harp and I gulped. "the contract please". Peter handed it over and the man disappeared. "that was far-out!" I exclaimed. Mike gave me a disapproving look and tried to get information out of Pete.

The next few days were boring until the man with the pbf showed up again. Mickey attempted to smack him as soon as he appeared but it was no use. he snapped his fingers and soon we were all in a scary dark place where no one wanted to ever be seen. We didn't know we were in the underworld until these devil girls with horns and tails surrounded us and led us to the pbf guy on his throne. he snapped his fingers once again. we were In a courtroom sitting at a huge table where Peter was going to learn whether he was gonna be able to keep the harp or give it back to the pbf guy aka the devil. The devil brought in a few witnesses from way back in history. the first one was Billy the Kid. as soon as he appeared he took out his guns and began shooting everywhere. one of the bullets hit the drinking glasses that were on the table and they shattered everywhere since they were made of fine china. the Devil I guess who's name was Mr. Zero asked Billy the Kid, "Billy, you signed a contract in the year 1882?" Billy nodded. "I promised to make you the most famous gunfighter in the West. and did I keep my part of the bargain?"  "you sure did. and I'll shoot the first man who says you didn't" Billy answered. he pointed his gun our way and we all ducked. The Monkees picked fingers as to who would speak to Billy. they did a fist movement that was similar to rock paper scissors but on the third try they all chose fingers and whoever had the odd number had to talk to Billy. Mike ended up speaking with the guy. "hello there Mr. Billy the Kid"  Billy pointed his gun at Michael and I grabbed Mickey's hand out of fright. Mickey glanced at me for a moment and squeezed my hand.  "now then, in 1882 Mr. Zero promised to make you the most famous gunfighter in the West, did he not?"  "that's right"  "well he did and you are so I don't think there's really anything else to talk about" Mike said while backing up. he sat down and Mr. Zero ordered for the judge to close the case.  "your honor we demand that you call another witness!" Mickey stated standing up. I looked at him with a shocked face. "of course why not? I have another client"  Mr. Zero replied. I gulped.  "I call to the stand, Blackbeard the Pirate"   Blackbeard appeared yelling and laughing, "yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, I smell the blood of an English man!"  "that's me!" Davy stood up and went over to Blackbeard. "excuse me Mr. Black, uh, Mr. Beard"  Blackbeard held his bottle of rum by Davy's face and Davy looked away  coughing. "what's your name lad?"  "David Jones"   "so, you wanna go to sea do ya?"   "oh no I don't wanna go to sea" Blackbeard began describing the rocking motion of the waves at sea and we all began to swing back and forth. Davy walked back to his seat and Mr. Zero announced, "and for my last witness, atilla the hun"   I tried to hold back laughter when the guy appeared. Mickey walked up there this time and I knew this possibly couldn't end well.  "uh, excuse me Mr. Hun, this is a point of clarification. what year did you sign your contract with the devil?"  atilla spoke in some foreign language I didn't know. Mickey supposedly knew it though because he and atilla were having a conversation. they started yelling and atilla walked toward Mickey with his sword raised up at him. I thought Mickey was done for until Mike yelled something in the language and atilla then bowed to him. "what did you say?" Mickey asked. "I don't know " Mike replied. I stifled a laugh. "wait a minute, defense would like to call its first witness" Mike declared. "and who is that?" the judge asked. "Mr. Zero" Mickey looked at Mike, confused, but Mr. Zero walked to take a seat where all the other witnesses sat earlier. "would you please raise your right hand and put your left hand on the bible?" Davy asked the devil. "you must be joking"  "um, can I interest anyone in taking a quick peek at this book here, it's been on the best-sellers list for many years" Davy stated. "we don't read!" the judge yelled out. Mike decided to step in. "now uh Mr. Zero, aside from these witnesses, what else do you present as evidence?" "this contract" it appeared in Mr. Zero's hand right then. "in exchange for fame and fortune and the ability to play the harp, I purchased Peter Tork's soul. Is this your signature Mr. Tork?"  "Mr. I'm just a kid" Pete said. "guilty!" the judge yelled out. "well I'd say that that contract is null and void because in fact, Mr. Zero, you can't give Peter anything in exchange for his soul" "I gave him fame and fortune" "well you gave him fame and fortune, perhaps, but Peter didn't want fame and fortune you see, all Peter wanted was just to... he just wanted to play the harp, that's all" "I gave him the ability to play the harp, in return for his soul" "you know it was almost worth it" Peter said, finally.  "no you didn't give him the ability to play the harp" Mike said. "ya see, ya see, Peter loved the harp and he loved the music that came from the harp and that was inside of him, and uh it came, um, it was the power of that love, it was inside of Peter, it was in him from the first, and it was that kind of power, that, that made Peter able to play the harp, and you didn't have anything to do with it" then Mr. Zero began to laugh this laugh that made me wanna strangle the guy. "Don't you understand what that means to have that inside of you, what comes out? if ya love music man ya can play music. people say, well I can't carry a note, I can't sing, I'm tone deaf, well nobody's tone deaf! and if ya love music, then you can play music. and all it takes is just love and that's where the power's at, and you wanna tell me that you gave it to him, but I know different because I'm a musician. and, that's really all there is to it. Mickey and Davy were grinning and I was even getting some tears pooled up in my eyes. Mr. Zero spoke then, "love!" then he laughed that wicked laugh of his and he clapped his hands once. "there, I've taken the power away" then he snapped his fingers and said, "there, see what he can do with it now" Mike walked over to Pete and said, "okay go play the harp" "Michael I can't!" "didn't ya hear what I said to Zero man? look, the power's inside you. nobody can give it to ya. nobody can take it away. now go play the harp" "okay Mike" Peter walked to the harp and leaned it onto his shoulder. Mike gave him a look that said, 'I know ya can do it' Peter began to play I Wanna Be Free. it sounded beautiful the whole song. it was so beautiful that he even got Billy The Kid, Blackbeard, and Atilla the Hun to cry. the judge said, "I declare the defendant... not guilty!" everyone cheered and the Monkees hugged Peteer. Mr. Zero went back to the underworld by a snap of his fingers.

We all went back to the pad and the guys all performed a song for me. I danced along and that was it for another exciting day with the Monkees.