Mike took a bus to the mall and went over to the information center in the middle of the mall.
"Hi there." Mike said to the lady behind the desk, "I'd like to apply for the gift-wrapping job."
"Do you know how to use scissors?" The lady asked with a smile.
"Yes I do." Mike replied.
"Can you use tape without sticking it on everything?" The lady asked again.
"Sure." Mike replied.
"You're hired." The lady said. She pointed to a nearby table stacked with wrapping paper and ribbon. "Make yourself at home." Charge fifty cents for small packages and one dollar for large ones, ok?"
"Gotcha." Mike smiled and walked over to the table and began to organize the area.
It wasn't long before a woman came over with a box.
"I'd like this wrapped please, with red paper and a gold bow." The woman said.
"Sure thing ma'am." Mike smiled and took the box from her.
A few minutes later Mike had the box wrapped the way she wanted it. The lady paid him a dollar and walked away with her box. Mike smiled to himself.
"Easy way to make a living." He thought, until another lady came over with a large stuffed octopus.
"I would like this wrapped with red and green paper with a silver bow." She said shortly.
"Maybe this job wasn't what it was cracked up to be." Mike thought as he tackled the octopus.

Peter walked over to the library. He had been there many times and knew this would be a perfect job for him.
"Hello, I'm applying..." Peter started to say.
"SHHH!!" The librarian said.
"I'm applying for the librarian's assistant job." Peter whispered.
"Oh yes, I remember you." The librarian whispered back, but the look on her face showed it wasn't a happy remembrance.
"You want to work here?" She continued in a whisper.
"Yes, I need the money for Christmas." Peter whispered back.
"Ok, I really need some help." She whispered to him as she led him over to a stack of books on a cart. "Please put these books back where they belong-and be quiet about it."
Peter looked at the Mount Everest of books in front of him, sighed, and began to put the books back on the shelves.

Davy drove the Monkeemoblie down to the local diner, where the job listing was for.
When Davy got closer to the place, he saw that the diner was pretty shabby looking.
He parked the car, and entered the place.
As Davy walked inside, he spotted a man and a woman around their 40's.
The man was wearing an apron covered with something that looked like grease and smoking a cigarette, while the woman had a beehive hair do, and was filing her nails.
"Excuse me," Davy finally spoke up.
"Yeah, what ya want?" said the man, in a gruff voice.
"I've come about the job in the want-ads for the dishwasher.”

"Dishes are in the back of the kitchen sweetie, help yourself," said the woman, not looking up from her nails.
Davy frowned and headed to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Micky walked down the street to the local floral shop to apply for the job.
He entered the store to find a woman at a desk, watering a plant.
"Welcome to Flowers by Fran,” said the woman.
"Yes, I'm here to apply for the job," said Micky.
"Wonderful, I could use the extra help."
Fran lead Micky to the back of the store, where on a table were dozens of roses.
"Now, be a dear and remove the thorns from these flowers," said Fran.
Micky sighed and began to work.

After a long day, the four Monkees came home exhausted and collapsed on the couch.
"What a day." Mike muttered, trying to get tape off his fingers. "Never thought people could be so picky about their wrapping paper."
"I never knew people read so much," Peter added, "And no matter how hard I tried, the cart kept making noise."
"I have dishpan hands." Davy complained, looking at his red, chapped hands."
"Where's the band-aids?" Micky asked, getting up off the couch. He held up his fingers. "My fingers are full of holes from pulling out those thorns."
"Looks like our first day of work wasn't so hot." Mike remarked to his friends. "The band-aids are in the bathroom cupboard, Micky." Mike said.
Micky went upstairs to bandage his fingers. He came down a few minutes later with them all taped up.
"How am I gonna play the drums like this?" Micky asked.
"At least you won't get jabbed with the bandages on your fingers, Micky." Davy said.
"Do we have to keep working?" Peter asked.
"If you want to go home for Christmas, Peter, I'd say yes." Mike said.
"It's too late to make enough money to go home." Davy said angrily, "Christmas is only in a few weeks, we should've thought of this months ago." He got up and went into his bedroom.
"Davy sure is taking this hard." Micky said quietly.
"Well, he has to raise the most cash to go home." Mike replied, "England is pretty far away."
"I wish we could help him." Peter said wistfully.

Though Davy had gone up to his room, the rest of the guys remained in the living room.
"Man, we gotta do something to help Davy," said Micky.
"So how should we help him?" asked Peter.
Just then, a thought popped into Mike's head.
"Wait a minute, Davy mentioned to me once that he has a jar of money in his dresser," he said.
So?" said Micky.
"So I figure, if we sneak a bit of our pay into Davy's jar, he just might have enough to get home."
"That's a great idea." said Peter.
"I agree to that," said Micky.
A few seconds later, Davy came back downstairs.
"Hey guys,” he said, “Listen, I want to apologize for losing my temper."
"That's ok Davy," said Mike.
The guys decided to give their new jobs another chance.

So the days went by and the Monkees worked the best the could at their jobs. Mike soon got to be an expert gift-wrapper and soon was even earning tips. Peter found some oil and oiled the book cart at the library. Davy and Micky bought some cheap gloves so that their hands wouldn't look too bad after a hard day's work.
Finally, it was payday! The guys got their checks and quickly cashed them. It really wasn't much, but while Davy was out, Mike, Peter and Micky put a part of their pays in Davy's jar.
"Wouldn't he get suspicious?' Micky asked.
"No, he told me he hardly ever counts the money in the jar until he needs it." Peter replied.
"So he'll think the money in there is money he made." Mike smiled.
Just then, they heard the front door open and close. Davy was home! Quickly, the three Monkees got out of Davy's bedroom.
"Oh there you are." Davy said to them. "I was wondering where you three were."
"Just relaxing in our rooms, Davy." Micky smiled as he walked past him.
"Well, I'm going to count how much money I have now." Davy said. "I still don't think it will be enough, but at least I can use it for other things."
"Go ahead, Davy." Mike said, "You never know how much you may have."
Mike winked at Micky and Peter as Davy went into his bedroom.

Davy came out of bedroom, looking really happy.
"Guys, you're not going to believe this." he said.
"What?" asked Peter.
"I actually have almost the exact price for a ticket."
"Hey, groovy man," said Micky.
"That's great Davy," said Mike.
"You know, I didn't think I put away that much in that jar, but I guess I did," said Davy.
"Do you still have much more to go?" asked Peter.
"Just about, said Davy, I'm going to call my family and tell them the news."
He then went to speak to his Grandfather on the phone.
"So far, so good," said Mike.
"Let's hope Davy has enough money in time to buy his ticket before Christmas," said Peter.
"Same here," said Micky.

As the days passed by, not only did they finally got the hang of their jobs and still putting money into Davy's jar, but the manager at the mall that Mike worked at was having a Christmas party, and invited the guys to play at it.
The party was going to be held a few days before Christmas.
When the day of the party arrived, Micky realized with getting ready for the gig and going home for Christmas, he forgot to put some money in Davy's jar.
Micky had to take items out of the draw to find the jar.
And just as he was about to put money in the jar, Micky heard the door.
Thinking it was Davy, he hid the jar behind his back.
Sure enough, it was indeed Davy.
"Why Hell-o Davy," said Micky.
"Hi Micky," said Davy.
He then noticed the mess on the floor.
"Uh, why are my shirts on the floor?"
"I was uh, looking for something to wear for the gig," said Micky.
"Micky, you know my shirts look too short on you."
Davy noticed something else.
"Micky, why do you have your hands behind your back?" he asked.
"Stretching," Micky answered.
"Stretching?"
"Yeah, I always stretch like this before I play the drums."
Davy wasn't buying any of it.
"Ok, what's really going on?" he said.
"I can't," said Micky.
"Why not?"
"It's a secret."
"Oh, ok."
Davy then left the room.
Micky breathed a sigh of relief and was about to his money in the jar, when Davy returned to the room.
Davy absolutely horrified.
"Micky how could you?!" Davy shouted.
Micky tried to explain.
"Davy, no this is a big misunderstanding," he said.
No was no use, for at that moment, Davy jumped and attacked Micky.
The noise was so loud, that Mike and Peter rushed up to the room to see what was going on.
Mike pulled Davy off Micky, and Peter helped him up.
"What's going on here?" Mike asked.
"Why don't you ask the thief?" Davy shouted, pointing at Micky.
"What?" Peter asked.
"He's trying to steal money from my jar!"
"I was putting money in the jar," Micky spoke up.
"What?" said Davy.
"That's right, we all have," said Mike.
"So you can go on your trip," said Peter.
Davy stood in the room, speechless.
"You've been putting money in the jar to help me go home?" Davy asked, unable to believe his ears.
"Yeah, we know how much you miss England and your Grandfather, Davy, so we decided to help you out." Mike said.
"But...but what about you guys?" Davy finally blurted out, "Don't you want to go home, too?"
"Sure, but you going the greatest distance, and needed the most money so we helped out." Peter said.
"I can't let you fellas do that." Davy said, shaking his head. He picked up the jar from the floor and pulled out the money. "How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing, Davy." Micky said, walking toward him. "It's our Christmas gift to you."
"But..."
"No buts, Davy." Mike said, walking toward Davy as well.
"Go home and enjoy Christmas." Peter said as he joined Micky and Mike and gave Davy a group hug.
Davy kept his head down so the others wouldn't see the tears in his eyes.
After the group hug, they finished getting ready and headed off to the party.
Their performance was a huge hit at the party.
Besides being paid a generous amount for playing, Mike’s manager told him that he was in for a surprise with his Christmas pay, if he continued to keep up the good job at work. Mike was glad to hear that.
Best of all, Davy, Peter and Micky were in for a small bonus as well, if they do well at work too.
So, when the guys returned to work the Monday after the party, and the week of Christmas, they worked extra hard at their jobs.
A few days after the party, the Monkees returned to work, and soon the big day came that they got their bonuses.
The guys got them the eve of Christmas eve, since they were going to travel home the next day.
This was a big thing for them, especially Davy, which will mean he'll have more than enough to go home for Christmas.

At the mall, Mike received his paycheck from his manager.
"You did a splendid job Michael," said the manager.
"Thank you," Mike said as he got his pay.
"I almost forgot, your surprise bonus."
The manager handed Mike a set of plates.
"Merry Christmas," said the manager.
Mike just looked at the dishes, sighed and said," Least I got a gift for Aunt Kate."
Meanwhile at the Library, the head Librarian handed Peter his check.
"Thank you," said Peter.
The Librarian then handed Peter a box.
"What this?" he asked.
"Your bonus,” the Librarian answered, “Merry Christmas.”
Peter looked in the box, only to see it was full of old history books.
"Maybe my Dad will like these," said Peter.
Davy was finishing up for the day at the diner, when the head waitress with the beehive hair-do gave him his pay.
"Thank you," said Davy.
He was about to leave, when the waitress called him back.
"Wait, don't forget your bonus sweetie," she said.
Davy went back to get his bonus. He was hoping it was a few extra dollars to pay for his trip home, instead, the bonus turned out to be a fruitcake.
"Merry Christmas sugar," said the waitress.
Davy thanked the waitress again and left the diner with a huge sigh.
Before leaving the flower shop, Micky had his paycheck given to him by Fran.
"Thank you," he said.
Fran then went behind the desk.
"Don't forget about your bonus," she said.
Fran the pulled out an arrangement of poinsettias and gave them to Micky.
"Merry Christmas." said Fran.
"They are Mom's favorite flowers," said Micky.

When the Monkees got home from their jobs, they all told one another that their bonuses wasn't what they hoped what they thought they would be.
"Even with my whole check, I'm still short of my goal," sighed Davy.
"Wait Davy,” said Mike, handing Davy some of his cash, “You can have this."
"Same here," said Peter doing the same thing as did Micky.
"No, it's ok guys," said Davy.
"But I thought you wanted to get home for Christmas," said Micky.
"So do you guys."
"But you have the longest distance to travel," said Mike.
"No, it’s fine," said Davy.
He then headed upstairs to call his family and tell them the bad news.
While talking, Davy tried his best to hold back from breaking up.

The next day, Mike, Peter and Micky got ready to leave for home, as Davy was staying home.
"Hey Davy, are you sure you don't want to come home with me for Christmas? said Micky, You're always welcome to join."
"Thanks, but I don't mind staying here," said Davy.
"Are you sure?" said Peter.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Maybe you can hang with Babbit," said Mike, trying to sound positive.
"No, he's going to his sister's ," said Davy.
"Come on guys, we better get going," said Micky, checking his watch.
"Yeah, Peter and I have planes to catch, and Micky's got a bus," said Mike.
The guys then headed out the door.
Peter then turned to Davy.
"Hey Davy,” said Peter with a smile, “Merry Christmas."
"You too." said Davy, trying to keep a smile.
However, after the guys left, Davy's smile disappeared as he gazed out the window.

Later that evening, Davy was about to cook up some of the stew leftover from last night for dinner. Just then, the door open.
Davy was surprised to see that it was Peter.
"What are you doing home?" Davy asked.
"Delayed fight, it's snowing in Connecticut," said Peter.
"I was watching the weather report from the east coast, and it’s cold but no snowy."
"Ok, I didn't think it was right to go away for Christmas, while you're here on your own."
"Thanks Peter." Davy hugged his friend.
Peter then looked to see what Davy was cooking.
"Forget the stew, I'll order some pizza," he said.
"A small should be big enough for both of us."
The door opened again, and Micky walked in.
"Peter, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"We were going to ask you the same question," said Peter.
"Bus strike."
"The strike ended two weeks ago," said Davy.
"Ok, I though it would be selfish of me to go home for Christmas and not you, so I thought you could use the company."
"It means a lot to me," said Davy, who gave his friend a hug.
"I better make a medium pizza," said Peter.
Just the door opened once more, and Mike entered.
"What are you doing here?" Davy, Micky and Peter asked.
"I was going to ask you guys that." said Mike.
"There's no poor weather in Texas, and no delays or strikes," said Davy.
"You're right, I just didn't want you to spend Christmas alone."
"I really appreciate that," said Davy, who gave Mike a hug.
"I think we better make it a large pizza," said Peter with a laugh.
"Maybe extra large so we can have some for Christmas tomorrow," said Micky.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"I wonder who that could be?" said Davy.
Mike opened the door to see that Babbit was standing there.
"Mister Babbit, what brings you here?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, we thought you went to see your sister.” said Peter.
"I am, but I can't bring this with me, so I though you guys might want it."
Babbit handed the Monkees grocery bags containing a ham and a peach pie.
"Wow, thank you Mr. Babbit," said Davy.
"It's no big deal, now I better get going."
The guys thanked Babbit again as he left.
Mike was about to close the door, when Bobby the mailman showed up.
"Hey guys," said Bobby.
"Hi Bobby, working on Christmas eve?" said Peter.
"Just finishing up for the day, by the way, I have an important letter for Davy.”
Bobby handed Davy an envelope.
"Merry Christmas guys," he said, heading up the road.
The guys wished Bobby a Merry Christmas as well.
"So who did you get a letter from?" Mike asked.
"A holiday love letter?" Micky asked with a laugh.
"Even better,” said Davy, “My Grandfather sent me a plane ticket to come and visit for the New Year!"
"Groovy, so we will be able to see your family for some of the holiday." said Peter.
The guys said that they will go home for the New Year themselves.
"You know, this turned out to be a pretty good Christmas," said Davy.
And the guys agreed.

The End 

By: Ginny and Lisa Rated G