By: Mickys411 Rated G

It was a typical afternoon at the pad.
The Monkees had just finishing practicing for an up-coming gig, and were now doing there own thing.
Mike was tuning his guitar, Davy was on the phone in the middle of one of his ‘I'm madly in love with you’ phase to a girl name Kelly, Micky was reading a book entitled, "How to Repair Your Car Without Even Trying, and Peter was playing and losing a game of checkers to Mr. Schneider the dummy. Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it," said Mike, who then placed his guitar on the couch and got up to answer the door.
"I bet that's Babbit," said Peter.
"We just paid him the rent this morning," said Davy.
"He's probably going to accuse us of shorting him a nickel," said Micky.
Mike opened the door, but it wasn't Babbit but an older woman.
It was Betsey, an old friend of Babbit’s who moved into the neighborhood several months ago.
"Hell-o Mike," said Betsey.
"Good afternoon Betsey,” said Mike, “What can I do for you?"
"Well, I was going to make some lemonade, only to find out I'm out of sugar, do you have any I can borrow?"
"Sure Betsey, come on in."
Mike invited her into the pad, Betsey said Hell-o to Micky Davy and Peter and they said hi back. Despite the fact that she was close friends with Babbit, the guys enjoyed having her for a neighbor.
"How much sugar do you need Betsey?” Mike asked, entering the kitchen.
"Two cups will do please, Betsey answered back, I was going to make some lemonade for Freddy and myself."
"Freddy?" the Monkees asked at the same time.
"Babbit," Betsey answered back.
The guys were so use to calling Babbit by his last name that they always forgot what his first name was.
"Anyway,” Betsey continued, “Today is his Birthday, and I was going to make some lemonade for the two and just sit around, talking about the good old days."
"Wait a minute, did you say today is Babbit's Birthday?" asked Peter.
"Yes I did."
"Funny, he didn’t mention it to us," said Davy.
"Well, Freddy isn't really big on Birthdays. When he was a child, his family didn't really have much money to give him a nice birthday, so they treated it like every other day; he told me that once.”
Mike quickly changed the subject.
"Here you go Betsey, two cups of sugar,” he said, handing Betsey her sugar back, I hope that's enough.”
"Yes, plenty," said Betsey. "It's going to take more that two cups of sugar to make Babbit sweet," Davy whispered to Micky.
"Yeah, maybe two hundred cups," Micky whispered back.
Betsey then began to head for the door,.
"Thank you once again boys, she said, “If I have extra, I’ll be sure to bring it over.”

The guys and Betsey said Good-bye to one another and she left.
"Did you hear that, it's Babbit's Birthday," said Davy.
"Yeah but he never really celebrated it, I wish there was something we could do," said Peter.
"What are suggesting we do, throw him a party?" asked Mike.
"Yeah, maybe a surprise one."
"Peter, may I remind you that this is the same man who threatened to kick us out of the pad on Christmas Eve?" said Micky.
"You know fellas, I think Peter has a point," said Davy.
"I do?" asked Peter.
"Yes, when I was a kid, my family didn't have money like Babbit's but my parents made sure to make every Birthday and holiday special."
"So, you're going to help?"
"Yes."
"Groovy."
Davy then turned to Micky and Mike and asked, “What about you two?"
"Sure, I'm in," said Micky.
Just then, the guys heard a whistle blow and turned to see Mike, who was standing by a black board.
"Gentlemen, the time is now, fourteen hundred hours," said Mike.
Davy, Peter and Micky looked at Mike with a confused stare.
"Uh, two o' clock, we have to get this place by eighteen hundred hours," Mike continued.
The guys gave him the same look.
"Six o' clock, that way, he can have the party by nineteen hundred hours."
"Uh, seven o' clock," said Peter.
"You're catching on old buddy,” said Mike, “Anyway, we can get ready faster if we split the task. Peter, you're in charge of getting the refreshments and baking the cake."
"Gotcha Mike," said Peter.
"I'll get the decorations," said Mike.
He then looked at Davy and Micky and said, “Micky, you and Davy invite the neighbors on our block.”
"Ok," said Davy.
"Let's do it then," said Micky.
And the guys began to get ready for Babbit's party.

So, while Mike and Peter drove to the store to get the supplies they needed for the party, Micky and Davy stayed home to invited people.
As the two looked up and down the street, Davy said, “You know Micky, I never realized we had so many neighbors."
"Same here, “Micky answered back.
"Maybe it would be easier if we split up. I'll take the left side of the road and you'll take the right."
"Ok, good idea.
And the two went their separate ways.

Micky knocked on the door of his first stop, and a man around Babbit's age answered the door.
"Good afternoon Mr. Reeds," said Micky.
"Good afternoon yourself Micky,” said Mr. Reed, “What can I do for you?"
"Well, we're having a party for Mr. Babbit’s birthday tonight at seven, and we'd like to invite you."
"I'd go if I wasn't so peeved about Babbit writing me a notice about the color I painted my house."
"What about it?"
"He said the color didn’t match up to the other houses, and it will lower the price value."
Mister Reed got so upset by all this that he went back into his house and slammed the door.
"I guess you won't be RSVPing," said Micky, as he left.

Davy then meanwhile, tried his luck.
He knocked on the door at his first stop, waited a bit and sure enough, he got an answer when a woman around Babbit's age opened the door.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Arbuckle," said Davy.
"Good afternoon Davy,” said Mrs. Arbuckle, “What can I do for you?"
"Actually, we're having a birthday party for Babbit tonight and seven and I was wondering if you like to come."
"That's ever sweet of you Davy, and I would, if the party wasn't for Babbit."
"You won't come to Babbit's party?"
"Not after what he said about the rose bushes at the end of my driveway being a traffic disturbance.”
Mrs. Arbuckle got quite angry about it that she forgot that Davy was still standing at the doorstep and went back into her house, slamming the door behind her.
"Have a nice day then," said Davy as he left.

Seconds later, Davy and Micky met up.
"You know, this isn't going anywhere," said Davy.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, said Micky, I'm not having any good luck at all either.
"Maybe if we change sides, our luck will change."
"Worth a try."
And that's what they did, only to meet up once again moments later, rubbing their noses.
"Did you get your nose slammed on a door too?” Davy asked.
"No, Micky answered, "When I bought up Babbit's name, Mrs. Anderson's parrot went berserk and bit me."
“Let’s just go back to where we started then and play it by ear.”
"Ok."

Meanwhile, back at the pad, Peter was putting chips, pretzels, nuts and other types of snacks and drinks into bowls, and Mike was separating some streamers.
"Hey Peter, can you give me a hand here?" Mike asked.
"Sure," Peter answered.
Although Peter tried to help, he and Mike ended up getting tangled in streamers.
At that moment, Davy and Micky entered the pad.
"AHH! It's the Mummy men!" said Micky in mock horror.
"Run for you lives!" said Davy in the same tone before he and Micky broke up laughing.
"Ha ha very funny you two, help us get untangled," said Mike.
The two then help their friends out.
"By the way, don’t waste any more time putting up decorations," said Micky.
"And we're gonna end up eating those snacks ourselves," said Davy.
"What do you mean?" Peter asked.
"Turns out our neighbors hate Babbit as much as we do," said Micky.
"Come on, there's gotta be one person who will come to the party," said Mike.
"Someone who actually like Babbit." said Peter.
"Who?" Davy asked.
"Let's put our heads together on this."
The Monkees began to literally put their heads together only to bang one another's forehead. They then separated to think better. Just then, a thought popped into all of their heads.
"Mrs. Purdy!" the guys at the same time.
And the guys scrambled out the pad to Mrs. Purdy’s house. The guys rushed up to Mrs. Purdy’s doorstep.
"Mrs. Purdy!” Mike called knocking on the door.
But there was no answer. Peter rang the doorbell, but nobody showed up.
"Hey look, there's a note," said Micky as he spotted a piece of paper on the door.
Mike read it over.
"What does it say?" asked Davy.
"Dear Neighbors:
I have gone to Fresno for the week to see family and attend my nephew's wedding.
I won't be home until late Sunday evening.
Please keep an eye on my house, while I'm gone, if it's not too much trouble.
Thank you very much
Mrs. Harriet Purdy.
PS Don't worry about my sweet kitty cat Tiger, I took him with me.
PPS Please do not deliver any papers or milk for a week."
"Great, the only neighbor who can tolerate Babbit is out of town," said Micky.
"And the ones who are here can't tolerate him at all," said Davy.
"Does that mean the party's over before it began?" asked Peter.
Mike thought for a minute and said, “Maybe, I'll give Betsy a call.”
Meanwhile, we better get back to the pad and get ready, just in case."
"In case of what?"
"I'll tell you when we get home.”

Back at the pad, Mike called Betsy up, while Davy and Micky fixed up the decorations and Peter baked the cake.
“Ok, it’s all settled,” said Mike getting off the phone, “We’re going to have the party after all.”
"How's that possible?" Davy asked.
"Well, Betsy's gonna call a few friends of hers and Babbit's that live local and invite them.”
"Hey, groovy plan," said Micky.
"Party's back on," said Davy.
"Outasite, and I almost got the cake ready," said Peter.
The guys went to the kitchen to see Peter, take out a large chocolate cake out of the oven.
"You know Peter, that actually looks quite tasty," said Davy, reaching to touch, but Peter stopped him.
"I have to make sure it's done," said Peter.
He went to the cupboard, took out a box of toothpicks, then walked back to the cake.
"Uh, Peter what are you doing?" Mike asked.
"An old trick my Grandma taught me.” Peter answered, “To check to see if your cake is done, put a toothpick in the center then pull it out. If the toothpick is clean, the cake is done.”
Peter then carefully placed the toothpick in the cake's center, when all of a sudden, cake batter began to squirt out of the cake, spraying the Monkees.
It went on for a few moments, then it stopped, leaving the guys covered with cake mix.
"I guess it wasn’t quite done, " said Peter with a laugh.
Micky then grabbed a chunk of the now ruined cake, and mashed it into Peter face.
"Still, it does taste pretty good," said Peter, licking the cake off his lips.
Just then, there heard a loud bang at the door.
"Ok you guys open up right now!" shouted a voice from outside.
The Monkees knew who it was right away.
"Babbit!" the guys said at the same time.
"We can't bring him in the pad, we're still setting up for the party," said Davy.
"Right, it will spoil the surprise," said Micky.
"Open up this second!" yelled Babbit from the outside.
Mike then opened up the door.
"Hi Mr. Babbit, we’d invite you into the pad, but we can’t,” said Mike to Babbit, who was standing by the door way in his same nasty position. It might have been Babbit's birthday, but no matter what, his attitude was the same everyday.
"Why can't I come in the pad?" asked Babbit.
"It's a mess," said Davy.
"What have you guys been doing all day?"
"Cleaning," Micky answered.
"Then why is it a mess?" Babbit asked.
"We're sloppy housekeepers," said Peter.
"I see, you guys got dirt all over you."
The guys were relief to see Babbit call the stuff they were covered in dirt rather then chocolate.
"Anyway, Babbit continued, I come on an important matter."
"What's that?" asked Davy.
"You guys shorted me a nickel on the rent."
Peter then reached into one of his pant pockets and pulled out a nickel.
"Here you go Mr. Babbit," he said, handing the landlord the coin.
Babbit didn't say thank you, but rather turned to leave, when his nose picked up a sent.
"Do I smell chocolate?" he asked.
"That would be me," said Davy.
"You?"
"Yes, it's my new after shave, what do you think?"
"It's a bit strong."
"That's what the guys told me, I think I'll return it a get another scent."
"Another one?
"Yeah, it's the new thing new at the local store," said Mike.
"That have all different scents, like banana," said Micky.
"You guys get stranger everyday," said Babbit leaving, closing the door behind him.
The Monkees breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was close," said Davy.
"It sure was,” said Micky, wiping his brow, but ended up getting more chocolate on his face.
"Come on, let's finish getting ready," said Mike.
And that's what the guys did. After the guys cleaned up the mess in the kitchen from the semi-exploding cake, they cleaned themselves up.
When the guys came back downstairs, they saw that they still had a lot of work to do, but not much time left.
"I don't think you have time to bake another cake Peter.” said Mike looking at his watch, “Looks like you have to buy one."
"Ok then," said Peter as he headed out the door, trying to race to the bakery, hoping it was still open.

He came back sometime later, holding a box.
"Groovy, you got the cake?" Davy asked, as he Mike and Micky were putting up some last minute decorations.
Peter carefully placed the box on the kitchen table, and Micky opened the box with his pocketknife, which made it separate, but kept the cake in perfect condition.
It turned out to be a chocolate cake just like Peter tried to make, but not in a mess.
"If you look at the top, there's a message on it," said Peter, pointing to the cake.
"Happy Birthday Barbby? Davy read, Peter this isn't the right name.
"Oh no, the baker made a mistake!” Said Peter, “I gotta take it back.”
"It's too late.” said Mike, “The guests should be here any minute."
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"That would be any minute," said Micky.
"That must be Betsey," said Davy.
Mike answered the door, opened it, and sure enough it was indeed Betsey with about ten to twelve people around hers and Babbit's age.
"Are we on time?" Betsey asked.
“Just in time, come on in," said Mike, inviting everyone in.
Most on the guests, including Betsey bought a dish or drinks.
"I must say, you boys did a wonderful job setting up," said a guest.
"Oh it's just something we put together at the last minute," said Peter, putting a party hat on.
The comment earned him an elbow by Micky.
"I can't wait to see old Freddy, it's been too long," said another guest.
"Where is Freddy?" asked Betsey.
"Fellas, I think we forgot to do one thing with all the planning," said Mike.
"You mean, we forgot to invite Babbit?" asked Davy.
"Yep."
"That's does rather silly to invite a person to their own surprise party," said Peter.
Micky was about to say something, but instead move Peter's party hat from his head onto his face.
"How are we gonna get Babbit over here without giving him a reason to come?” Davy asked.

"There's only one way to bring Babbit over," said Micky.
"How?" Peter asked.
Micky indicated the bandstand, where the instruments were.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," said Peter with a laugh.
Davy responded by moving Peter's hat from the top of his head, on to his face.
The Monkees got on the bandstand, and began to play. They didn't play long, when everyone heard a loud knock at the door.
"Ok you guys, what do you think you're doing, putting on a concert for your friends?" shouted Babbit from behind the door.
"That didn't take long," said Davy.
Mike placed his guitar down and went to answer the door. He opened it.
"Good evening sir," said Mike.
"Don't good evening me sir,” said Babbit.
The other Monkees joined Mike at the door.
"What do you mean sir?" asked Davy.
"Oh don't play dumb, said Babbit, You guys are throwing a party."
"Yes we are sir, said Micky, But..."
"But nothing, tell you friends to get out of here!" yelled Babbit, And let me tell you guys something else."
"But we all have something to say to you sir," said Mike.
The indicated Babbit to come in the pad.
"Happy Birthday Freddy!" shouted Babbit's friends and Betsey.
"Happy Birthday Mr. Babbit," said Peter.
Mr. Babbit was almost speechless.
"You did all this for me?" he asked.
"Yes sir," said Davy.
"I was talking to Betsey."
"No Freddy, the boys put the party together, it was also their idea," said Betsy.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Well, what do you think sir?" asked Peter.
"I say, let's party."
The Monkees began to laugh, because Babbit never said that before.
Babbit shook hands and hugged all of his old friends.
Just then, there was another knock at the door.
Mike went to answer it, and saw that it was all their neighbors.
"What's all this?" he asked.
"Well, we all meet up and we all decided to come," said Mr. Reed.
"We thought of all the help Babbit has done for us," said Mrs. Arbuckle.
"And we decided to put our differences aside for one night," said Mrs. Anderson.
The guys then invited the next group of guests into the pad.
Luckily, everyone bought some type of food or drink, so there was plenty to eat and drink for everyone.
The Monkees, Babbit, and everyone had a wonderful time. Everyone talked, laughed, and even danced to music that the guys played.
When Peter served the cake, he explained about the poor message.
"About the name on the cake…" he said.
"What do mean, it's perfect," said a guest.
Peter and the other Monkees were confused.
"Uh?" went Davy.
"That was my nickname in high school," said Babbit.
"It was?" asked Micky.
"Oh yes, Babbit the barbarian," said another guest.
"That's what we call him on the football field," said Betsy.
"He's the reason we made it to state three times," said a guest.
“It would had been four, but after that knee injury," said Babbit, sounding proud.
The guys to see that Babbit was having a wonderful, and for the first time, they heard him laugh and saw him smile.

When the party ended, the guys and Babbit told good night to the guests, thanked them for coming and hoped they had a nice time.
Babbit, his friends and Betsy had agreed to meet up in a few weeks for a get together.
"Goodnight Freddy and Happy Birthday," said Betsy, giving him a kiss before leaving.
Babbit smiled and his face began to turn red.
"I thought his face turned red when he gets mad at us, Peter whispered to his friends.
Mike was about to moved Peter's hat, but Peter moved his hat onto his face himself.
Babbit's face returned to its normal color, then turned to the guys.
"You guys, I don't know what to say about tonight," he said.
"It was nothing sir," said Davy.
"No it was something, and it was the nicest thing anyone has anyone has ever done for me, and it was also the best birthday I ever had."
"We're glad you enjoyed it," said Peter.
"Oh and I have something else for you."
"What that?" asked Micky.
"The next you have guests over, tell them to park on your lawn, and now clean up this place, it looks more like a zoo than it did earlier," said Babbit, back in his regular tone of voice. And with that, he left.
"Uh, you're welcome sir," said Micky.
"You know, I don't get it,” said Davy, “We threw Babbit a party, we invited his friends, our neighbors and he's still his old self," said Davy.
"Well fellas, like the old saying goes, a leopard can't its spots," said Mike.
"And a zebra can't change its stripes," said Peter, eating a piece of Mrs. Anderson’s apple crumb cake.
There was so much leftover food from the party that they guys didn't had to worry about shopping or cooking for a few days. The guys then sat on the couch.
Micky, who was twirling a noisemaker in his fingers began to blow into it.
"Keep that noise down, do you know what time it is?" yelled Babbit from outside.
Micky then tossed the noisemaker on the floor.

The next morning, the Monkees were cleaning up from the party, when Peter spotted something lying by the door.
"Hey, what's that?" he asked.
Mike picked up the object, it turned out to be an envelope.
He opened it and a card fell out.
"Who's it from?" asked Davy.
"It's from Babbit," Mike answered.
"You're kidding," said Micky.
"No, it is," said Mike.
He began to read the card.
"Dear Monkees:
I know he don't get along well, but what you guys did for me was very kind and thoughtful of you.
I just want to say thank you very much for the wonderful party and inviting all my friends and neighbors."

Sincerely,

Freddy Babbit

"Well, what do you know, looks like last night Babbit turned over a new leaf," said Davy.
"Yeah, maybe he'll start being nice to us for now us," said Peter.
"Wait, there's more," said Mike.
He then read the rest of the card.
P.S Don't forget, your rent's due in a week.

"Then again, maybe not," said Micky with a laugh as did the other Monkees.

The End

By: Mickys411   Rated G

Hansel........................Micky
Gretel.........................Davy
Woodsman (Father)...Mike
Witch.........................Peter
Narrator.....................Laura (AKA Mickys411)

Narrator-And now children, it's story time.
So gather round, as I read the tale of Hansel and Gretel.

Act 1 Scene 1 The woods-Hansel and Gretel's House

Narrator-(clears throat) Once upon an time, there were two young children who lived in a small cottage in the woods. Their names were Hansel and Gretel.
Spot light on middle of stage, but no one shows up.
Narrator-The name of the children were Hansel and Gretel
Nobody appears in spotlight.
Narrator-(louder voice) The children’s’ names were Hansel and Gretel.
No one appears on stage.
Narrator-(yelling) Davy! Micky! Get out on stage right now!
Davy-(from backstage) No!
Narrator-(still yelling) Why not?
Micky-(from backstage) We look ridiculous!
Narrator-Just come out on stage now, please
Davy and Micky-(at the same time) Fine!
Davy and Micky enter from stage left; Davy is wearing a dress with a matching kerchief and blonde pigtail wig, while Micky is wearing a long shirt, and suspender shorts.
Davy-I look stupid.
Micky-What about me, I'm wearing lederhosen
Davy-At least you get to wear shorts, I got to wear this ugly dress.
Micky-I don't know, it's a nice color on you.
Davy-Shut up!
Narrator-(yelling) Will you two knock it off, and let me continue with the story?
Micky and Davy-(at the same time) Sorry.
Narrator-That's better (clears throat) Anyway, Hansel and Gretel lived with their Father, who was a woodsman.
Mike enters from stage left, wearing his jeans, and flannel shirt and his wool cap.
Micky, Davy and Peter-(from backstage, singing) Mike’s a lumberjack and he’s ok, he sleeps all night and he works all day!
Narrator-Guys! this show doesn't have a music number!
Mike-Yeah, let the narrator tell the story.
Narrator-Thank you, Mike.
Davy-Yeah, the sooner we go on with the play, the sooner it will be over.
Mike-And the sooner we get out of these costumes.
Micky- I don’t know what you’re complaining about Mike, you get to wear long pants.
Narrator-Guys, will you please stop arguing about the costumes and go on with the story?
Peter-(from backstage) Yeah, I want to get to my part.
Mike, Davy and Micky-(at the same time) Fine.
Narrator-Great. (clears throat) Now where was I? Oh yes. Times were tough for the woodsman and his two young children. There was very little work for him and without work, he couldn't make any money and without money, he couldn't buy food for his children and himself.
Davy-(to Micky and Mike) Why does that sound so familiar?
Mike and Micky- (at the same time) It’s the story of our lives.
Narrator-Guys, stay in character.
Mike- (clears his throat, looks at Davy and Micky)-Hansel Gretel, since we have no money to buy food, why don't you two go to the forest and pick some berries?
Davy-Yes Father.
Narrator-Psst, Davy stay in character.
Davy- (clears throat, then speaks in feminine voice) Yes Father.
Micky-We’ll do just that.
Narrator-And so Hansel and Gretel went off in search of berries.
Mike-Be sure to be home before dark.
Narrator-But Hansel and Gretel were too far away to hear him

Act 1 Scene 2 The middle of the woods