(That there's a reason to write you a love song, today.)

There he sat on the bathroom floor. He had his crutches carelessly lying on the floor near him. The bathroom was a bit small and uncomfortable, but that was the least of Mike's concerns right then. In his hand he had his pen, a small pile of papers and a magazine he had found to write on. He had been sitting there for a while, writing away like it was going out of style. This had become the most productive moment since he started trying to write a song. He couldn't believe, and had to laugh a little to himself, that he didn't start to write so well until he had gone into the bathroom.

The words poured out of him like buckets of rain water. Soon he had enough for a whole song plus a few additional songs. He read his first song and then began rewriting it and rearranging parts within it just to make sure that it was absolutely perfect. And just for fun he wrote down the lyrics of some of his favorite songs which included "Blue Jay Way" by The Beatles. He then read his first song again and then once more to make sure everything was just the way it should be. Once he was absolutely satisfied he held the finished song in his hand and grinned to himself. All he needed now was to get his guitar and start working on the music for the song.

After sitting on the bathroom floor for a while it was difficult for him to get up. But instead of getting up all the way, he just sat up enough to be able to open the door.

"Hey could one of you guys bring me my acoustic?" He called out the door

Without hesitation one of the guys brought him acoustic guitar in to him. Then, after closing the door, Mike began strumming on his guitar. At first he started playing little bits of songs that they have already played before. Then he started playing parts of songs that were written by other bands. Mike shook his head and then mentally scolded himself for goofing around. That was when he actually started working on a tune for the new song.

Mike quickly found himself in a good zone on his guitar. He was feeling really pleased about the songs he was working on, especially one in particular. It was the one that he was going to present to the guys specifically with the contest in mind. This, he felt, was the song that was going to be what he called the "show stopper". The other songs that he was working on, he thought he might present to the guys at a different time. He knew that those other songs could wait a little while longer to give him time to fine tune them. But the one that he decided that he was going to was for the contest, needed to be ready now. So because of this, he was placing most of his focus on that song.

He played the song a few times straight through while singing the lyrics he wrote. He couldn't help but smile softly to himself as he played the song because of how well it had turned out. After he finished playing he sat his guitar down beside him and smiled full of satisfaction. He then cracked his knuckles on the back of his neck and stretched his back a little as he sat up straighter. With little effort he reached over and grabbed his crutches and pulled himself up into standing position. Then with his papers in his hand he left the bathroom and joined the other three guys in the living room area.

"What are you smiling about?" Micky asked, when he saw Mike

Mike went over to the bandstand and pulled over a stool to sit on.

"If one of you guys could get me my guitar from the bathroom, I'll show you what I'm smiling about."

He sat down and lay his crutches on the bandstand next to him. Right away his guitar was brought over to him and he prepared to play one of the songs he had just written. He cleared his throat and strummed his guitar once before quickly stopping to look at them.

"Now before I play this I'd like to tell you that I actually wrote a few songs while I was in there. But right now I'm only going to play you one."

Mike strummed on his guitar a couple times before he started playing the opener to the song. Right away he had caught the guys' interest with what he was playing. And then he began to sing.

"Mary, Mary where you going to? Mary, Mary can I go too? This one thing I will vow ya, I'd rather die than to live without ya."

He glanced up at the three of them to see their reactions. What he first saw on their faces wasn't what he expected to see. They appeared almost confused but then Mike realized that they were paying close attention to the lyrics in an analytical manner.

"Mary, Mary tell me truly, what did I do to make you leave me? Whatever it was I didn't mean to. You know I never would try and hurt ya."

Again he glanced up at them. But this time they were all beginning to smile. This made him feel good so he kept playing the song.

"What more, Mary, can I do to prove my love is truly yours? I've done more now than a clear thinkin' man would do."

By the time he reached the middle of the song Mike was glad to know that the other guys seemed to be really into it. And because of this he wanted to continue playing it for them. This was already promise that he had written a hit song for the band.

"Mary, Mary it's not over. Where you go, I will follow. Til I win your love again and walk beside you, but until then. Mary, Mary where you going to?"

As he finished the song, Mike watched the three of them, feeling proud of his work. He was glad to see the great amount of interest in their smiles up until the very final note of the song. Right after he played the final note he lay his guitar across his lap and looked at them.

"Well?" He asked

"That was great!" Peter replied

"You're not just saying that, are you?"

"No! It was groovy. Really it was." Said Micky

"Yeah really. It sounds like a great song for us." Added Davy

"Yeah I can just hear Micky singing it. Sounds perfect for his voice."

"You think so, Pete?"

"Well," Mike said "I did kind of write it with the idea that Micky could sing it."

When Mike said that, everything seemed to click into place. Micky went behind his drums, Peter grabbed his bass and Davy picked up a pair of maracas. Taking their cue, Mike sat his acoustic guitar down and grabbed his electric six string and made sure it was plugged in. Then after Micky looked over the lyric sheet a little bit, the four of them started to play the song together. It was a bit rough at first and they had made a few false starts but after a few times they had begun to play the song pretty well. As they played it the all knew that this truly was the perfect song for them.

Finally after playing a couple good times in a row they officially had a complete song. Feeling very satisfied with how it all turned out, they all left the bandstand and went over to the living room area to sit for a while. They then not only talked about how well the song had turned out, but also about the contest that they were preparing for. They all agreed that his song which Mike had titled "Mary, Mary" was the one that was going to win the contest for them. Part way through their conversation, Micky couldn't help but laugh. This, of course, drew their attention onto him.

"What's so funny, Mick?" Mike asked

"I was just thinking about the lyrics of the new song."

"What about them?"

"They just seem really… stalkerish. Don't you think?"

Davy and Peter looked puzzled before they looked at each other. Then after a couple seconds they began to laugh. Mike only sat there and nodded his head with a little smirk.

"Well am I right or what?" Micky asked with a laugh

"I suppose you could say that. I was actually wondering if any of you would pick up on that."

A short bout of laughter wafted over them for a brief moment. After the small amount of laughter was done, Mike brought up to them the other songs he had written and he told them about how after the contest he would like to work on them. Along with "Mary, Mary" Mike had written a song he had titled "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and another song called "Stepping Stone". He had played and sang a couple snippets of those songs to them as well. And not to his surprise, the other three guys agreed that those two songs, along with "Mary, Mary" would make excellent additions to their reputuar.

By the time the contest rolled around, The Monkees were very excited and nervousness was very minimal. With a set of all new songs, including the one that Mike had struggled to write, they all knew that they had the contest in the bag. All they had to do was to wait for other bands to play before they could unleash their new material to the crowd. The moment that the band stepped onto the stage the audience knew that they were all in for quite the treat.

The Monkees began their set and the crowd got out of their chairs right away. No one even seemed to take notice or care that Mike had to sit down the entire time that he played due to his broken leg. But broken leg or no broken leg didn't matter at all since it didn't affect his playing. It seemed like during every song they played everyone was on their feet dancing. The people also cheered in between songs.

Finally the moment of truth had arrived. The Monkees were about to unveil their final song of the set; their show stopper. This was the moment that they had been waiting for ever since Mike had presented the idea of having a show stopper song to them. The very first notes of "Mary, Mary" were played and at first there was a stunned silence. Although everyone was silent, their faces were filled with bright smiles. However, it wasn't long before everyone started to dance. Some people had also picked up on the words in some parts and began to sing along. This caused Mike to feel extremely proud of his song writing skills. It didn't appear as though any one wanted the song to end. But once the song did come to an end everybody cheered. The people seemed to agree that the entire set was great, but the final song turned out to be the icing on the cake.

After the contest, The Monkees spent time outside the club, packing up the car. It was such a clear, nice night that they didn't feel any rush to get home. The excitement from the great set that they played was still washing over them and yet they were all peacefully calm right then. People began leaving the club and walked past them and their car. Smiles moved onto the guys' faces as they heard some of their songs from earlier in the night passing through the lips of the people going by them. One girl came out of the club by herself and she had a big smile on her face. She walked over to their car and looked at all four of them directly.

"You guys were great. Loved the new material." She said brightly before walking away.

And with that statement The Monkees were ready to go home happy. They patted Mike on the back and smiled, causing him to smile as well. They just had one of their best gigs in a while and it was all because of a simple suggestion to write a love song.