THE DEPARTURE

Jay and Jeff with Sonnie and the Monkey, getting ready to leave.

It was a hot and humid day! Jay, smug and confident in his ability to navigate the treacherous course between where they was and where they wasn't, stood ready and poised on the edge of adventure. Jeff had not a clue. He thought it was to be a day at the beach. Road trip!

The monkey knew.

The journey? The adventure? To bring Sonnie from the hot flatlands of central Florida to the cool New Hampshire mountain that he loved. To take him back where he first learned that you shouldn't start plucking a stolen fowl until after you leave the barnyard. Otherwise, you too may hear the sheriff ask, "What's for supper boys? Chicken!" and pay the price of a summer's labor in the fields of Labonte's farm as the result of the crime. The adventure started on the morning of August 10th. Sonnie was fresh from the oven and hot to trot.

THE JOURNEY

The first stop.

In the beginning it went well. The troop stopped in South Carolina for gas. The thoroughfare? The Jeff Davis Road. This pumped Jeff up considerably. He was overwhelmed by his fame until the monkey chastised him for his foolishness, explaining that the Jeff Davis for whom the road was named wasn't him. Having pushed Jeff from the heady heights of stardom, the monkey hugged and comforted Sonnie, assuring him that the trip would be fine. The beast had its doubts however, after noticing that Jack's hair was thinning on top.

Continued—»