red moon over west virginia - 9. restless moon

by jeremy witherington

part 9 of 36

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

the carol burnett show was a good one, but pete pickering had already seen it many times. carol had invited albert einstein and marilyn monroe over for dinner, but she had forgotten that the her aunt samantha and her cousin sassafras had sent her a telegram a few weeks before saying they might drop by on their way to atlantic city. naturally, carol did not want her aunt and cousin embarrassing her in front of albert einstein and marilyn monroe! what could she do? she decided to call “packy the problem solver”, played by special guest jackie gleason wearing a mustache like stalin’s, to help her out. packy had a solution. he would waylay aunt samantha and cousin sassafras and put then in a diving bell which he would lower into the delaware river while carol was entertaining albert and marilyn! it was all set. but just as the cab containing albert and marilyn pulled up outside carol’s apartment the phone rang. it was a cool, clear night. it was packy/jackie gleason. he told the frantic carol that samantha and sassafras were not alone but had won a live dinosaur as a jackpot prize on a slot machine in one of the casinos. and they were approaching carol’s place not by bus but in an entourage with a truck containing the dinosaur and an escort of three army tanks! packy/jackie did not have any diving bells big enough to hold them all! did carol have any suggestions? just then carol’s buzzer buzzed. albert and marilyn were in the lobby! she had better think fast! it was all good fun, but pete knew how it would all end and there was a full moon outside and he was feeling restless. he turned off the tv and put his jacket on and went downstairs and went outside. he got into his faitfhul pickup truck, turned on the ignition, and headed for his beloved highway. next