The Adventures of
ROCKY VAN GOGH
THE CAT WITH ONE EAR
IN THE LAND OF PERFECT
By Mark Traversino

      The beautiful Land of Perfect lies nestled in a perfect green valley, surrounded by perfect snowcapped mountains that reach up into perfect marshmallow clouds, beneath a perfect blue sky. In the center of all this perfection is the perfect rainbow castle of King Kindly and his beautiful daughter, Perfecta, who, for some strange reason, always wore a silk veil over her face with only her eyes showing. Unfortunately, all was not perfect in the Land of Perfect.
      Standing on his castle balcony with his loyal magician, Manduke and his daughter, Princess Perfecta, King Kindly watched in dismay as his subjects shouted and marched in protest carrying placards that read: "We Want Longer Eyelashes" "We Want Cuter Noses." "We Want Bigger Muscles." "We Want To Be Taller." "We Want Better Figures."

        "Things are completely out of control," moaned the king. "I'msorry I ever had you create the Land of Perfect, Manduke. I thought by making everything and everyone perfect, that all would be happy."
      "I thought so, too, Your Majesty," answered Manduke.
      "Unfortunately, all it's done is make them selfish and wanting more and more perfection." 
       "I have to think of something to change their uppity, uppity ways," replied King Kindly, who shook his head and scratched his head as he paced in deep thought. Suddenly, he stopped. Slowly, a smile lit up his face. "I think I have it! To the magic chamber,Manduke!" Excited, the king pulled the magician from the castle balcony toward the magic chamber. In the chamber, the king told Manduke what magic he wanted him to perform. Manduke quickly obeyed and mixed magic potions and herbs and poured them into his boiling cauldron. As he stirred the kettle, he invoked the magic words:"Pity pat-kitty cat, time to find a pussy cat - pity pat-kitty cat, time to find a pussy cat." He kept repeating the same words over and over as he stirred the cauldron until, finally, he raised his fist to the sky and shouted, "Come out, come out, wherever your're at! The king would like a little chat!"

      In an instant, a lightning bolt crashed "kaboom" into the ground just a teensy bit on the other side of the Land of Perfect, and a terrified tabby cat with one ear rolled over and over from under a big puff of smoke. The bewildered and frightened one-eared cat scurried helter-skelter looking for a place to hide and finally ran up a tall tree. High in the tree he panted loudly trying to catch his breath, while wondering who he was, where he was and what in the world he was doing there. As he pondered his problem, his gaze fell upon the Land of Perfect inthe distance. He marveled at the beautiful green valley, the stately statuesque trees, the stunning array of colorful flowers and bushes, the majestic snowcapped mountains, the marshmallow clouds, the magnificent blue sky, but most of all, the rainbow-colored castle. Slowly, he climbed down the tree and instinctively began walking toward the rainbow castle. Birds chirped and beautiful butterflies fluttered and followed overhead as the one-eared cat bounced happily down the road whistling a happy SONG 1 he had no idea he knew.     

      On his way, the cat noticed an old wooden stick on the side of the road and picked it up. He looked in surprise as his hand started spinning it. Whirl, whirl, whirl went the stick. Suddenly, he threw the stick high in air and caught it as it came down. Baffled how he could do these things, he just shrugged and began to strut like a drum major. Whistling his happy tune and spinning the stick, he continued down the road to the Land of Perfect as birds and butterflies danced overhead.
      On the road, the cat passed a large boulder and heard someone playing a trumpet SONG 2. Curious, he walked behind the boulder and saw a rabbit playing a trumpet. When the rabbit saw the cat, he stopped playing. The cat walked up to the rabbit and said, "That's amazing! How did you learn to play the trumpet so well?"
      "I really don't know, I just do it without thinking. In fact, I play drums and other instruments, too. Would you like to hear more?"
      "Oh, yes," replied the cat. So while the rabbit played, the cat strutted, spun the walking stick and whistled along with the rabbit. On and on and on they went. Finally, they stopped.
      "My name is Scooter," said the rabbit. "What's your name?"
      The cat shrugged and said, "Gee, I really don't know."
      Scooter studied the cat and then replied, "Since you have only one ear and you're standing next to a big rock, I shall call you Rocky Van Gogh."
      "Van Gogh?" answered the cat, somewhat bewildered.
      "Van Gogh was a famous artist who only had one ear, like you," said Scooter.
      "How did you know that?" asked Rocky.
      "I don't know, I just know it's so. Maybe it's magic."
      "I see. Well, don't all cats have just one ear?" asked Rocky.
      "No, they all have two ears," answered Scooter.
      "Well, I guess I'm just a little bit different," said Rocky, who then noticed that the rabbit didn't have a tail. "Where's your tail, Scooter? I thought all rabbits had a fluffy tail?"
      "Really?" answered Scooter? "I didn't know that. How did you know that?"
      "I don't know, I just know it's so. Maybe it's magic."
      "I guess we're both a little different," answered Scooter.     
      "I guess so," smiled Rocky. "It was nice meeting you. Well, I have to go now. I'm on my way to the rainbow castle."
      "To the castle? Why, that's where I'm going, too! Although, I don't know why."
      "Actually, I don't know why I'm going there either" replied Rocky. "Why not go together? We can keep each other company."
      "That would be great," answered Scooter.      
      So off they went happily down the road: Rocky twirling his stick and whistling a happy SONG 3, Scooter playing the trumpet while birds chirped and the butterflies fluttered overhead. On-and-on they went having a wonderful time.
      Eventually, Rocky and Scooter entered a beautiful forest. They felt tired, so they snuggled under a beautiful weeping willow tree and took a nap. They dreamed about rainbow castle and the wonders they imagined it beheld.
      Later, a loud splashing sound awakened them. "What is that noise," asked Scooter?"    
      "I don't know," answered Rocky.
       Curious, they got up and followed the sound to a nearby brook and looked in disbelief as they saw a huge muscle-bound frog doing a one-armed handstand on a rock in the brook. He was twice as big as Rocky and Scooter.
       "That's the biggest frog I've ever seen."
        "Me, too. I wonder how he got so big?"     
       They watched in amazement as the frog stood on his two back legs, did a somersault, a cartwheel and finished with several back flips from one rock to the other. He was fantastic. Rocky and Scooter were really impressed. When the frog finally stopped doing acrobatics on the rocks, he jumped to the shore and, still standing upright on his two back legs began doing some jumping jacks. When he finally stopped, Rocky and Scooter walked over to him.  
     "You sure are strong," said Rocky. "How did you get so big and strong, Mr. Frog? "
      The frog, who was looking the other way, didn't answer. Rocky repeated himself. Finally, the frog turned and looked in surprise when he saw Rocky and Scooter.
      "You sure are strong," repeated Rocky.
      The frog nodded and with a sad expression pointed to his mouth and shook his head.
      "Maybe he means he can't talk," said Scooter.
      Without the slightest hesitation, Rocky's fingers and hands began to move and form little patterns. The frog looked at Rocky and smiled as both communicated in Sign language. The frog asked Rocky where he learned Sign language. Rocky shrugged and signed that he didn't know where he learned it. He just knew how to do it. Then Rocky signed the frog and asked how he got so big.
      "I don't know," answered the frog in Sign. "It's just the way I am. I'm an orphan; maybe my father was as big as I am. I really don't know. I grew up by myself and just kept growing and growing…"
      "And growing, " Scooter added, with a smile.
      "All I remember is a unicorn came and touched my head with his horn when I was little."
      "Wow!" said Rocky. "That's amazing!"
      "I bet that's why you're so big," said Scooter."
      "It could be," answered the frog in SIgn and then asked, "Where are you two going?"
      "We're on the road to the rainbow castle," signed Rocky back.
      The frog looked in surprise and quickly signed back, "That's a coincidence, I'm on the road to the rainbow castle, too. Although, I'm not quite sure why."
      "We're not sure ourselves, either," signed Rocky. "My name is Rocky and this is Scooter, why don't you come with us?"
      "Fine with me," signed the frog. "I'll even be your bodyguard in case you two run into some problems."
      Rocky looked at the frog in surprise. There was no denying that the frog was very big and muscle-bound as far as frogs go, but how could he be anyone's bodyguard? Rocky told Scooter what the frog had said and both, not wanting to hurt the frog's feelings, nodded and smiled politely.
      The frog signed, "I know what you're thinking, but you'll find out how good a bodyguard I am, if and when you need my protection. You see, when I get mad, my body gets bigger and bigger until I'm a giant."
      Although they felt the frog was exaggerating, Rocky and Scooter just smiled and nodded politely.
      "By the way, my name is Mr. Pistachio, signed the frog. And no jokes about me being a nut. I'm the world's strongest frog, even if I can't speak or hear. However, I can read lips. So watch what you say."
      "Oh, we certainly will," signed Rocky.
      So off they went toward the rainbow-colored castle. Rocky led the way whistling his happy SONG 4 and twirling his stick while birds chirped and butterflies fluttered over him. Next came Mr. Pistachio, who kept leaping high in the air to see if there was danger ahead, while Scooter followed playing a drum.
     
      Further down the road, they passed a grove of bamboo trees and heard someone singing a very pretty song. Curious, Rocky, Scooter and Mr. Pistachio peeked through the bamboo trees and saw a very, very overweight panda bear lying on its back gracefully juggling several dishes on long thin bamboo sticks.
      "Wow. Isn't that panda bear fantastic?" said Scooter, while Mr. Pistachio, who read Scooter's lips, nodded his head up and down.
      "Sure is," said Rocky. "When the panda bear finishes, lets go say how much we liked his performance."
      They watched in disbelief at this amazing feat, and even more so when she got up and gracefully danced and then performed some beautiful ancient Tai Chi. Autumn-Tai Chi - Music 5."Good idea," said Scooter, while, once again, Mr. Pistachio nodded his head up and down.
      Finally, the panda finished doing Tai Chi. Rocky, Scooter and Mr. Pistachio walked through the bamboo trees and waved a friendly hello.
      "How do you do?" said Rocky. "We were just passing by and saw you juggling those dishes on those bamboo sticks while you were singing and then dancing and doing Tai Chi and had to tell you how great you are."
      The panda bear smiled and said, "Thank you very much."
      "My name is Rocky and these are my friends, Scooter and Mr. Pistachio. I hope we're not interrupting anything?"
      "Not at all. My name is Tiana."
      "You're amazing, Tiana," said Rocky. "How did you learn to juggle those dishes and dance and do Tai Chi so well?"
      "I don't know, Rocky. I just do it," answered Tiana. "I think it's some kind of magic."
      Rocky twirled his stick and said, "You know, I twirl this stick and don't have any idea where I learned how to do it, either."
      Scooter said, "It's the same with me. I have no idea how I learned to play all these instruments at one time.  Mr. Pistachio, who read their lips, signed that he had no idea how he had so many muscles and could tumble so well either except that a unicon had touched him with its horn when he was very young.
      Rocky told Scooter and Tiana what Mr. Pistachio had said.
      Tiana realized that Mr. Pistachio could not speak or hear and smiled politely and changed the subject. "Where are you all going?" she asked.
      "We're all going to the rainbow castle," said Scooter.
      "Why, that's exactly where I'm going, too!" answered Tiana. "Can I go along with you?"
      "Why sure," answered Rocky and Scooter as Mr. Pistachio nodded. So off they all went happily toward the castle in the Land of Perfect as Tiana juggled the dishes in the air as she walked. SONG 6
      As Rocky and his friends got closer and closer to the castle, they met and made two new friends who also felt they had to go to the castle, although, they didn't know why. They were: General Ponce Deleon Verdugo, a hot-tempered, cross-eyed porcupine who spoke loudly with a heavy foreign accent and carried a bow to shoot his quills; Tony Spumoni, a pink-colored aardvark from Spumonia, who had allergies, asthma, stuttered, but could tap dance on all four feet.

     As the colorful group of happy adventurers strutted, danced and sang toward the castle in the Land of Perfect, the ground suddenly began to rock and roll. Everyone's eyes opened wide wondering what it was.
     "Why is the ground shaking?" asked Tiana, nervously.
     "It's an ear...ear..earth...qua...qua...quake," stuttered Tony Spumoni from Spumonia. "Wha...what...el...el...else...ca...can...it be?"    
     Within seconds, the shaking became more and more intense until Rocky and his friends bounced up and down in the air like they were on a trampoline. The ground looked like ocean waves in a typhoon as far as they could see and trees bounced up and down like they were dancing.
     Suddenly, Tony Spumoni from Spumonia, started sneezing from the dust that came up from the ground. "Not my...al...al...lergies!" Ah-choo! Ah-choo! Ah-choo, he sneezed.
     "I'm scared," said Tiana, breathlessly, holding on to her dishes best she could.
     "I'm getting sea sick," said Scooter. "When is it going to stop?"
     Then they heard laughter coming up from under the waves. They looked, but they didn't see anyone. Then several laughing voices sang, "We're the Little Muses from the Land of Song who traveled through the earth from the other side of the world. We've come to play with you."
     "Pla…pla…play wi…wi…with us?" stuttered Tony Spumoni. " You…you… you're sha…sha..shaking us so ba…ba…bad we're all go…go…going to fa…fa…fall ll a…a…apart!"
     Suddenly, the Little Muses, dressed in colorful Chinese silks and wearing coolie hats began popping in and out of the rolling ground laughing and doing acrobatic tricks and then disappearing back as fast as they appeared.
     "Will you please stop!" shouted Tiana. "All my dishes are going to break."
     However, the Little Muses continued to stir up the ground while Rocky and his friends could do nothing but bounce up and down.          
     Poor Tony Spumoni's nose was getting red from sneezing so much and soon found it harder to breath.
     Now very angry, Tiana shouted in Chinese at the Muses to stop making the road bounce up and down or she would sit on them. The muses were surprised she could speak Chinese and not wanting Tiana to sit on them waved goodbye and disappeared back into the ground. Finally, the ground stopped rolling. Exhausted, Rocky and his friends laid on the ground trying to catch their breath, especially Tony. As they began to feel better, they looked up in disbelief because they found themselves at the base of a towering mountain.
      To their surprise, they saw that the road to the Land of Perfect went directly into the mountain through a dark tunnel or cave of some kind. They peeked in and weren't happy about going into the darkness.
     "Couldn't we just walk around the mountain inside instead of going into that cave; it looks scary?" said Tiana.
     "It does look scary," said Scooter, "but going around may lead us away from the Land of Perfect."
     "May...may...be we...we...cou...cou...could fi..fi...find a wa...wa..way to cli...cli...climb ov..over the mou...mou...mountain," stuttered Tony Spumoni.
     "It is too high and too dangerous," Signed Mr. Pistachio.
    Rocky nodded and said, "I guess we have no choice but to enter the cave."  So, taking a deep breath, they all tiptoed into the cave. It was very dark, but they noticed a bit of light farther down and walked toward the light. As they walked, they heard snoring and yawning and didn't know what to make of it.
     As it got lighter in the cave, they saw the source of the light and stopped motionless in their tracks. Before them were hundreds of glaring strobe-like eyes.  A signed read, "Do Not Disturb The Gazunnie Birds - Or Else!" They knew nothing about the Gazunnie birds and they didn't want to find out. They were amazed to see and hear the birds snoring and yawning while sleeping with their strobe-like eyes open.
     Rocky figured they probably wouldn't swarm unless they were awakened, so he put his finger to his lips for everyone to be silent. He then motioned them to follow him quietly. They all tiptoed silently past the Gazunnie birds to farther down the cave. Shortly, they saw the dim light from a burning torch in the darkness hanging on the cave wall.
     As they approached the torchlight, a voice from a dark enclave nearby whispered, "Who dares enter my cave? Who are you?"
     They all gasped and stood motionless at the scary, whispered voice.
     "My name is Rocky Van Gogh and these are my friends and we are on our way to the Land of Perfect."
    "And I am the Great Bazucco, the keeper of the cave. So, you're on your way to the land of perfect?" The Great Bazucco laughed.
     "Yes, me and my friends are on our way to the Land of perfect," replied Rocky.
     "Well, nobody passes unless you pay me tribute. Have you brought any tribute for me?
     Angry, Gerneral Verdugo, speaking in his usual loud voice said, "Tribute! What are you talking about, we didn't even know you were here."
    The voice groaned, "Not so loud. Not so loud. I can't stand loud noises. That's why I live in a quiet cave like this. Well, since you've brought no tribute, you can not pass to the Land of Perfect. You'll just have to go back. And be quiet not do disturb the Gazunnie Birds. They make my ears hurt so bad when they swarm that I have to go hide."
     "Really," said Scooter who put his trumpet to his lips and played High C over High C over High C, one of the loudest and shrilling notes ever. The Great Bazucco agonized in pain and held his ears as did Rocky and his friends. Scooter's high note vibrated so much that it shook the cave walls and parts of ceiling began to crumble down. Hearing the noise, the Gazunnie birds awoke and swarmed toward the Great Bazucco and Rocky and his friends.
     "Oh, No!" Shouted the Great Bazucco, his voice shaking. "My ears! My ears! I have to go back another section of the cave!"
     Quickly, Rocky and his friends ran from the creature farther into the cave to escape the Gazunnie birds. As they ran, they saw a flicker of light down the cave. The closer they got, the more they realized it was sunlight. Finally, they ran out of the cave into the sunlight and all let out a sigh of relief. Breathing heavy, they all fell to the ground and watched as the swarm of Gazunnie birds flew out of the cave and high into the sky. There were so many Gazunnie birds that they covered the sun for a long time. Finally rested, and the Gazzunies gone, Rocky and his friends, once again, went happily down the road toward the Land of Perfect singing their happy SONG 7.

     Meanwhile, back in the center of town, the Perfects were once again marching in protest against King Kindly. Many carried placards that read,  "I Want to be taller." "I want to be thinner." "I want smaller feet." "We Demand More." A young Perfect girl stood on a platform, shouting, "We demand that we never have another pimple on our faces again." The crowd cheered, especially the teenagers. King Kindly and Manduke watched the protest from the castle balcony, shaking their heads sadly.

A GROUP OF PROTESTING PERFECTS

     "I hope Rocky gets here soon," said King Kindly. "Things are getting worse and worse."
     "Well, according to my calculations, they should be here right about..." Manduke pointed toward the main street. "In fact, here he comes."
     As Rocky and his friends walked, danced and sang down the main street, they smiled and waved at the Perfects who were dressed in strange clothes for medieval times. However, the Perfects looked on in disbelief and stared silently, since they had been a long, long time since they had never seen anything that wasn't perfect. To their amazement, some of the children - the future Perfects - ran up to Rocky and his friends and happily danced with them.

PERFECT CHILDREN BEFORE BEING PERFECTIZED

      Stunned for a bit, but then thinking that their children might somehow be infected with imperfection, the Perfects quickly gathered their children and pulled them away. The children, who were not old enough to yet receive the ceremony of perfection, looked very sad because they couldn't understand why they couldn't play with Rocky and his friends. Soon the crowd became larger and larger when word spread that the town had been "invaded" by a group of imperfect outsiders.
     One Perfect asked Rocky, "How come you only have one ear?"   
     Rocky answered, "I don't know. Does it matter?"
      "Of course it does!" shouted the Perfect. "You're not perfect!"
      Another Perfect sarcastically asked Tony from Spumonia, "How come you're pink? Aardvarks aren't pink! They're brown, gray or yellow." Tony looked at the Perfect and answered, "Wo...wo...would it mamama...make any dif...fif...erence if I was or...or...orange, bl...black, blue or pur...pur...purple? I'd still be an aar...aar...aardvark."
     "Of course it does," replied the Perfect, in a spiteful tone. "Why, you even stutter." The Perfect shouted to his friends, "This one even stutters. The Perfect began laughing as did the other Perfects near Tony Spumoni.    
     The "Duh, duh duh, does it, real...real...really matter if I stu...stu...stutter. I, I, I'm still a g, g, g, good tap dan...dancer."
     "Of course it matters! You're not perfect."
     Other Perfects made fun of General Verdugo because his eyes were crossed and he spoke with a foreign accent.
     Furious, Mr. Pistachio began taking bigger breaths and slowly began to get bigger. A Perfect watching pointed at Mr. Pistachio and shouted, "I don't think this is a frog at all. He's too big. I think he's just an overgrown head of cabbage that grew legs and arms."
      Mr. Pistachio read the Perfect's lips and bounced up and down like a pogo stick in anger.
     Suddenly, someone in the crowd yelled, "We'd better chase them away before they infect us!" Another shouted, "That's right, we don't want to look like them!" Then, a Perfect woman called Tiana "fatso."  Infuriated, Tiana ran over and sat on top of her. The squashed woman Perfect yelled for help.
     As the Perfects ran to help the woman, Rocky and his friends couldn't take their insults any longer.  Furious, Scooter played his high C over C over high C and many of the Perfects ran away holding their ears in pain.
     Then General Verdugo told Scooter to play "Charge" as loud as he could on his trumpet. Scooter played "Charge" and the general shouted, "Olay," and pulled his bow from his shoulders. He then plucked some quills from his back and began shooting them into the air at the Perfects. Unfortunately, being cross-eyed did not help his aim and most of them didn't hit anyone, but did cause Rocky and Scooter to duck quite a few times.

      Mr. Pistachio started taking deeper breaths, then inhaled faster and faster and amazingly soon began to inflate. Everyone looked at Mr. Pistachio in disbelief as he kept getting taller and taller and his muscles kept getting bigger and bigger. In no time he towered over everyone. Amazed and frightened, the Perfects panicked, began to back away and then fled in fear of both gigantic Mr. Pistachio, Scooter's trumpet playing and General Verdugo's quills. Soon, there were no Perfects on the street. Sadly, Rocky and his friends walked back to where they had camped the night before.

      Later that night, Rocky and his friends sat around the campfire talking about what had happened that day.
      "You were great, Mr. Pistachio," said Rocky aloud as he signed to Mr. Pistachio. "Now I know what you meant about being our bodyguard."
     Everyone thanked Mr. Pistachio, Scooter and, of course, General Verdugo.
     Tony Spumoni was still mad. But more than mad, he was confused. "Can you imagine! They didn't like me because I'm pink. I'm still a good tap dancer. What does my pink have to do with what and who I am?"
      "Nothing," answered Rocky, "I feel the same way. What difference does it make if I have one ear or two ears? I'm still the same inside."
      "Maybe there is something wrong with us," said Scooter.
      "There's nothing wrong with us!" answered General Verdugo in anger. "There's something wrong with those "loco" people who made fun of us and called us stupid names."
      I agree," said Tiana. "However, I'm sorry for losing my temper and sitting on that woman who called me that cruel and nasty name."
      "No one blames you," said Rocky. "What you were called was totally in bad taste. Personally, I think you look just fine just the way you are." Everyone added more encouraging words.
      Just then, a Perfect from town entered their camp. Everyone jumped up ready to do battle. The Perfect said, "Please, don't be alarmed. I didn't come here to cause trouble. I'm here to talk to you about what happened today." The Perfect explained that the Perfects were just not used to seeing anything or anyone who wasn't perfect. He said everyone was confused. The Perfect then invited Rocky and his friends to come to town the next day because the Perfects wanted to talk to them.
      "What do they want to talk about?" asked Rocky. The Perfect answered, "They're just all afraid of you and want to know why you're here." Rocky and his friends talked it over and agreed to the meeting. Rocky told the Perfect that they would also like to put on a show as a gesture of friendship before they talked to them. The Perfect was elated and left.

      The next day, Rocky and his friends stood on a stage facing all the Perfects. "You all wanted to know why we are here," Rocky said. "Well, I'm really not sure. All I can think of is" -- Rocky pointed to Scooter who played a drum roll and then began playing the trumpet. SONG 8
      First, Mr. Pistachio inhaled and got bigger and bigger. This made the Perfects uneasy until Mr. Pistachio lifted and held Tiana on his head where she juggled several dishes on long bamboo sticks.  General Verdugo then shot his porcupine quills at balloons tacked to a board. Tony the aardvark amazed everyone as he tap danced on all four feet, instead of just his two front feet. And of course, Rocky directed everyone while twirling his stick and throwing it high in the air. Everyone on stage smiled happily.
      The bewildered crowd watched the show and became confused when the performers smiled. The Perfects whispered among themselves pointing at anyone on stage who was smiling.  Rocky walked over to the Perfect who invited them to town the night before and asked the man why the Perfects were pointing at the stage. The Perfect answered, "What is the strange thing everyone on stage is doing with their mouths?"
      "Why, they're smiling," answered Rocky.
      "Smiling? Why do they do that?" asked the man.
      "Why? Because they're happy," answered Rocky."
      The Perfect looked confused and said, "I've never heard of the words smile and happy.
      "I guess you've never heard of the word laugh, either," said Rocky.
      "No," said the man. "Ah...how do you smile?"
      "Well, to start with, just lift the sides of your lips up," answered Rocky. "Here, I'll do it for you." Rocky lifted the sides of the Perfect's lips with his fingers and slowly the Perfect smiled. "That's it," said Rocky, who then began tickling the Perfect. The Perfect began laughing. Bewildered, all the Perfects looked at the laughing Perfect. The laughing Perfect then walked through the crowd tickling other Perfects who in turn tickled other Perfects and soon all the Perfects were laughing.
      Rocky realized that in their quest for being perfect, the Perfects had forgotten how to smile and laugh and be happy, which left them no capacity for love, tolerance or compassion. After Rocky and his friends finished performing, the crowd cheered and applauded.
      King Kindly and Manduke watched what was happening from the castle balcony. Ecstatic at Rocky's success, he danced and hippity-hopped around the room. As he celebrated, his daughter, Perfecta, entered the room, still with a veil over her face.
      "Please, take off your vail, Perfecta. You're beautiful. Why do you always hide your fact?"
      "You know why," answered the princess who sighed and hurried from the room in tears. The king was heartbroken.

      Rocky and his friends were summoned to the castle by the King Kindly MARCHSONG 9 for a great feast and to honor them. Princess Perfecta and Manduke sat next to the king. To show his gratitude, the king appointed Rocky Minister of Laughter and Happiness for the Land of Perfect and also Ambassador to all the countries around the Land of Perfect. General Verdugo was appointed Director of Security and Mr. Pistachio Director of Physical Fitness. Scooter became Music Director of the Land, Tiana Coordinator of "Be Proud Of Who You Are" awareness program, Tony, the aardvark, became Director of Dance and the Arts. After the ceremony, the king announced that it was
time for all to celebreate. The court musicians played and the everyone danced, sang and feasted on the delecious food the king had put before them.
      During the celebration, Rocky met the princess and asked her why she wore a veil. The princess started crying and ran out onto the balcony. SONG 10.
      Rocky thought he had said something wrong and followed her to apologize. On the balcony, Rocky apologized to the princess, who said he hoped he hadn't said anything wrong. "If I didn't say anything wrong, what made you cry when I asked about your veil?" asked Rocky. Just then, the birds and butterflies that always followed Rocky came and lifted the veil from the princess' face and flew away with it.
      "Why, you're beautiful!" exclaimed Rocky. Then the princess' face started turning red. "Why, you're blushing," smiled Rocky.
      "I can't help it," said the princess. "You see, I'm very, very shy, and that's why I wear the veil over my face. I always blush."
      "There's nothing wrong with being shy," replied Rocky. "There are many, many others in the world who are shy. Do you like me less because I only have one ear?"
      "Why, of course not!" replied the princess.
      And I don't like you any less because you're shy," replied Rocky. So, on and on they talked, and soon the princess slowly forgot some of her shyness. After a bit, they returned to the celebration inside. The king saw Perfecta without the veil and was very, very happy.
      The Perfects now were so busy smiling, laughing, dancing and being happy, that they didn't care if they were perfect or not anymore. Thanks to Rocky and his friends, all was peaceful in the Land of Perfect, for now the Land of Perfect had finally become the Land of Perfect.

THE END

ROCKY VAN GOGH - THE CAT WITH ONE EAR - Hollywood Tower Publications
©Library of Congress - Writer's Guild of America West
Music Composed by Mark Traversino - ©Library of Congress
Mark Anthony Publishing Company - BMI

marktravers@earthlink.net

rocly_van_gogh@yahoo.com

I

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE STORY

SINCERELY, ROCKY