Dan: Good evening, everyone. Tonight on the Bob Shellington Show, we have a special guest coming in shortly. I'm sure you've all heard of him. We're his magnificent journeys and adventures and also for me (ahem) to get an inside step before reading this super book by Mark Twain (present.) Ladies and gentlemen, Huckleberry Finn! (Clap)

Dan: Good evening, Huckleberry Finn.

Vic: Howdy, Bob. Call me Huck. How are ya?

Dan: Fine, thank you. So Huck, I've read the summary of this book so far. It seems very interesting, and I'd like to ask some questions.

Vic: Go right ahead. That's what an interview's for.

Dan: Why, exactly, did you run away?

Vic: Well, first, mah drunken Pa captured me and took me to a cabin far from town and Mrs. Watson and I....

Dan: I'm sorry, but who is this Mrs. Watson?

Vic: Oh, that's mah guardian...anyway, he locked me up in a cabin all day, all night and I only get to go out bout once or twice a day and not for long nuther. So all I did was spend all my time, eatin, sleepin, and preparin mah getaway.

Dan: And just how did you come up with such a plan?

Vic: By and by I got sick and tired just layin round doin nothin. I hated the whole darned thing cept for one thing and thats havin no manners. Mrs. Watson always usta henpeck me most everyday bout that. Anyhows, me and Pap were lookin for driftwood driftin long the river one day so he could sell it and buy liquor and get drunk again. He's wild when he's drunk. Called me a death angel and tried to kill me once. It sure is scary with Pap. Anyway, I found myself a canoe driftin long so then I took it and hid it and pap's raft together purty good and every night while he's out in the town gettin drunk all over again, I'm workin on a hole behind the bed in the cabin. When it was done I made a saw and took Pap's rifle and got ready for the final event. Then luckily, I found myself a big, thick wild pig, I shot it and cut it up and put all the guts, blood, and everything in the cabin. I tore my hair off and sprinkled it all over the mess. Then I busted the door open, grabbed a piece of the juicy pig for food and headed up river. It sure as heck looked like a vicious murder. I had to say so myself. It was a work of art.

Dan: Wow, Huck. That was really smart. Did you plan that or did you try anything that came to mind as you went along?

Vic: I have to say it's a little bit of both.

Dan: Alright and Jim, why did he run away?

Vic: Oh ol' Jim. He was Mrs. Watson's nigger and she was gonna sell him down river for $800 and he didn't want to move away so he just left about the same time I did.

Dan: How'd he do that?

Vic: I don't really know. I never cared so I didn't ask him. I will for you though. But everyone thought that he murdered me, so we were really on the run. I remember all of them on a boat searching out for me on an island. Everyone was there, Tom Sawyer, Mrs. Watsons, the judge, Pap, and more. They didn't see me though.

Dan: That's good. Thanks for going to ask Jim. So...did you two run away together?

Vic: Sure did.

Dan: How and where did you meet up?

Vic: Oh you see, we both ran away to the nearest far place, if you know what I mean, and that was Jackson's Island. He was makin a fire in the fields one day and I wanted to know who it was, so I crept up behind him and ayelled "Why, hello, Jim!" Golly, that man went crazy. He was babblin' some nonsense bout me comin back from the dead to haunt him and all that, but afterward, I convinced him enough. He touched my skin, hair, etc and knew for sure that I warn't no ghost or spirit returnin to haunt him. Then we became partners, runaway partners.

Dan: What a fright poor Jim must've had. So what kind of experience was running away?

Vic: It's fun, daring, adventurous, scary, and something I'm never ever gonna do again for a billion years!

-------Both Laugh-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan: Hoo boy. When you two were together, where did you sleep?

Vic: Oh, forgot to mention that we built a wigwam on the raft.

Dan: Did you sleep at the same time?

Vic: No, we divided and shared the time equally throughout the night. One would be snoring away while t'other'd be watching out for anything at all. Just for safety, security, and alert reasons. Afterall, we were fugitives.

Dan: I see. Does Jim work as hard as you?

Vic: Oh yes sir! He works real hard. Even harder than me. It's not that I'm lazier than him or anythin like that, but I guess he's just used to it, bein a slave and all.

Dan: He worked in a plantation correct?

Vic: Correct!

Dan: Did he leave anybody back there?

Vic: Oh yes. Still today, he wishes he didn't, but he did. He had to. He misses his daughter and wife dearly and thinks bout em all the time and is always writin letters to em. It's mighty sad to part with family. I know cus I lost mah Ma.

Dan: I'm sorry, Huck.

Vic: S'alright.

Dan: Moving along..what do you think of Jim...... overall?

Vic:Well, I think he's a swell guy.Probably my best friend besides good ol' Tom Sawyer.

Dan: But is there anything strange or weird about him?

Vic: Yesiree! Jim's weird alright, no offense to him! He believes in all that trash bout witches, superstition, and all that malarkey.

Dan: Do you doubt his beliefs?

Vic: Well, I have to say I did at first, but after the rattlesnake issue, I changed my mind.

Dan: So what's up with the rattlesnake issue?

Vic: Jim considers them rattlers as bad luck. I thought that was just jun so one day as I was walking round lookin for food, I found a dead sucker and decided to play a joke on poor Jim. He was still sleepin and I laid it on him. When he woke up, he was ascreamin and beggin the lord for mercy while I was laughin and mockin him but I shouldn't have been laughin because that's where the stream of bad luck came in and started right off right when another rattlesnake came in and bit Jim right in the ankle. I was mighty sorry I did such a stupid trick and healed it up good, but I never doubted his beliefs again.
Vic: Startin from then on, whatever was good luck for him was good luck for me and whatever was bad luck for him was bad luck for me.

Dan: Anything else you might like to add?

Vic: Hmmm...oh yeah. Just one that Jim sure is as stubborn as a mule dagnabbit. He's just like Tom Sawyer. When he's got his mind set and made up, he ain't ever gonna change it. For example, one day, we were talking bout kings in France and I told him that they spoke a different language called French. He said that was nonsense and everybody spoke the same ol' English. I tried to explain to him by how cats and dogs don't talk the same language but he just replied like he knew what he was talkin bout, "Well aint we all humans?" It was no use. Sure was frustratin', but I'm used to it.

Dan: But he's an ok guy to be around right?

Vic: Absolutely. More than ok. He's fantastic. We've all got flaws but that don't make us bad people.

Dan: Maybe I should meet him sometime. Anyway, you're absolutely right. A great man and partner he is. He was superb for travelling with too. You guys went a lot of places didn't you?

Vic: Yep we did.

Dan: How was it?

Vic: Just like runnin awa except I'd like to do it again!

Dan: Oh, I see. Where did you start?

Vic: Back home of course...in Mississippi-rebel land.

Dan: Where was your first stop.

Vic: Jackson's Island. I already told ya that.

Dan: Pardon me, but what was your destiny?

Vic: Well, obviously, we wanted to reach the North-anywhere in the North, first. Then Jim gave me several convincing reasons why we should go and stay in Illinois, so that was our goal.

Dan: Cool! That's where I'm from!

Vic: Really? Alright! Maybe we can meet sometime.
Dan: Sure thing. Ok, we're getting a little off the track here, but umm......did you make any other stops?

Vic: We visited several small towns like Parkville, one in Arkansas, Cario Jackson's Island, etc.

Dan: Anything exciting or interesting happen in those places?

Vic: Not much. Just stopped to learn, sleep, get food. A lot of happened witht hese two guys me and Jim met long the way. We'll discuss em later. Let's stay on the topic.

Dan: Did it take long to get around to other towns?

Vic: We don't plan it. We just go stop over at wherever we feel like stoppin over. And no, the travellin' wasn't in minutes, that's for sure.

Dan: What did you keep the canoe for?

Vic: Supplies, food, and all our other basic needs. No one stays in it, though. We just tie it up and keep it behind the raft.

Dan: Don't keep me in anymore suspense. C'mon, tell me, please, who were the other two characters you mentioned earlier.

Vic: Oh, alright. I'll spill them beans. There were these two white men claimin that they were a duke and a king. Jim and I thought they were ok people because they entertained us, taught us, and made plays in several towns and made lotsa money from it too. Boy, did they love money. They tricked us to think they were part of this one family, one day. They pretended to be brothers of this one man who died and wanted to sell his land that wasn't rightfully his. In the will, the land was given to the real brothers and they were pretendin to be them. Not only did they trick us, but they also tricked the poor family. Anyway, when they were discussing their evil plan privately, I was hidin in their closet and I heard everything, but I didn't do anything about it because they got what they deserved. Later, everyone else found out the so-called duke and king were imposters cus the real brothers arrived and proved the frauds wrong. As a result of that, they phoneys got tarred and feathered while me and Jim got away.

Dan: Awesome. Anyone else important?

Vic: No one, really, except the Phelps.

Dan: Who were they and what did they do?

Vic: First, I was lookin for Jim. He was captured by that money-lovin, selfish pig, the king and Jim, he was going to be either sold or returned to Mrs. Watson. He was being held prisoner at the Phelps residence. I went in to talk about it, but then an elderlywoman came out and screamed with joy extremely loudly, "It's you! You've finally come! Children! He's here! Your cousin, Tom Sawyer!" It had to be a miracle. Tom Sawyer was comin to town, but didn't arrive yet. I had to play along. At least I knew about who I was pretendin to be, so the whole family and I talked for ages. Later, I met him at the station and he thought just like Jim, thinking I was a ghost. He changed his mind after he got his needed convincing. We went back to the Phelps and acted as if I was Tom and Tom was my desperate brother who wanted to come along, Sid. They bought it. No one suspected a thing or what we were doing all the time, and that was working to free Jim.

Dan: So did you enjoy having the duke and the king aroun?

Vic: What do you think?! Use your brain for crying out loud! At first yes, but afterward when I found out everything, gracious no!

Dan: Pardon my ignorance, Huckleberry. How about the Phelps?

Vic: I love em lots and they're practically family to me. They were kind of my family.

Dan: Cool. Was it hard freeing a slave?

Vic: Golleee... with Tom Sawyer, no way.

Dan: I don't understand.

Vic: Yous see, he reads a lot of adventure books that are really old and he wants to do whatever they did and in their manner. All we could've done was make an easy hole through the cell and run away, but no. "It's not like that in the books! We have to do it normal." No use arguing with him. He's just as stubborn as Jim. So instead of my simple idea that would've worked just fine, he decided to carve him out with knives, write anamous letters, give Jim snakes and bugs, and all that other unnecessary junk. The set up for a dozen farmers to think they were in danger with cutthroats worked. They all waited outside and they thought that me, Tom, and Jim were the cutthroats when we ran away. They chases and chased us. One guy shot Tom right in the leg. I expected Tom to be upset but he didn't worry muc because this happened all the times in the books. I think that's really dumb, but oh well.

Dan: Amazing. Another cleverly-planned escape the dazzling duo performed. You got Jim free right?

Vic: Well because Tom got shot, no. They caught him again, but Tom didn't know that and told Aunt Sally Phelps and Uncle Silas Phelps everything we did. We were in deep trouble because to make the escape, we had to "borrow" lotsa stuff from the house like blankets, shirt, candles, etc and Aunt Sally didn't know who it was...until then. Also, Jim was a prisoner again! But the good news that Tom revealed later was that Mrs. Watson died and....

Dan: What?!

Vic: Just let me finish alright? Mrs. Watson died and she freed ol' Jim in her will. He finally got what he wanted, his dream. That Jim, he was a free man.

Dan: But why did Tom tell you so late?

Vic: Oh, he just wanted to set all this up just for the adventureness of it. He's just like that.

Dan: So I see....Is that how it all ended?

Vic: Yes sir.

Dan: That was absolutely and defintely one of the greatest stories I've ever heard in my life. I'm definitely going to read this novel for more details (present.)

Vic: And all you people out there should too.

Dan: That's right. Well, Huck, thank you very much for coming onto the show tonight.

Vic: No problem. Thank YOU, Bob.

Dan: Alright. That's all! Thank you everyone and good night! (Clap.)