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The Song Challenge:   The Case of the Cheerio Highwayman -- TACOMA, Washington (AP) -- Seven-yeaar-old Perley King got into big trouble for driving off in his sister's car in search of his favorite cereal. But he's getting his Cheerios.  Early on April 1, while other family members slept, Perley and his dog, Bear, climbed into the car. Relying on skills learned at a computer game, the boy drove three miles in search of a food store.  In his drive to fame, Perley navigated some of the city's busiest streets by alternately stepping on the gas pedal, then climbing on the seat to steer, chugging along toward the food store.  The spin landed Perley in hot water, but also earned him television appearances and buckets of newspaper ink. His single-minded devotion to his favorite breakfast cereal will also have material rewards.  Representatives from Minnesota-based General Mills planned to visit Perley, his parents, Dwayne and Jeanne King, and six brothers and sisters at their Tacoma home this week. It means Perley can look forward to a year's supply of Cheerios and other surprises. He also may receive a new bicycle.  "So he'll never have to drive to the store again," said General Mills spokeswoman Liv Lane.


The Ballad of the Cheerios Kid by SharonA
(Tune:  Billy Joel's "The Ballad of Billy the Kid":)

From a house, in a town known as Tacoma
Strode a boy with a car key in his hand
And his tale of derring-do
Would thrill the townsfolk through and through
West to east all across this land.

Well, he started up the Mustang in the driveway
Then the young child known to all as Perley King
Put the car into drive
Wond'rin' if he'd be alive
Long enough to taste one more oat ring.

Well, he never woke his folks up
When he never found at home
Any traces of a box of Cheerios;
And he never asked permission
But he never drove alone
For his trusty dog goes ev'rywhere he goes.

Well, he headed for the grocery store on Main Street
And he didn't drive a car before that day,
But his passenger could tell
That his Nintendo taught him well
How to brake and steer along the way.

When he fin'lly got pulled over three miles later,
The policeman wrote him up for what he did
And his sister gave him heck
For risking her car and his neck
To earn the name of: The Cheerio Kid.

Now he always wakes his folks up;
They won't let him eat alone.
Gen'ral Mills sent him a case of Cheerios.
Though he never asked permission
When he drove away from home,
On TV he came up smellin' like a rose.

In a car, in a driveway in Tacoma
Sat a girl with a Club held in her hand.
As it locked, she hid the key
So that her brother would not be
Driving once more across this land.

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