(previous) part of our Tales of the WLBOTT series (next)
The following Saturday, Lyra, Lochlan and Leo climbed into Old Blue and headed to Wink. They were going to visit the Roy Orbison Museum – it had been years since they’d visited, and the twins had another purpose; they wanted to scout out locations for their fantasy money frivolity. Where would they build the ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ wedding chapel? The ‘Pompadour Palace Barbershop’? The ‘Beehive & Bouffant Bouquet’?
Another reason for their good mood: they’d been to the game last night. Wink-Loving, still undefeated!
During the 30-mile drive, Lyra looked over at Lochlan and gave him a wink. Then she said to Leo, “Let’s play the ‘I Won the Lottery’ game.”
Leo grinned. “First off, did you win the lottery?”
“I sure did! Fifty million.” Lyra handed Leo a slip of paper. They’d been playing this game since they were kids.
Leo played along. “Nice round number. A lot you can do with fifty million.”
Lochlan was starting to get wise, and with a half smile said, “So Lyra and I have been playing this game, and we’ve got an idea. Let’s turn Wink into a tourist destination, but not just any tourist destination. We’ll make it a wedding destination. Roy Orbison themed. Sorta like Vegas and Elvis.”
Leo nodded noncommittally. “Cuénteme más, señor.”
Lyra continued, “The whole package. A wedding chapel, a beauty parlor, a honeymoon motel, a diner for the reception and parties.”
“And a one-stop legal aid office for annulments, prenups, restraining orders, and other regrets,” said Lochlan.
“Here, we did some mock-ups of postcards from Wink.” Lyra fished the postcards out of her backpack.
Leo laughed. “Perfect,” he said.
They had a great day at the museum. They’d forgotten that a 15-year-old Roy Orbison had left his mark in the stairway of the Rig Theater, just down the road. The museum had preserved his carved initials in a special display.
After the visit, they did a little grocery shopping. When the nearest grocery store is 30 miles from home, you don’t miss a chance to stock up on TP and Oreos. After a lunch of chicken fried steak and fries, they headed home. Lyra drove into the sunset listening to the synchronized snores from Lochlan and Leo.
Lochlan’s Dream
Lochlan was actually becoming a little uneasy with The Roy Orbison Wedding Experience™. Several nights ago, he had a terrible nightmare. Actually a string of nightmares, with some common themes.
In the first nightmare, he was confronted by some extremely angry, very buff ghost brides wearing Roy Orbison sunglasses. They were lookin’ to kick his ass.
The next nightmare was filled with zombie brides at the beauty parlor. These women were not so much angry with him, but were sending him a warning. There were also space aliens, chihuahuas with bouffants, and a nuclear explosion, but that was just background to the zombie brides.
Although Lyra and Lochlan often shared their dreams, Lochlan wasn’t going to share these. He didn’t want to dampen Lyra’s enthusiasm for the harmless fantasy, but mostly he didn’t want Lyra to know of his fear of the Amazon Ghost Brides. He would never hear the end of it.
Lochlan liked to think about his dreams, and had taken a class in Jungian archetypes when he was attending Odessa College. The Amazon Ghost Brides in his first dream were powerful, life-sustaining and sovereign. Lochlan felt they were angry with him for commodifying something that should be sacred and solemn in a couple’s life.
With the zombies? Maybe loss of control, loss of free will, loss of decision-making power?
As far as Bouffant Fido, who knows? It still creeps out Lochlan to this day.
After thinking about it for a while, Lochlan realized what was causing him this discomfort. He truly admired Roy Orbison. He loved his voice, his gentle and gentlemanly nature, his creativity, the way he could phrase things just right. He loved that Roy Orbison was considered Wink’s native son.
And Lochlan knew that Orbison had endured terrible tragedy. Lochlan wondered how anyone could endure such tragedy. But that made him pause. He thought of himself and Lyra. He knew something about endurance. Endurance not chosen, but forced upon you, because there is no other path.
And Leo, he thought. Christ Almighty.
Roy Orbison had lifelong vision problems. He witnessed his wife die in a motorcycle accident. Two of his children died in a house fire while he was on tour in England. He suffered heart trouble from a fairly young age, survived open heart surgery at the age of 41, and died at the age of 52 from a heart attack.
Lochlan decided to focus on the rockabilly fantasy rather than the Roy Orbison knock-offs. And he didn’t want to dampen Lyra’s spirit.
Lyra’s Dream
Lyra’s dreams were romantic and peaceful. It was a happier time, in her imaginings, where problems were small and people got along. A fantasy, she realized, and there is never a time without its troubles, but she let herself get lost in her carefree vision.
