Whatever Wedding You Want
This is an excerpt based off Imagine.
Don shuffles downstairs and celebrates with a beer and a favorite sandwich, roast beef, cheese, and pickles. The pickles are an addition after Thom's last birthday. The cake was one big car, and it reminds him of leftover cake in the refrigerator from Ally's party, and he has a piece of that too. He flips through channels searching for sense. What just happened? One beer turns into two. His lady from the Travel Channel turns into a world with a wife and kids. The World knows everything about Vegas except why Don goes there.
Are you gambling, going on a retreat with friends? The World asks. Vegas is also for families.
Emily pushes through the front door. Her face full of possibilities.
"Ally and I are getting married," Don says.
"Congratulations," Emily says.
Her smile is bright, too bright.
"Maybe we’ll do Vegas, or find a fancy resort close to here, do you and Grizzly want to come?"
He doesn’t hear Emily’s answer, though he sees her mouth moving. A thousand thoughts race through his head, the first thought or feeling is he's desperate. Whatever Emily says now about her mother, Grizzly and whether they go is secondary. Where will he and Ally get married, and what will Ally do if her sister goes on the trip? He feels as if he and Ally have changed places, and he's playing her part fussing over plans.
He turns his attention to the television again. The mighty World doesn't have answers. The World doesn't say it's a mistake to get married. Don takes this as a good sign and listens to all the things he should do in Vegas, but none of it makes any sense, and he asks god. (There is only one he knows, though he has heard of others). Google narrows down his choices to highly rated, four or five-star resorts by the sea, that easy drive away. Siri tells him, Ask Alexa which one she wants.
"A break from the planet," Alexa says. And she tells Don other things he never heard from Ally before about her first marriage. A DJ played the wrong music and their cake, “It was so dry they never ate the top,” Alexa says. But all he thinks of is how Ally looked when he asked. It wasn't anything like his daydreams. It was more like Emily's face, when she walked in the door.
Original Version published 7/19/20
Don shuffles downstairs and celebrates with a beer and a favorite sandwich, roast beef, cheese, and pickles. The pickles are an addition after Thom's last birthday. The cake was one big car, and it reminds him of leftover cake in the refrigerator from Ally's party, and he has a piece of that too. He flips through channels searching for sense. What just happened? One beer turns into two. His lady from the Travel Channel turns into a world with a wife and kids. The World knows everything about Vegas except why Don goes there.
Are you gambling, going on a retreat with friends? The World asks. Vegas is also for families.
Emily pushes through the front door. Her face full of possibilities.
"Ally and I are getting married," Don says.
"Congratulations," Emily says.
Her smile is bright, too bright. "We're going to Vegas. Tell Grizzly we need you to watch Thom."
He says the part to Emily about looking after Thom, and she says, "But I want to go and you know my mom."
"Maybe we won't do Vegas, we'll find a fancy resort close to here, do you still want to come?" A thousand thoughts race through Don's head, the first thought or feeling is he's desperate, and he doesn't hear Emily's answer, though he sees her mouth moving. He doesn't care. Whatever Emily says now about Grizzly and whether they go or not is secondary. Where will he and Ally get married, and what will Ally do if Grizzly goes on the trip? He feels as if he and Ally have changed places, and he's playing her part fussing over plans.
The mighty World doesn't have answers about how to talk to a wife. He doesn't say it's a mistake to get married. Don takes this as a good sign and pays attention to all the things he should do in Vegas, but none of it makes any sense in his situation, and he asks god. (There is only one he knows, though he has heard of others. Google narrows down his choices to highly rated, four or five-star resorts by the sea, that easy drive away. Siri tells him, Ask Alexa which one she wants.
"A break from the planet," Ally says. And she tells Don other things he never heard before about a DJ that played the wrong music even when she and Frank reminded him about the playlist. And a cake so dry they never ate the top.
But all he thinks of is what she said when he asked. It wasn't anything like the fat girl rushing towards him in his daydreams or the way Emily's face looked when she walked in the door. And he tells Ally what god said, in Vegas, "You can get whatever wedding you want."
Comments
Post a Comment