| One day, I was just hanging out at home. Dad came in and said “Hey Megan, do you want to go to the Red Green Planning Committee tonight? I have a ticket, but I have to work.” Planning committee? Well, Red’s biggest fans are in Iowa, so I figured he just decided to poll the fans and see what they wanted. So I headed down to the riverfront. (I live next to the Mississippi.) I strolled out onto the little meeting pavilion patio thing that had just been built for this meeting and took a seat. Nils was there, as were a bunch of other semi-familiar people from my hometown. Just as the meeting was about to start, Al strolled in and took a seat right across from me! He sat there through the whole meeting, and at the end, stood up and invited all of us to his wedding. (YAY!) We all hopped into Al’s private jet and flew to his house in California. After a few frantic hours of preparation, we all walked a few blocks down to the church and watched the wedding. (It was beautiful!) Well, Al and Suzanne had decided that for their reception, they’d just invite their favorite folks over to their new house after the wedding. I was one of the lucky chosen few. Al and Suzanne wanted a few minutes to go change, so we all crashed in their backyard. There were sofas, couches, end tables, and there was also a labyrinth. Someone dared me to go through it while we waited for Al and his blushing bride. I agreed. As I set off through the maze, a little dog ran up to me and started talking to me. (It was Gaspode, from the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett.) He led me all the way through the labyrinth in less than five minutes. When I got back out, everyone was shocked that I’d done it that quickly. I smirked at them and sat down on the couch next to a member of the Stupid Club. We started chatting, and for some reason I started telling them that I’d seen Al earlier that day. They were impressed. Just then, Al came out with Suzanne, and we clapped for them. Suzanne looked amazingly pretty (she was in a long, formal dress that was pink and sequined. Al (who had heard the last part of my conversation) said “When did you see me?” “At the Red Green planning committee…” Al looked blank. I named the town I live in…still a blank look. “Iowa…big river that smells like fish?” At that, he suddenly remembered and said “Oh yeah, the Mississippi.” “Mississstinky.” He laughed and flopped down on a couch. Suddenly, I realized that Al was, in reality, Rob Minder (a guy I’ve acted with who is also my second grade teacher’s husband) and that he’d just put on both personas (Al and Rob) to confuse everyone. I went over to him to tell him I had figured it out. Since now everyone knew, we decided to reenact a scene from Opal Is A Diamond. When I was actually in Opal Is A Diamond-in real life-I played the fiancée of the political spin doctor, who was played by Rob. So naturally, Al and I decided to play out the stage kiss. (The kiss occurs during another actor’s monologue. So it lasts for a good five minutes.) After all that hard work, (the things I’ll do for Al) Al went back and snuggled with Suzanne on the loveseat. They looked tired, so I surreptitiously suggested to the rest of the folks there that perhaps we should leave the newlyweds alone. They agreed, and we all went back home to the space station. (Yes, a space station. I don’t know why.) As we walked in the door, I noticed an old, yellowed newspaper on the hall table. I picked it up and read the front page. The front page story was about Al’s marriage. I don’t remember too many details, but I do remember that there were two really cute pictures of Al and family. One was Al and Suzanne posing together with their adopted two-year old son, Al Jr. who looked a lot like Anakin Skywalker. The other picture was Al, with a buzz cut, swimming with Al Jr. I suddenly realized I was late for band practice. I ran down the stairs, out onto the street (somehow the stairs connected the space station to the Earth) and into the local auditorium. On the stage were the DJ from AirHeads, a guy in a wizard outfit, a guy in a Batman costume, and a guy in a Cats leotard. All of them were holding guitars. As I ran up on stage, the DJ commented “I hope this works…some other guys tried to do a KISS band and failed miserably.” My Take On It Next Dream |
| Reception Revelation 08/14/01 |