Love Me Tender: A Story

Love Me Tender, A Story

By: Roy Paul Shieldsã

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I make no pretense at being a writer; I am a dreamer and a story teller with a big imagination. This is a work of fiction informally based on the life of a real person, Elvis Presley.

Love Me Tender, A Story begins high above Earth in the billowing white clouds of Heaven. The voices of a mighty chorus seemed to fill the skies with a beautiful gospel. As we walk along, the clouds begin to part to reveal a chorus of hundreds of smiling people of every race, color, creed and ages all dressed in white garments.

As they finish the gospel, the entire chorus breaks out in laughter and smiles as the chorus leader gives them a thumbs up for a great effort. About this time an older man, whose name is Father Adams, approaches the chorus leader and touches him on the shoulder. The leader turns, and low and behold, it is Elvis Presley. Father Adams has been Elvis Presley's friend and mentor ever since Elvis first arrived in Heaven.

Father Adams tells Elvis that the Rev. Father O'Neill would like to see him at Heaven's Chapel immediately. Elvis turned to the chorus, which consisted of many great entertainers from Earth. Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Jim Reeves, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and even Dean Martin.

Elvis called Ella Fitzgerald and asked her if she would take over for him. Ella Fitzgerald laughed, put her arms around Elvis, and said, Why Darling, you know I would be happy to do that for you. As Elvis and Father Adams walked away, they heard Ella tell the chorus, Now children, I want to hear you loud and clear.

Elvis and Father Adams departed for Heaven's Chapel. As they walked through the clouds towards Heaven's Chapel, Father Adams explained to Elvis that Father O'Neill had great news that would make him very happy. Upon entering the Chapel they are escorted to Father O'Neill's chambers. Standing before Father O'Neill, Elvis is filled with excitement, as he hopes this is the day he has waited so many years for.

Smiling, Father O'Neill begins by telling Elvis that this is probably the day he has been waiting for. He goes on to explain that everyone in Heaven is very proud of Elvis for the wonderful job he has done with Heaven's chorus, and now everyone in Heaven wants to be in Heaven’s chorus.

Father O'Neil continues to tell Elvis that through the years he has had to deny his request to visit Earth simply because there were so many that had arrived in Heaven before Elvis, and it seemed each and every one of them wanted to visit Earth one more time. We simply cannot play favorites here Elvis, but after all of these years, your turn has come.

Through the years Elvis, you have told me how important it is that you be allowed to go back to Earth to tell your wife Priscilla how sorry you are for the way you neglected her. It makes me very happy to tell you that tomorrow morning your visit to Earth will begin. Father Adams will explain all of the details to you. Father O'Neill smiled as he looked at Elvis and told him, May God be with you during your visit.

Elvis wanted to jump up and down and shout thank you, but kept himself under control. As he and Father Adams left Father O'Neill's chambers, Elvis turned several times to thank Father O'Neill for allowing him this visit. Elvis was filled with questions for Father Adams and could not wait to get outside.

Once outside Father Adams told Elvis he realized how important it was for Elvis to go back to Earth and visit Priscilla. But everyone who is allowed to visit Earth must do a very good deed while visiting. Part of the bargain for you to be allowed this visit Elvis, is that you do a good deed of great magnitude, explained Father Adams.

Now Elvis, I'm sure you are aware of the fact that no one ages once they arrive in Heaven. You see, we cannot allow you to visit Earth as the celebrity you once were on Earth. So, when you wake up tomorrow morning and look in the mirror, you will have aged twenty some years. Your Earth travel name will be Andy Parker. I will stop by in the morning about 8:00 to brief you and give you all of your proper identification and traveling funds. One more thing Elvis, the reason for the change of identity, I'm sure you realize, Earth is simply not ready for a visitor from Heaven.

Father Adams smiled and said, Well Mr. Elvis Presley today, and Mr. Andy Parker tomorrow, get a good night sleep, as you are going to be busy tomorrow. They parted and Andy walked through the clouds to his room. Once in his room he sat on the edge of his bed looking at a picture of Priscilla. He was smiling so hard that it hurt his face as he told Priscilla I love you little darling, I love you. As Elvis fell asleep his last thoughts were of Priscilla.

Elvis awoke the next morning and hurried off to look into the mirror. Looking back from the mirror was a man with gray hair and well-trimmed gray beard. Elvis, now Andy Parker, smiled at the face looking back at him. He thought, getting older isn't all that bad, I don't look near as bad is I thought I would. As Andy stood looking in the mirror admiring himself, Father Adams arrived.

Father Adams said, Well Mr. Andy Parker, you are one good-looking older gentlemen. Father Adams told Andy they were running a little bit behind, so he would explain everything to Andy on the way to Heaven's garage. As they walked through the clouds towards Heaven's garage, Father Adams explained all of the paperwork in the manila envelope he had given to Andy.

The envelope contained driver's license, vehicle registration, birth certificate, social security card, and other paperwork that Father Adams explained to Andy. Father Adams told Andy the small white envelope contained his traveling funds. Father Adams laughed and told Andy, Needless to say all of your paperwork is perfect, after all, Heaven's printers prepared it for you.

They stopped before a large building with a sign over its doors that read Heaven's Garage. As they entered Heaven's Garage Andy was overtaken by the number of beautiful shiny vehicles that were parked all around the huge garage. They walked past Cadillacs, Corvettes, and Mercedes, not to mention a Rolls Royce or two. Andy smiled as he thought, looks like I may be traveling in style.

Father Adams stopped in front of a 1955 Ford pickup truck that was sorely in need of a paint job. Andy looked at the ‘55 Ford pickup truck and looked at Father Adams like is this my transportation?

Father Adams told Andy that his visit to Earth was allowed a little sooner than expected. All of the other vehicles in the garage had been allocated. Father Adams slapped Andy on the back and laughed. He told Andy not to worry, Heaven's mechanics had checked every square inch of this vehicle, and it was ready to rock and roll. Oh, one more thing. For some reason the truck will not go over fifty-five miles per hour. But then, we don’t have to worry about you getting a speeding ticket on the freeway, do we?

Father Adams told Andy to get in and look the vehicle over. Andy climbed behind the wheel, as Father Adams told him, Now Andy, you cannot use Elvis Presley's identity for any personal gains whatsoever. Also your good deed must be of great magnitude not just walking a little old lady across a busy intersection. Andy’s emotions were getting the best of him. He got out of the truck and gave Father Adams a long hard hug and thanked him for being his mentor.

As Andy reached for the door handle to get back into the truck he started to laugh. Painted on the door in very faded letters was the word Hound Dog. Andy thought, Very appropriate. He climbed into the truck and Father Adams handed him his paperwork, and he put in the glove compartment. Father Adams closed the door and told Andy to fire it up and see what he thought.

Andy took a deep breath, reached down and turned the key. Hound Dog started immediately and he waited while the engine warmed up. All of a sudden he was blinded by flashing lights and seemed to be spinning totally out of control. Andy held on to the steering wheel in a panic just knowing he was going to crash.

The flashing lights and spinning stopped suddenly and Andy opened his eyes. As his eyes became accustomed to the light he realized he was in a mountain area. The mountains were covered with trees, everywhere he looked were beautiful green trees. He was parked alongside a black top road. A spectacular river ran alongside the road as far as Andy could see. He thought, Wow, now this is Earth’s wonderful nature at its best.

Andy got out of the truck and walked up and down the road a couple hundred feet direction taking deep breaths as he walked. He knew he was on Earth, as nothing could smell so wonderful. He stood beside Hound Dog and laughed as he thought, I know I'm on Earth but I wonder where on Earth I am. He started Hound Dog up and once again laughed and thought, If I drive up the road, I have to end up someplace, but where Hound Dog?

He had not driven far when he passed a road sign that read California Highway 96. Andy thought, Well, at least I know I am in California. He had only traveled a couple more miles when he passed another sign that read Happy Camp, 10 miles. Andy found a place to pull over and parked. He looked in the glove compartment and sure enough found a California road map. It seemed like he had looked at the map forever and was about to give up when he found a small dot and next to it was Happy Camp in very small letters. He said, Well Hound Dog let’s go check out Happy Camp.

Andy was in total awe of nature’s beauty that surrounded him. He had only driven a couple of miles when he saw a white vehicle approaching him very rapidly. Just as the white vehicle was about to go by him, there was a loud bang, and Andy almost lost control of Hound Dog. He made it to the side of the road and parked. He got out and looked. Sure enough, the left front tire had blown out on Hound Dog.

As he stood looking at the blown out tire, the white car that had gone by him screeched to a stop and spun around, and pulled up behind Andy. It was a squad car and a very large deputy walked up to Andy. The deputy put his hands on his hips and hollered at Andy, What the hell do you think you are doing man? Andy replied, Well Sheriff, I think it is very obvious that my truck had a blowout.

The deputy told Andy, I am not a sheriff, I am a deputy, and let’s get that straight mister. He told Andy, I ought to run you in to the Yreka jail. You almost hit my squad car. Andy read the nametag on his shirt and said, Well Sheriff Donnelly, I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my vehicle under control with a blown front tire. The deputy told Andy he was going to look his truck over, and he had better not find anything else wrong, or he would take him to the county jail in Yreka.

While the deputy looked his truck over, Andy got out his spare tire and lug wrench. Andy made a bad discovery and thought to himself, Oh great, I don't have a jack. About then Deputy Donnelly walked up to him and said, You are a lucky man, your truck seems to be in very good shape. Andy said, Well Sheriff, we have another problem, I seem to have lost my jack. Deputy Donnelly said, I don't believe you man, now for sure I ought to take you to jail.

Deputy Donnelly walked back to his squad car, opened the trunk, got a jack and brought it back to Andy. Andy changed the tire as quickly as possible. He handed the jack back to the deputy and said, Thank you Sheriff Donnelly. Deputy Donnelly tapped Andy on the chest and said, I told you mister that I am a deputy, not a sheriff. He then asked Andy, Where are you headed mister? Andy told the deputy he was headed for Happy Camp.

The deputy asked Andy why he was going to Happy Camp. Andy told him that he was going to Happy Camp looking for work. Deputy Donnelly laughed and asked, Work? There is no work in Happy Camp. The gold mining is gone and the timber industry is gone. There is no work in Happy Camp. He told Andy that Happy Camp was his district, and if he found Andy just hanging around Happy Camp doing nothing, he would run him in for vagrancy. Andy said, Don't worry sir, I will either be working or I won't be in Happy Camp.

Andy got in the truck, patted Hound Dog on the dash, laughed, and said, Welcome back to planet Earth. He had not traveled very far up the road when he began to pass buildings. As he drove along what seemed to be the main street, he passed a gas station, a bank, a hardware store, a liquor store and a tire shop then headed down a hill. Driving a little farther he passed a restaurant bar with a sign out front that read Gold Mine Restaurant and Bar and another small restaurant on the other side of the road with a sign that read Frontier Restaurant. He drove a little farther out the road and passed a Laundromat and that was it.

That seemed to be the edge of town, so Andy pulled over, turned around and headed back for town. As he approached the Gold Mine Restaurant, his stomach was growling, so he pulled into the vacant lot and parked. There was a neon Open sign in the window. Andy sat there thinking about his ride through town. It didn't seem like over population would be a problem here. He got out and walked towards the front door.

He entered the building and saw a pair of wooden swinging doors that he went through. This room seemed to be a bar. As his eyes became adjusted to the light he saw a couple of people shooting pool and a man and a lady behind the bar. He walked up and sat down at the bar. The man and lady both said Hi and seemed very friendly. The man asked Andy if he wanted a beer and Andy laughed and said no, But I sure could use something to eat.

The lady gave Andy a menu, and he quickly ordered a hamburger, fries and a soft drink. The lady called the order back to the kitchen. She introduced herself as Ellen, and the man said his name was Bill. They told Andy they were the owners. Andy reached out and shook both of their hands and told them his name was Andy Parker.