Chewing on some wires in the Normal library, I ran across this old news clipping about Travis Opal.  Sorry the edge is a bit frayed (hee hee).

A story in search of meaning

CHIEF WATTS: Travis, I realize you’re upset, but what am I supposed to do? There is no record of any wrongdoing at Waiklund.

TRAVIS:  You don’t find these so-called bear attacks a little fishy?

CHIEF WATTS:  I can’t barge in and arrest people based on an unsubstantiated hunch.

TRAVIS: It’s not a hunch. You and I both know something is going on at Wako.

CHIEF WATTS:  Uh-huh. And how do we know this?

TRAVIS:  It’s an insane asylum!  Isn’t that enough?

CHIEF WATTS:  Nothing is going on. It’s a bunch of lost souls living out what measly life they have left.

TRAVIS: You know and I know…

CHIEF WATTS: No, you don’t know! Every patient has a computer chip in his brain. And we’ve never found one embedded chip in any brain autopsied.  And as you are aware, every violent death or unexplained death gets autopsied. There’s never been one escape at Waiklund.

TRAVIS:  I settled here 7 years ago because I had a dream -

CHIEF WATTS: I thought it was a vision… after you ate those mushrooms.

TRAVIS:  – over at Calgary Rock. The Rock has a powerful aura.

CHIEF WATTS:  Right.

TRAVIS: And what I learned from that powerful incident is that Wako must be stopped.

CHIEF WATTS: So how does this relate to the two bear attacks?

TRAVIS: The attacks are happening because Wako is whack.  Why do I have to keep telling you this? Are you a moron?

CHIEF WATTS: I like to think I’m a friend, Travis. I always try and stay on your side during altercations. You know that.

TRAVIS:  I can’t even carry on a civilized conversation with you.

CHIEF WATTS:  Look, we’re trying to find the bear. When we find it, all your concern will be over. In the meantime, can you just stop yanking my chain?

TRAVIS: You’re fixing the symptom, not the problem. Maybe it’s time to get your thumb out of your ass.

Oh Lord, just got a call. Travis Opal is coming in.

Chief Watts has a big…

All right, what do you get when you cross a mild-mannered law enforcement officer with an off-the-grid survivalist?  Answer:  Plenty of weekends shot to hell.

That’s the low-down on the hoe-down between Chief Darrell Watts and Travis Opal.  (OK, I sound like a hick, but I just got out of prison for f**k’s sake.) Point is, Travis is always yanking the Chief’s chain.  A bear kills a deer out on a trail – you’d think it was the x-rated version of Jaws 7.

In Ring #1:  Chief Darrell Watts, a congenial dedicated cop who worked the hardscrabble streets of L.A. until he moved to Normal five years ago for a little peace and quiet.  As luck would have it, he became Police Chief a year later after the former Chief was killed by a rabid deer.  Tough break for the dead guy.

In Ring #2:  Travis Opal, an OCD-type and de facto leader of the survivalist compound, living out at the old army barracks near Calgary Rock. Travis is always kickin’ up a dust storm.  Some people like his attitude, a lot of people don’t.

Me?  I’m just the narrator. I don’t like confrontation. It puts me off my nuts.  Chief Watts has a big problem.

Chief Darrell Watts

Travis Opal, leader of the survivalist compound

Quiet weekend. Reading yesterday’s Normal Times about bear attacks. Calm, nuanced, well done. Hope Travis Opal doesn’t see it.

Normal Times blurb on bear attack