I Had A Dream...About a King, Two Princes, and a Duke

In this dream, I went to heaven. It was cloudy. Clouds on the ground, even. I started walking around when all of a sudden Elvis stepped through a cloud and was standing right in front of me.

"It's the King!" I shouted.

Elvis looked good. He had slimmed down and though he was still wearing a jumpsuit, it was reasonably embellished with what appeared to be some form of celestial rhinestones, that sparkled in a tasteful way.

Elvis held up his palm and shook his head. "I'm not the King,"  he said. "That title belongs to one who comes before me."

"You mean, Jesus?" I asked. (Who, by the way, was nowhere to be seen.)

"Jesus doesn't like earthly titles. No, I mean Dr. Martin Luther. When I got here, he was one of the first to meet me, because he died in Memphis too, you know."

"Oh...yeah....right..."

"He was the true King, in both name and deed. I was humbled to walk the same cloud with him. I told the heavenly host I wanted them to drop all that "king" biz and have everybody just call me "The Prince" instead.

 Just then, Prince, the musician walked up.

"Oh my gosh, it's Prince!"  I yelled. "That's right! You died...just last year!"

Prince smiled serenely and extended his hand. "Dearly beloved...." he said. I tried to touch his hand but it was like running my hand through warm mist. Prince had a guitar strapped on, and started messing around lightly on the strings.

"So...how do you feel about Elvis calling himself  "The Prince"? I asked.

Prince played a short riff before answering. "It's okay by me. He is free to use it. After all, I gave the name up for a while, during my contentious contract dispute with Warner. . . ."

"So what do you go by now?"

Up here they call me "Formerly the Artist formerly known as Prince", but usually they just call me "Formerly" for short. Technically, I took my name "Prince" back after my contentious contact with Warner expired. But no one seems to remember that." .

Just then, a slight pale figure burst through the cloud. It was David Bowie.

"David Bowie!" I exclaimed. "Oh my gosh!!!!"

Prince nodded in Bowie's direction. "Otherwise known in these parts as "the Duke."

"Of course," I said. "As in 'thin, white....makes sense."

Bowie greeted me. "Welcome to heaven. The ultimate space oddity."

"I'm honored to meet you, Bowie," I said. "I cried when you died."  I awkwardly glanced at the two Princes standing nearby. "I was sad when you guys died too," I said hastily.

Bowie ch-ch-changed the subject. "We're all going on a joy ride," he said. You should join us".

"I think I'm already on a joy ride," I said.

Bowie continued. "Dr. King is taking us for a ride on his bus. You'll love it".

I was incredulous, which, given the unusual events that had already transpired, was saying something. "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.....drives a bus?"

Just then I heard a loud honk, and saw approaching the strangest vehicle I'd ever seen. It was short but incredibly, impossibly wide."

"That's our ride," said Bowie.

 "What IS that?" I gasped. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"It's Dr. King's bus," Bowie replied. "Where everybody sits up front."

Sigh. It was just a dream. Or was it?.........