Elsie Lavender and Homer Hickam were high school classmates in the West Virginia coalfields. When Homer asked for her hand, Elsie instead headed to Orlando where she sparked with a dancing actor named Buddy Ebsen. But when Buddy headed for New York, Elsie s dreams of a life with him were crushed and eventually she found herself back in the coalfields, married to Homer. Unfulfilled as a miner s wife, Elsie was reminded of her carefree days with Buddy every day because of his unusual wedding gift: an alligator named Albert. When Albert scared Homer by grabbing his pants, he gave Elsie an ultimatum: Me or that alligator After giving it some thought, Elsie concluded there was only one thing to do: Carry Albert home."