#11

The Wild Onion’s Dream

written by Mathias Svalina

The Reading Park is a karaoke bar now. A seagull is singing a song by The Beatles, but it’s not a song that The Beatles ever recorded. It’s not the best Beatles song I’ve ever heard, but it’s nice enough & the seagull has a good singing voice, clear & soft, not at all what I would expect, considering their squawk. The seagull finishes their song. The KJ gets on the mike & says Wild Onion! You’re next! Come on up! I go to walk up to the microphone, but I’m stuck in the ground. I somehow forgot about the roots & bulb & such. The only way to get to the microphone is through the dirt. I stretch my roots out & wiggle my bulb, I push down. The dirt opens itself for me, allows me to move through it. I pull myself down. I tunnel through, up to where the microphone stands. I pop out of the dirt, roots first, then right myself until my stem is standing tall. The music starts. It’s my song: “Dust in the Wind.” I sing it so well that I make everyone cry.