The Scape cranes her swan-like neck and winces at the first rays. Galvanized by the heat, she gently nudges the Bulbil to wake up. The leaves unravel to the warmth on the epidermis. Summer is harvest season; it's time to inform the others. The Scape sends the messenger down the stem by the afternoon.
Mother Bulb is disheartened upon receiving the news. She remembers when the diffident cloves first sprouted, how she could distinguish the laconic ones from the expressive. She taught them to always be proud of their aromatic roots. In the fall and winter, she grew the finest sheaths to shield her babies from the harsh coldness. She tucked them in every night. They grew together in the darkness of soil.
To become an aromatic was a noble quest, but the journey was uncanny. She knew the ending before she began, and yet she was certain she would do it again. The time was ripe for picking and she accepted her fate.
Diction
- Galvanize – shock/excite (someone) into taking action
- Laconic – (of person, speech/style of writing) using very little words
- Diffident – modest/shy because of lack of self confidence
- Uncanny – strange/mysterious, especially in unsettling way
- Aromatics are vegetables that deliver deep, rounded flavor and aroma when heated or crushed.
