A dream

[Botto Armando]

On the 24th of August of 2000, shortly before midnight, Carl Barks fell
asleep. And he started to dream.

In his dream, he found himself in Old California, in the hall of a mid-19th
Century hacienda. A big celebration was going on, an incredible fiesta. Carl
thought "A fancy-dress party, maybe?"

But soon he realized that he knew most of the people he met: friends from
his childhood in Oregon, fellow workers in all of the trades he had tried
throughout his life... riveters, cartoon animators, scriptwriters,
comic-book editors... long-forgotten neighbors and acquaintances... and,
mixed in the crowd, Carl spotted many dog-nosed , pig-faced, duck-billed
people - and it all seemed perfectly normal to him.

Everybody looked at him and smiled, as if he were the guest of honour of the
party. And he entered a huge room, where a long table had been set for a
luxurious dinner. And sitting at the table were all his relatives, from his
grandparents to his great-great-grandsons, and all the people he had most
loved throughout the years, and amongst them he saw also the familiar
figures of Gladstone, Gyro Gearloose, the Beagle Boys, the Junior
Woodchucks... and he caught a fascinating, Sofia-Loren-like Magica de Spell
winking at him.

And a pig-faced Mayor led Carl to the place of honor, where two seats were
still vacant... Carl asked him "Are all of these people celebrating for ME
?" And the Mayor smiled, and said "Oh, you've seen nothing yet... just take
a look out of the window !" And in an endless patio Carl saw millions and
millions of people from all over the world, children and grownups, all
cheering at him and waving well-read copies of his comic books... and he
also saw Donald and the kids, dancing a dance of celebration....

Awestruck, Carl asked: "But who is going to pay for this unbelievable
feast?" And the Mayor: "Oh, money is not a problem for our host... he has a
few cubic acres to spare, you should now..."
And Scrooge McDuck entered the room, and went to sit next to Carl, and told
him: "After this little banquet is over, I'm leaving with Donald and the
kids for a long, long trip around the world... I'm planning to visit all my
industries in the five continents, and also go back to the places where we
lived our adventures, and - of course - look for other things to see, other
adventures to live. I'm looking for a guy to write the travel journal, and I
hear you're quite good at such stuff... Would you like to join us ? I can
pay you 30 cents per hour, nothing more, but you have an eternity of hours
in front of you..."
And Carl Barks smiled, and shook hands with the old duck, and the crowd
cheered.

At a quarter past midnight, on August 25th, 2000, the dream continued on.

Sleep well, uncle Carl...

Ciao,
Armando