More About This Painting
The Star was originally from Strange City. She left at fifteen and went to the Glittering City. “She has talent,” some experts told her mother, “and we will take care of her. We will show her talent—she must trust us.” And so it happened. Soon everyone in the Glittering City knew the Superstar. She enjoyed her success and worked tirelessly. Though famous, in her work she was persistent and disciplined—more than anyone else. By the age of twenty-three, she was known across the Blue Galaxy. The higher she climbed, the harder she worked. She was kind, smart, and beautiful. Her opinion mattered, she dined with golden spoons—but behind her, two hundred others were left chewing in silence. The Superstar was bold! She didn’t fit into cliques. She knew that with sheep, all you get is a goat. The pressure grew, two hundred behind her, yet she stood alone in the space. Shiny dresses—even when she wanted casual clothes—romances presented to her, though they weren’t real, and every time she succeeded, she felt lonelier.
Then she met the Guardian, someone like her. Overflowing talent, fame that stretched far and wide… she liked him, wanted him, said she loved him. “I want to go home, kitty… I’m tired.” And the Guardian offered her the fast way. She arrived home, embraced her mother and her little dog, and landed with tears in her eyes, missing the carefree days and the warmth of her nest. She kept asking for the fast way. She returned home and felt good… and then the landing… but from all her travels, her heart stopped. She approached death, and the Guardian came again in her dreams. Slowly, he whispered in her ear, taking her money: “When you are a Superstar, you must not be afraid.” The news arrived at her mother’s door… Our Superstar had left, on the long journey, only twenty-eight years old. They call it drugs.