a star again
A photo of my billboard is in the newspaper. Mack tapes the story onto my window.
Each day more curious people arrive. They park in front of the billboard. They point and shake their heads. They take photos.
Then they come into the mall and buy my paintings.
While visitors watch, I dip my hands in fresh buckets of paint. I make pictures for the gift shop, and pictures to add to the billboard. Trees with birds. A newborn elephant with glittering black eyes. A squirrel, a bluebird, a worm.
I even paint Bob so he can be on the billboard too. I can tell he likes the picture, although he says I didn’t quite capture his distinguished nose.
Every afternoon, Mack and George add my new pictures to the billboard. People slow their cars while they work. Drivers honk and wave.
My gift-shop pictures now cost sixty-five dollars (with frame).