Stella the Starfish
Under an ocean no one had yet discovered lived the most famous creature the underwater world had ever seen. Her name was Stella and she was a starfish. Stella was so famous that there were very few places underwater where someone hadn’t heard her name. In fact, she was so well known that she had her own hammerhead sharks as bodyguards to protect her from the thousands of fish that followed her wherever she travelled.
Stella first became famous when she performed The Float beside a nearby coral reef. A group of shrimp were sitting at the edge of the reef, listening to loud music. The shrimp were always on the lookout for new and exciting dance moves and, when they saw Stella float by, they immediately sat up and took notice. As the music played, they became hypnotised by the way she floated without moving or lifting a single muscle. They had seen many dance moves before, but nothing quite like this.
By the end of the day, the shrimp had told their friends about Stella and their friends had told their friends. The following day, hundreds of sea creatures gathered beside the reef to see her perform The Float. The crowds cheered as she floated by, and from that point on she grew more and more popular.
After a month, crowds were gathering in their tens of thousands. There were officially two types of creatures in the ocean: those who knew how to do The Float and those who didn’t. If you knew how to do it, you could gain access to any number of underwater caves or shipwrecks. If you didn’t, then you had better know someone who did or else you might as well not even call yourself an underwater animal.
As Stella’s fame grew, she was invited to give talks about what it meant to be an artist. At every talk, Stella said nothing. Some of her fans believed this meant that true art could not be explained. Others believed that Stella was saving her best advice for those who understood her work already. Her manager called it proper star behaviour, which only made her more popular.
Year after year, Stella performed concert after concert. Her manager announced each performance as soon as someone discovered where she would appear next. The hammerhead sharks cleared a path through the crowds, the shrimp played their music and Stella performed The Float. She never waved to her fans or stayed to hear their applause. This, too, was considered proper star behaviour.
Then, one night, fewer sea creatures arrived. The next night, there were fewer again. Soon, Stella no longer needed her bodyguards and her manager began booking smaller places such as giant clams and sunken surfboards. He had heard of a shark that could swim backwards, and everyone was now interested in a new move called the Sharky.
Following a performance inside a giant clam, Stella’s manager told her that this would be the final time she performed The Float. Stella did not answer. She floated out of the clam and into the open ocean.