The Gold Star That Faded
Mia loved drawing dragons just for fun — until Grandma started paying her per dragon. A song-version of the famous Deci experiment, told as a kid finding her way back to the joy.
[NARRATOR] Mia LOVED to draw — pencils, crayons, ink — Dragons in the morning, dragons by the sink! Big ones, tiny ones, dragons with bow ties — She drew for the GLEE of the dragon in her eyes!
[GRANDMA] Grandma saw the pile and said, "What a treat! For each dragon you draw, I'll give a GOLD STAR sheet!"
[NARRATOR] Mia drew TEN dragons — SHINY GOLD reward! She lined the stars up neatly on her drawing board!
[GRANDMA] Then Grandma upped the prize — "A DOLLAR for each one!"
[NARRATOR] Mia drew for DOLLARS, every dragon DONE. Faster! Sloppier! [MIA] "Where's my buck?" she'd say! [NARRATOR] The dragons got squiggly — and the JOY had slipped away.
Then — Grandma forgot. No dollar. No star.
Mia's pencil sat in the open jar.
A WHOLE WEEK passed. The pencil stayed in place. The drawing board sat empty. A still and quiet space.
Then late one night, with all the lights low, Mia picked the pencil up. The house was still. She drew a wonky dragon — crooked wing, big toe — Just for HER. Just to SEE it grow.
She stared at the dragon. The dragon stared back. [MIA] "Hi friend," Mia whispered. "I almost lost the LOVE."
[NARRATOR] No gold star. No dollar. No "good job" to follow.
Just her pencil, just her dragon — just for fun, just for now.