A fraction less luminous.
It was a shiny thing.
I held it in my hand and admired it. A myriad of sparkling lights bounced from its delicately faceted surface to enchant me. I liked my shiny thing.
I played with it. I tossed it in the air, and saw its light shimmer as it fell. I set it on my table and spun it around, fascinated by the kaleidoscopic display. I held it with the tip of my fingers and waved it in wide, sweeping circles, dazzled by the glittering patterns that it formed.
A friend of mine came by, and I shared it with him. He crowed in delight at the shiny thing. I set it in his hand, and he turned it over and over, entranced by the brilliance of its gleam. Then another friend joined us, and he, too, took it in his hand for a time.
By and by a crowd gathered. They huddled around my shiny thing, passing it one to the other, sharing its beauty. But in each new hand its radiance faded; each set of eyes took something away, and it became a fraction less luminous.
As my shiny thing grew dim, the crowd lost interest, and slowly wandered away. They passed it along, one to the other, until the last of them handed it to me, dark and dull and lifeless.
My shiny thing shone no more.
I held it in my hand and admired it. A myriad of sparkling lights bounced from its delicately faceted surface to enchant me. I liked my shiny thing.
I played with it. I tossed it in the air, and saw its light shimmer as it fell. I set it on my table and spun it around, fascinated by the kaleidoscopic display. I held it with the tip of my fingers and waved it in wide, sweeping circles, dazzled by the glittering patterns that it formed.
A friend of mine came by, and I shared it with him. He crowed in delight at the shiny thing. I set it in his hand, and he turned it over and over, entranced by the brilliance of its gleam. Then another friend joined us, and he, too, took it in his hand for a time.
By and by a crowd gathered. They huddled around my shiny thing, passing it one to the other, sharing its beauty. But in each new hand its radiance faded; each set of eyes took something away, and it became a fraction less luminous.
As my shiny thing grew dim, the crowd lost interest, and slowly wandered away. They passed it along, one to the other, until the last of them handed it to me, dark and dull and lifeless.
My shiny thing shone no more.