Milieu Euphony (In Act Series #2)

Phase 22

PHASE TWENTY-TWO

THE REMNANTS OF A NAME

They say being a prodigy was nice—you have all the creative freedom to exhaust and be marveled at. When you're lucky and recognized enough, the government would support you so your skills could be sharpened. Being known internationally was a plus, and rewards were incentives.

But for a forced prodigy and art wanderer, what prizes and rights awaited them?

Of course, aside from the bragging rights, they would receive one common thing: pressure.

Pressure to be continuously good at what they were doing. Pressure to always come up with new ideas. Pressure to be presentable. Pressure to be always inspired. Pressure to be an inspirational model for everyone who aspired to be good at their discipline.

Whatever angle it was, the persistence of pressure was always present. If one was devoured by it, the prideful title and the honorary badge would be a cage rather than a path. The rewards that used to be inspirational would be a hindrance to any improvements.

You're not the current prodigy anymore. You're an abandoned toy left to accumulate dust.

In short, useless.

In my case, it was like that, but also don't.

I was—still—an art prodigy but I do not bother declaring it by myself. I only declare it when it's needed and whenever my parents asked me to brag about it. Because in this generation, being an art prodigy would raise the influence and the power a family could have.

The country was all about art and its impact, after all, and the citizens were in it, too. Attention was one of the powerful keys to success that's why those who were good at what's prevailing could easily raise their status.

Who was the biggest art prodigy and how should we brag about it?

Who was the best in this discipline and how was the family name living up for it?

Most people seemed to forget that having clean records was better than being good at something. However, there would always be a hidden path to every mastery and innocence.

He was good at this because his family was good at this—an excuse for his skills because of their lineage.

She was innocent and she did not commit it, but she was caught in the act and the evidence was directed to her—she won't be put on trial nor behind bars because they were rich and influential.

Of course, every family would want to be influential that's why they exhaust their resources to be what they wanted to be. The best example was exhausting their children—their resources—so their family could be powerful.

They say that 'It's the best for our family.' but what they were doing was the exact opposite.

They force the children to continue the path that they failed to accomplish. They put their burden on their children which subsequently forces them to be good at the path that they didn't choose. They pressure them into thinking that this would benefit our family in the long run, but did they even consider how would it benefit themselves? And if would it really benefit them?

Finding the appropriate path was tiring, especially when the obstacles—your family's own ideals—would persist.

As an art wanderer—a result of being a forced prodigy—the journey would always seem endless.