Tubo Baci

This drawing is inspired by a childhood memory. I don’t know how old I was, maybe 5, 7? Somewhere around that age. There was a commercial on TV that left me mesmerized every time. There was a little girl, pretty and neatly groomed, who opened a tube of Baci Perugina chocolates. From the tube, a multitude of stars floated out, starting to drift all around, shining magnificently and radiating a celestial light everywhere. I’m not sure if that’s exactly how it happened, but that’s how I remember it. I would watch with wonderful amazement every time. In the evening, before falling asleep, I would think about those stars. I wanted to have them too, those stars. I didn’t care about the chocolates or any other kind of sweets or toys, I just wanted those stars. I would close my eyes and imagine them bursting out of the Baci tube, floating around my room, lighting up the ceiling and shining with heavenly light.
Well, those tubes of Baci were on sale everywhere. They were right near the checkout at every supermarket. I just had to convince my mother to buy me one.
At that time, my mother was frugal with everything. My parents were thinking about our future and saved as much money as possible.
Every time, I would ask her to buy me a tube of Baci Perugina. And every time, she would hesitate.
“What do you even want it for? – she’d say – Besides, you don’t even eat them. We have so much chocolate at home… the leftovers from Easter eggs”
But my desire to have those stars grew more and more intense. Armed with the relentless stubbornness typical of children, I insisted every time, to the point of exasperation.
One day, my mother came into my room and handed me the tube of Baci. I jumped for joy! I wanted to open that tube right away! First, I closed the door so that not a single star could escape from my room.
The rest of the story need not be told…