At 6 in the morning the ring light woke up before the sun. By 6:05 a tripod stood guard over the mailbox like a mall cop with a dream. She emerged in a glitter tracksuit that could blind satellites and declared the driveway a production studio. A rented Lamborghini idled at the curb making the neighborhood smell like premium gasoline and tax write‑offs.
Take one was a dance. Take two was the same dance, now with “energy.” Take three required a leaf blower for “wind.” Take four featured a drone that hovered at eye level like a hummingbird with student loans. She yelled mark, action, slay, and the cul de sac legally changed its name to Studio B. A golden retriever became a background extra. The HOA president became craft services when he showed up with a muffin and immediately got handed a slate.
Brand deals multiplied. Protein gummies. Electrolyte vapor. Spiritual water in a can shaped like a guilt trip. She filmed a ten minute tutorial on how to drink coffee while winking at adversity. The caption promised to change lives. The comments promised she had already changed traffic patterns.
Neighbors adapted. We learned to parallel park around ring lights. We developed a sixth sense for when the drone would descend like a judgmental frisbee. We clapped between takes because the clapper yelled we are losing the light even though the sun was actively rising. Someone suggested we charge a location fee. Someone else suggested we unionize.
By sunset she posted the video. The thumbnail was a smile engineered by NASA. The clip lasted seven seconds and looked effortless, which is to say it required twelve hours, three wardrobe changes, and a cease and desist from a nearby shrub. She hit publish. The Lamborghini departed. The drone docked. Silence returned, the kind that hums with possibility and exhausted ring lights.
I scrolled the comments. Millions of views. Half the internet was in my driveway and none of them would help move the trash cans. Tomorrow she will rent a fog machine. Tomorrow the drone will get ideas. And I will drink coffee on the porch like a studio executive with no power, watching fame happen at the speed of short form video.