The statue was large. It was fine. It was expensive. It was a reminder to all future generations on how the great god Shakur had endured much trials and tribulations in his lifetime, and a warning to them to never allow one of the gods to undergo such trials again. 

The statue was made of platinum, all platinum, and it was carved very precisely, very intricately. You could see each hair on the god's leg, you could see each vein snaking its way across the god's arms. You could see the weaving of the blanket that the god had on top of him. You could see the fraying bits of the ragged hat that he wore. You could see the chips in his teeth. You could see the slight, unnatural twisting of one of its ankles. Despite all the ugly details, nothing on the statue was ugly. It was all so intricately, so finely detailed and decorated that each blemish, each imperfection on the god's body and clothing looked marvellous, looked artistic, looked far better than the bodies and clothing of actual beggars in real life.

For in this statue, the great god Shakur was a beggar. He was a beggar who was sitting by the side of a building, who was exhausted, who was curled in on himself, who was clothed in ratty garments which did not cover him adequately from the coldness of the air all around him. He had a begging bowl in his hand, and he was reaching his hand up in the direction of the people, eyes wide and full of sadness, full of need. 

The people all around him, in the shining, pristine green park where this grand statue was displayed, were loading the platinum, carved begging bowl with all the treasures that they had. They were putting in gold coins, old, collectors edition coins that were passed down through the family. They were putting in expensive rings made of precious jewels. Sapphire, emerald, topaz, ruby, diamond, rose diamond, the list goes on. They were putting in earrings, bracelets, chains. They placed thousand dollar bills in the cup of platinum. And they placed in mobile phones, computer watches, wireless earbuds. 

They needed the great god Shakur to know that they were on his side now, that they would take care of him now. They wanted him to know that they were not abandoning him, that they would give him much, that they would give him all that they had, the most precious possessions that they owned. For they deeply honoured the great god Shakur. And they deeply wanted him to know that they honoured him, they worshipped him, they respected him. 

The people were all gathered together in a large park. And the park was pristine, filled with rolling green hills and rose bushes and flowers of all kinds. There were tall, towering, genetically-modified trees casting shade on the people and shielding them from the hot sun. There were other statues in the park, depicting many scenes of the great drama of the gods. They were all made of precious metals and they all shone in the sun. There were bubbling fountains and artificial streams. 

The people were content, at peace, talking about all the different bits of their lives to all the people that they came across. They were sipping on drinks that they bought, drinks that were bought for large amounts of money at the travelling bar that had popped up in the park to commemorate the unveiling of the new statue. They were munching on snacks, both sweet and savoury, bought from the same bar, which also sold food. Like the drinks, the snacks were very expensive. 

The people were all adorned richly, in celebration of this new event, in celebration of the statue that had just been unveiled in front of their eyes. 

The girls were wearing dresses made of the most fine, most expensive fabrics. They were wearing large dresses, with layers upon layers upon layers of fabric. It was a hot day, far too hot to be wearing such many-layered clothing, but they were kept cool with personal cooling systems under their skirts. They were adorned with jewellery made of fine metals, gold and silver and rose gold and bronze and platinum. They had large, colourful earrings that took many, many months for the workers to make and they had many patterns of makeup on their heavily made-up faces. Their hair was tied back with colourful silk ribbons. And they had large, patterned, fake nails on their hands. 

The men were wearing expensive jackets made of fine fabric, studded with diamonds and other precious stones of all kinds, in intricate, colourful patterns. They had the patterns of flames, the patterns of animals, the patterns of all sorts of things. They had pants that were made of similarly expensive fabric, fine and embroidered with many designs. They wore belts studded everywhere with precious gems. And many of them had golden or silver chains around their necks. 

The people were brightly adorned. But the person who was even more brightly adorned was the master of ceremonies, a middle-aged man who was decorated from head to toe in expensive, intricate clothing that definitely took years, if not decades, to make. He did not even look human, as adorned as he was by colours and patterns and fabric and jewellery and ivory twisting every which way. His silhouette was more like the shillouette of a strange and nonexistent bird of paradise than it was the silhouette of a human man. And he carried himself accordingly, carried himself as if he was something more than natural, more than magical, even. Though nature of course, is magical. 

The master of ceremonies went out to all the of the people, and he chatted with them. He talked to them as if he was talking to friends. And they talked to him as if they were talking to gods. To them, the master of ceremonies in his highly elaborate getup was as close to a god as they would ever see in their lifetimes. To them, all gods were dressed in finery from head to toe, were dressed in shapes and patterns and colours that were overwhelming. To them, all gods were made of gold and silver and bronze and platinum, were statues they could worship at the feet of. 

And worship, they did. Many people bowed down in front of the statue of Shakur. They bent their heads low, looking at the ground at his lifeless feet, looking at the begging bowl. And they prayed words of great praise to the impassionate ears of the god. They chanted him incantations and sang him songs. They worshipped reverently, worshipped furiously, and they made a great show to all the others about how much they were worshipping, how deeply they were worshipping. 

One girl took a grand, fine blanket made of the lightest, softest of silks. It was a light thing. A thing that could in no way protect against the harshness of the weather all around, not that there was anything that anyone needed to be kept warm from on this sweltering hot day anyways. Still, people saw what this girl did and they went immediately to their cars to get out all the fine, luxurious blankets that they could find. Soon enough, the statue was covered on all fronts by many blankets. The people looked at this and they thought that the prettiness of the statue was now covered, so they took the blankets off of the unmoving form and they arranged them in a large circle around the statue. 

Someone moved towards the statue, stepping around the thin blankets, and they placed a flower at the statue's feet. It was a large, bright, freshly-cut tulip, one that beyond doubt cost many units of currency at the flower store. The people surrounding the statue saw this and once again thought it was a good idea, and many of them drove off in their large cars and returned with dozens of bouquets of flowers of all kinds, which they layed at the feet of the unseeing great god. 

You see, it was a competition for the people. A competition to see who could do the most good. A competition to see who could give the greatest honour to the statue. They needed to show their devotion. For, with enough devotion, they could ascend to heaven when they died, and they could see the gods in person. They could receive high honours and their souls would be immortalized forever, to watch upon the humans as they went about their lives. 

What the people did not know was that they saw gods, here on this earth, many times. They saw gods and they walked away. 

The master of ceremonies looked upon all the gifts and offerings people had lain at the feet of the statue. Looked at all the flowers and the blankets and the money and the jewels placed upon the blankets. He saw all this and he realized that it was time. It was time to call the ceremony to order. 

He stood up beside the statue. And he called all the people to gather around him, using his microphone to project his voice. 

"My people!" he declared. 

"All hail!" they cried out in return. 

"We are gathered here today!" the man exclaimed, "to honour the great god Shakur and all the sacrifices he has made so that our souls may find salvation in worshipping him!"

"All hail!" 

[scene continued in next part]