Once upon a time three stars hung out in the same corner of an endless expanse of universe. Held together by some common cosmic force that none of them could see but all of them could feel, they used a very primitive communication device that consisted of cups at the ends of very tautly pulled strings. In this manner they could avoid having to shout to be heard.
One day, Shelly, a star with about half a dozen planets orbiting around her and iron building up in her core, looked dismally out at it all and said to the other two, "I'm bored."
"I'm just so, completely, mind-numbingly, bored," she continued. "We don't even have anything to talk about anymore and I can't remember the last time I saw an asteroid belt hit our neck of the galaxy. Is this all we were made for?"
Louise and Tim rolled their eyes and made that face at each other. That face that friends make behind their friend's back when they've done or said something very naive. Shelly didn't see though, since Louise and Tim were both wearing blue blocker shades. Just like the ones all children draw on the sun.
"You know what guys, I think I'm going to do it. I think I'm going to supernova the hell out of here!"
Their initial feelings of superiority and amusement instantly vanished and they looked at their friend in what I suppose was sheer horror, or shock, or disbelief.
After a very pregnant pause Tim managed to whisper into his cup, "Shelly! Don't ever say such a thing!"
"What? What Tim?! What could I possibly have said to make you look at me like that?!"
"Shelly, " Louise chimed in, "Supernova is a very serious thing with very serious consequences! Just think about your planets!"
"Look, I've got 6 planets orbiting around me and they've been doing it for almost 52 billion years now. They've all got their own agendas and their all doing nothing for no one."
"Shelly! A double negative! I don't even know who you are anymore!" Tim whined.
Louise could see that Tim's flare for the dramatic was only going to exacerbate the problem so she did what she did best and began mitigating the crisis by projecting her inner peace onto her two friends.
"Everyone just take a very deep breath, release your solar flares!" It was Shelly's turn to roll her eyes.
"Look guys, I know you think I'm being impulsive, I don't expect you to understand, I just know that I'm at that stage of existence where everything is just getting too heavy inside and the weight of it all is going to turn me into a black hole if I don't let it out."
"But I just don't understand where this discontent is coming from, you're a star for crying out loud! Why rush into the last stages of your life cycle over a little lull in conversation? You should feel lucky to be in close enough proximity to us to be part of a constellation, a lot of stars don't even have that." Loiuse pleaded in earnest.
"But I don't want to be a star anymore! All I do is burn brightly all day. I just have a feeling if I'm brave enough to do the dangerous thing I'll somehow reach a higher plane of existence."
Between sobs Tim mumbled something incoherent about Jonathon Livingston Seagull.
"Tim! stop being melodramatic."
"But Shelly! How could you leave us?"
"Tim you and I both know that the universe is expanding at a uniform rate and it has been since the beginning and the spaces between us are just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. You're on a plane that's crashing and you are just trying to ride it until the last minute. I'm getting off while I still can."
Louise was infuriated that Shelly had a mind of her own, and said, "Fine Shelly, have it your way, do what you want you will anyways, but just remember that I warned you."
Wishing her two best star friends would be a little more supportive, Shelly looked on them gently now, and saw that deep down they really just didn't want to be deserted. "Guys, listen, I would hang out here forever with the two of you but I think there's more for all of us than this. Supernova with me!" But even as she said it, Shelly knew that they wouldn't, and she knew that she would have to go it alone, and she knew that they would feel hurt and wouldn't understand.
"I love you Tim and Louise." and with that she shut her eyes real real tight and squeezed and clenched and pushed the tension beyond sustainable limits and then suddenly it happened.
A glorious burst of element and energy spread like fire and sparkling dust over all the dark matter surrounding Shelly's solar system. The planets and all their moons and satellites were vaporized. Shock waves reverberated out into the universe. Shelly's consciousness, once filling the volume of a high massed star, was now confined to one small piece of debris, more than primordial sludge but less than a single celled organism. She had made her first steps into becoming a carbon based life form and finally on her way to the wonderful world of humanity.
Tune in next time to read how Shelly finds herself looking up at the stars she used to fraternize with and wondering about how one goes about changing their stars.
One day, Shelly, a star with about half a dozen planets orbiting around her and iron building up in her core, looked dismally out at it all and said to the other two, "I'm bored."
"I'm just so, completely, mind-numbingly, bored," she continued. "We don't even have anything to talk about anymore and I can't remember the last time I saw an asteroid belt hit our neck of the galaxy. Is this all we were made for?"
Louise and Tim rolled their eyes and made that face at each other. That face that friends make behind their friend's back when they've done or said something very naive. Shelly didn't see though, since Louise and Tim were both wearing blue blocker shades. Just like the ones all children draw on the sun.
"You know what guys, I think I'm going to do it. I think I'm going to supernova the hell out of here!"
Their initial feelings of superiority and amusement instantly vanished and they looked at their friend in what I suppose was sheer horror, or shock, or disbelief.
After a very pregnant pause Tim managed to whisper into his cup, "Shelly! Don't ever say such a thing!"
"What? What Tim?! What could I possibly have said to make you look at me like that?!"
"Shelly, " Louise chimed in, "Supernova is a very serious thing with very serious consequences! Just think about your planets!"
"Look, I've got 6 planets orbiting around me and they've been doing it for almost 52 billion years now. They've all got their own agendas and their all doing nothing for no one."
"Shelly! A double negative! I don't even know who you are anymore!" Tim whined.
Louise could see that Tim's flare for the dramatic was only going to exacerbate the problem so she did what she did best and began mitigating the crisis by projecting her inner peace onto her two friends.
"Everyone just take a very deep breath, release your solar flares!" It was Shelly's turn to roll her eyes.
"Look guys, I know you think I'm being impulsive, I don't expect you to understand, I just know that I'm at that stage of existence where everything is just getting too heavy inside and the weight of it all is going to turn me into a black hole if I don't let it out."
"But I just don't understand where this discontent is coming from, you're a star for crying out loud! Why rush into the last stages of your life cycle over a little lull in conversation? You should feel lucky to be in close enough proximity to us to be part of a constellation, a lot of stars don't even have that." Loiuse pleaded in earnest.
"But I don't want to be a star anymore! All I do is burn brightly all day. I just have a feeling if I'm brave enough to do the dangerous thing I'll somehow reach a higher plane of existence."
Between sobs Tim mumbled something incoherent about Jonathon Livingston Seagull.
"Tim! stop being melodramatic."
"But Shelly! How could you leave us?"
"Tim you and I both know that the universe is expanding at a uniform rate and it has been since the beginning and the spaces between us are just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. You're on a plane that's crashing and you are just trying to ride it until the last minute. I'm getting off while I still can."
Louise was infuriated that Shelly had a mind of her own, and said, "Fine Shelly, have it your way, do what you want you will anyways, but just remember that I warned you."
Wishing her two best star friends would be a little more supportive, Shelly looked on them gently now, and saw that deep down they really just didn't want to be deserted. "Guys, listen, I would hang out here forever with the two of you but I think there's more for all of us than this. Supernova with me!" But even as she said it, Shelly knew that they wouldn't, and she knew that she would have to go it alone, and she knew that they would feel hurt and wouldn't understand.
"I love you Tim and Louise." and with that she shut her eyes real real tight and squeezed and clenched and pushed the tension beyond sustainable limits and then suddenly it happened.
A glorious burst of element and energy spread like fire and sparkling dust over all the dark matter surrounding Shelly's solar system. The planets and all their moons and satellites were vaporized. Shock waves reverberated out into the universe. Shelly's consciousness, once filling the volume of a high massed star, was now confined to one small piece of debris, more than primordial sludge but less than a single celled organism. She had made her first steps into becoming a carbon based life form and finally on her way to the wonderful world of humanity.
Tune in next time to read how Shelly finds herself looking up at the stars she used to fraternize with and wondering about how one goes about changing their stars.
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