With a twirl of his wand, Ken Smiley sent the primordial froth bubbling, swirling into a series of vortices. From these cosmic eddies came ripples of energy that grew bright and became galaxies, shining and spinning throughout the darkness, a universe in microcosm. And the galaxies begat planets, some great, some small. And lo, on one of these planets, among the protoplasmic muck… there was life. First one, then two, then hundreds, thousands, millions! Unicellular organisms quickly gave way to multicellular. And from these mitochondrial organisms came more and more complex beings, braving the acidic atmosphere’s onslaught of hydrogen and nitrogen and heat to give birth to children even more highly structured. And from these creatures sprang a new species, one that walked and talked and looked up at the sky at night to wonder who was out there – living, breathing, thinking creatures who stood up to worship their creator, and sang glorious hymns in His praise.

            Ken threw his plastic stir out the window of the truck, took a sip and grimaced. This was the worst coffee he’d ever tasted.

Copyright 2006 Amy Frushour Kelly. All rights reserved.

Reproduction by any means prohibited without prior written consent.