a bit of whimsy -- by jane kelley

Thinking about the night sky . . .

Once there was a planet that orbited a star. Round and round went the Earth. Year after year. Staying in its own lane--away from the gas giants. Minding its own planet business. What could that be, you wonder. Well, it had to rotate. It had to hang on to its atmosphere. It had to differentiate its layers.

Earth had some visitors. Party crashers, so to speak. They didn't do too much damage, considering. Just a few scars here and there. Nothing that really changed Earth. Some comets even remembered to BYOB. Earth should have been happy about that. Water was super important for a little something that hadn't happened yet -- life.

Then one day, another planet Theia came hurtling through space. Theia crashed into Earth. Kapow! The collision was so forceful that most of Theia became part of Earth's core.

Unfortunately some of Theia and Earth got knocked into space. What a mess! Eventually the chunks got it together. Truly. They decided it was better to form a group. At first they were a lumpy old thing, but before long they became big enough to be their own orb!

As if a stone giant had placed a beautiful sphere up in the sky to inspire us, console us, and keep us company on our journey through space.

JANE KELLEY is very fond of Earth's moon -- and making up stories which are inspired by the truth.