Stardust First
Once upon a time, the world felt heavy. The weight of it came not from an expansion, but from a shrinking that took its mass and pulled it in, tighter and more tense until it could scarcely bear it.
And then it burst, scattering into stardust.
Suddenly the world found its breath again.
For in the infinite moment of a trillion particles suspended in the expansion of the universe, there was time and peace and space.
A chance to begin again, when the universe shrunk and the world came back to itself.
Always a chance to begin again. Even if there was stardust first.