They started with crude tools. They were very good at killing. They were also very good at loving and dreaming and sharing.

They gathered in clumps which occasionally fissioned and fissioned, yeasty like, until they were all over the place.

They mastered the art of riding upon the waves by harnessing the planet’s alveoli, hammering it into crude bowls with rags for sails. They loved the earth, and it returned its pleasure with an abundance of life giving nutrients. They loved and hated each other, fueling stories and dreams that drove them to be bigger than they were.

They mastered the steel of the earth’s bowels and plied the skies with parodies of flying creatures. Their cities, oh so tall, swayed in the wind. The people occupied themselves with being content, while others knew there was so much more out there. They could do anything when there was more to know, to learn.

Curious about the fundamentals of the universe, they built a machine that smashed tiny things.

It sent a stranglet into the past.