Note. This piece has only a small scientific basis.

In the beginning there was nothing. The void of space stretched for billions of light years, but because there was no light it could not even be measured. However, in the quantum foam that began to stir, a strange happening was noticed.

Once every century, (because there was no time yet, this may have been only a once a second or it may have been every thousand years) the emerging particles struggled free, always one positive and one negative. Most often they collided and snuffed each other out, but every million or so, the two happened to meet in just such a way that their charge attraction and their internal magnetism were just so opposed that they joined up in neutral partnership and moved into existence for eternity. They were the first neutrinos, the first matter.

Centuries on, the number of these neutrinos had grown so much that they began to form small communities, first in small groups that quickly broke up, then in larger groups till one instant a group of about a thousand was struck by a lone individual causing the intruder to break into two, the one that was positive joined the party, its negative partner, just spun around not quite sure what had happened. The funny thing was, everyone liked this situation and a community called a hydrogen atom was formed. The big surprise was that hydrogen turned out to be the basis of the universe.

This community was so successful that many more followed and these new atoms also began to be attracted to each other growing communities of billions which began to heat up due to population pressures, resulting in sparks flying and light streaming. These communities were called stars, and their light and warmth made everything good.

Another 10 or so billion years on, after many stars had grown, died, exploded or merged, a lone sun of  just the right size formed a group of planets ranging from close to distant orbit, and small to massive size. It just happened that one of those planets was perfect for some nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen dissolved in a tepid pool to start to react and form what are now called organic chemicals including proteins, fats and other carbohydrates. Given another few million years, through viruses then bacteria, then amoebas, insects, vertebrates, and eventually mammals, primates till finally we appeared. This scenario probably happened many times in the fledgling universe but the life that grew on other planets is unlikely to resemble our earth, but almost certainly, somewhere or at some other time, there is other life.

So let us all remember it has taken an eternity to get us here, and there is only one earth, so let us stop messing it up!