Matthew R Rivett

The Puzzle

Rich walked down the street, his earbuds tucked snugly into his ears, looping a playlist of his favourite songs. His head was tilted slightly upward, gazing wistfully at the stars. For as long as he could remember, Rich had wondered about the stars. How far away were they? What made them burn? Does each star have its own planets? What about their own “Earth’s”? These were the kind of questions Rich had thought about throughout his younger years. From age six he could name every planet in the solar system and could name their moons by nine.