by Max Reif
 (Note for children: The Big Bang is a great explosion that many scientists believe took place at the 
beginning of time, and resulted in the creation of the universe
.) Raymond was ten years old and loved to eat! His mother told him to stop eating so much. "If you don't," she said, "You'll get like a house!" But Raymond didn't listen
to her. And so, before long, he was as big as their house. Raymond could no longer
fit in it, as the rest of the family needed shelter, too. So... He went to sit out on the vacant lot next door, and his parents built a second
, just around him! Every day, Mother—who didn't want Raymond to starve just because
he was no longer living under the same roof—brought over Raymond's breakfast, lunch, and
dinner. And he was happy. But not for long. He still never stopped eating or growing! Between meals, he had
pizza delivered, bought desserts from the ice cream man—even had the Coca-Cola company rent
a gasoline truck and fill a tank he had dug underneath his house, so he could have as much
Coke as he wanted! After a few weeks, the new house exploded! Raymond just kept on eating, though. Now he began expanding through the whole
neighborhood. Everybody had to move away—fast! Next, Raymond expanded beyond the city limits. "Well, I always wanted to travel," he said, as he saw the CITY LIMITS Sign go by. This was getting serious! The government sent its most famous scientist to study Raymond.
The study cost ten million dollars. When it was finished, the scientist appeared before Congress.
All 625 Senators and Congressmen peered down at himt. "Never saw anything like it!" he said, scratching his head. It took still more time, but Raymond went West! He also went East, North, and South. In fact, he got so big he covered the entire country. And then, finally, the whole world!
The United Nations was just discussing what to do, when Raymond expanded over them! It was now too late for anybody to do anything. And just then, when he had covered
the world and there was no room for anything besides his enormousbody and a big refrigerator
he'd had built.... Raymond himself exploded! The pieces of him flew to the far corners of outer space! Some of them became stars! Some became comets! Some cooled down and became planets.Some became whole galaxies, that
whirled toward Infinity. The pieces of Raymond became the entire universe that we know today! And so, we should all be very grateful to Raymond. Without him, none of us would be here.         copyright 1998 by Max Reif (for the WHOLE UNIVERSE!)


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