A Star 400 Light-Years Away Exploded. Spotsylvania County Has Convened a Subcommittee.

A supernova finished its business before the pyramids. The variance request is still in review.

TUESDAY, 7:10 PM

The light from a dying star arrives over the Rappahannock, having left home around the time someone was inventing the wheel.

Astronomer

It traveled four hundred light-years to reach us tonight.

Resident

Did it file for a permit?

THE FORM

The star's application for "End-of-Life Stellar Event" is logged at the planning office, third drawer, behind a Route 3 turn-lane study from 2009.

Clerk

We'll need the originating address.

Astronomer

It no longer exists. It hasn't for centuries.

A subcommittee is formed. It will meet monthly. The universe, which does not meet, keeps expanding the whole time.

Clerk

The variance is tabled pending a traffic impact review.

Resident

It's a star. It doesn't have a driveway.

ADJOURNED

By the next vote, the photons have already passed Hyperion, ignored the cobblestones, and left the county for good.

The star burned ten million years and died in an afternoon. Spotsylvania has scheduled a follow-up to discuss whether that was allowed.