The situation looked bleak; the planet was dying of wounds inflicted by its inhabitants while they fought over what was left…

The boy looked down at his handheld device. He was the equivalent of an eight year old, a member of a race that exists beyond time and space.

“But, mom, they’re all going to die…”

His mother looked down and smiled, “don’t worry, son, you can play another planet simulation game tomorrow and maybe it will end up better than Earth.”

 

* This is a play on Arthur C. Clarke's "The Longest Science Fiction Story Ever Told", published in 1966.