At age 2, he had taught the family cat to speak fluent Spanish. Two years later, he built a supercomputer in his basement using his toys and discarded junk parts. By age 7, he had his first Ph, D. On his tenth birthday, his fledgling software company went public and he became an instant billionaire. In his spare time, he synthesized vaccines to treat diseases that most people had not even heard of…yet. Of course, people of influence were drawn to him, looking for advice and handouts. Some even encouraged him to run for public office. However, he wouldn’t even consider that as he despised politicians and could’t even find one that he trusted. One day, an anonymous envelope arrived at NASA headquarters. Inside were the schematics for an Earth - Mars spaceship. It featured a sophisticated new propulsion system that until now had only been a product of fantasy. Now travel to and from the red planet could be achieved in less than a week. By his twenty-first birthday, the demands had become too much. Not just from the outside; as he was internally driven to create at levels that would be considered insane by most people. He simply disappeared. Nobody knew were, though it was speculated that he was living somewhere in the vast expanse of the Arizona desert. Isolated, with no electricity or running water. Not even a cellphone. Just a few cactus shrubs, rattlesnakes and the faint echo of dreams long gone. email: [email protected] web: www.michaeloster.com