Ages and ages

Once upon a time, there was a wise old man who lived in a small village. He loved spending his days under the shade of a large tree, watching the world go by. One day, a group of children came to him with a challenge.

“Old man, we have a crossword puzzle that we can’t solve. The clue is ‘Ages and ages’, and we don’t know the answer. Can you help us?” one of the children asked.

The old man thought for a moment and then smiled. “Let me tell you a story,” he said.

“Long ago, before you and I were born, the world was a much different place. The sky was darker, and the land was barren. But then, a great light burst forth and created everything we know today.”

The children listened with wide-eyed wonder as the old man continued his tale.

“This light shone for what seemed like ages and ages, shaping the planet and all the creatures that live upon it. This time span was so long that it came to be known as an ‘EON‘, a word used to describe an immeasurable length of time.”

The children thanked the old man for his story and went back to their crossword puzzle. And sure enough, the answer they needed was EON.

From that day on, the children knew that an eon was not just a word in their crossword puzzle, but a time span so vast it defies our comprehension. And they were grateful to the wise old man for teaching them this lesson in such an engaging way.