Forget for a moment that nonprofit writing center 826 Seattle helps young writers between ages 6 and 18 master the mechanics of written expression. Forget that 826 Seattle provides a fun and relaxing environment for kids to do their homework and be tutored in grammar and creative writing. Forget that 826 Seattle is a chapter member of 826 National, a nonprofit group dedicated to teaching kids how to write, and was founded by bestselling author and McSweeney's editor Dave Eggers. Put all that aside for just a moment, because 826 Seattle's latest project, Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co.is very close to liftoff.

Similar to 826 chapters in New York and San Francisco — a superhero supply store and a pirate boutique respectively — the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. is the kind of novelty shop that sells imagination. Some of its wares are undeniably nifty. (I'm partial to the freeze-dried astronaut meals and the ray gun that fires cherry-scented smoke rings.) But what makes this beautifully realized shop work is its unflinching devotion to theme. As far as I'm concerned, this truly is a space-travel supply store, my first stop for rocket fuel, stun guns and do-it-yourself intergalactic treaties. The fact that humankind has gone no farther into space than our own solar system is but a quibble. We'll get to those far-away stars soon enough, and the Greenwood shop will be ready to outfit the trip.

Now, remember all that stuff I asked you to forget? I need you to remember it again, because this is the really cool part: Only a portion of the massive Greenwood operation is devoted to deep-space goods. The majority of 826 Seattle's storefront is devoted to the young person's writing center I previously described. Students enter through an "atomic teleporter" (actually a revolving door) at the rear of the shop, and are immediately transported to a literary zone where instructors, local and national authors, artists and musicians will visit and share the knowledge that will help 826 Seattle's young charges to change their world. And the profits from the retail shop up front will help keep this very worthy satellite in high orbit.

Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. officially opens at noon on Saturday, Dec. 3, with readings by George Saunders and Ryan Boudinot, readings by 826 Seattle's Youth Advisory Board and performances by a variety of other Earth-based musical and literary personages. Even if you stop by only to buy a sticker or a T-shirt emblazoned with the shop's very fine logo, you'll be helping to guide a generation of writers into the future. And the future, as the Great Criswell once so sagely observed, is where we'll live the rest of our lives.

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