Parodoxes and Parrot-Oxes

[miko2]

"Is it just me, or are you experiencing a sense of deja vu?" Tempus asked, looking about the once more dark forest.

"It's not just you," said Ozma.

"Oh well, deja vu is the most common affliction of time-travelers. It's actually when you feel like you never saw anything like that before that you're usually in trouble."

"I met myself and I told myself what to do, and I did it, even though I had told myself it was the wrong thing to do. Did I do the right thing?" asked Ozma.

"That's the first sensible question you've asked," said Tempus happily. "My suspicion is that if you hadn't done what you said you did, either nothing would have happened, or Nothing would have happened, which is quite a frightening prospect indeed. I would guess you probably did the right thing in doing the wrong thing. The difficulty is going to be re-living that conversation you just had with yourself, but from the other side. Do you remember exactly what you just said?"

"Not exactly," said Ozma.

"Good," said Tempus. "That'll make it easier. You won't be quite as tempted to say something else. Of course, you could choose to say something else, but in a land without magic, I wouldn't guarantee the consequences."

"So you think it might be dangerous?"

"Time is always dangerous, my dear," said Tempus. "Half the time you don't know what's going to occur, and what's more worrisome, half the time you know exactly what's going to occur."

"I see," said Ozma. Her eyebrows knotted in concern.

"But I am keeping you from your meeting," said Tempus. "Hop on. You don't want to be late."

"Can I be late?" asked Ozma.

"No," said Tempus as he took flight.

---

Having finished Grampa in Oz, I've been reading "A Paradox in Oz" which is one of the newer Oz books (published in 2000) and also one of the most delightful I've ever read. One of the main characters is a parrot-ox... think gryphon and you can imagine what a parrot-ox looks like. And parrot-oxes are of course attracted to impossibilities... or as another part of the book says:

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Immediately, he began sniffing the air, for, he explained, he could sniff out a paradox much like a dog could sniff out a bone.

"What does a paradox smell like?" asked Ozma.

"It's odorless," said Tempus. "This way."

---

Anyway... great fun. Far more clever than the typical Oz book. ^_^

In other news... I did write a bit on my own Oz story.

---

"I tried to stop myself, but I couldn't do it in time," said Ozma.

"I always find it's harder to stop oneself than it is to stop anyone else. For example, right before I took this journey, I flew by and told myself, don't go, you'll get stuck in an alternate Oz again, and who knows whether you'll be able to escape from it."

"You told yourself that? Why didn't you warn me?"

"I always tell myself that before a journey, but I make it a rule never to listen to myself. I find myself to be a pretty untrustworthy fellow in general. I never believe anything I say."

"But why would you lie to yourself?"

"That's what I want to know -- why would I lie to myself? I'll have to ask myself that question sometime. Though I'll never believe the answer."