Can you recommend some interesting 'time paradox short stories'?

One well - known time paradox story is 'The Grandfather Paradox'. It goes like this: If you were to travel back in time and kill your grandfather before he had children, then you would never have been born. But if you were never born, how could you go back in time to kill him in the first place? Another is in the movie 'Back to the Future'. Marty McFly goes back in time and accidentally disrupts his parents' meeting, which almost causes him to cease to exist. He has to fix things to ensure his own existence.

There's 'A Sound of Thunder' by Ray Bradbury. In this story, a small change in the past during a time - traveling safari has far - reaching and unexpected consequences, creating a sort of butterfly - effect - like paradox. It shows how a seemingly minor alteration in the past can completely change the future in unforeseen ways.

One famous time paradox story is the 'Grandfather Paradox'. It goes like this: if you were to travel back in time and kill your grandfather before he had children, then you would never be born. But if you were never born, how could you go back in time to kill him? Another is the 'Bootstrap Paradox'. For example, a person goes back in time and gives Shakespeare a copy of his complete works. Shakespeare then publishes them. But where did the works originally come from? It's a paradox.

One great paradox short story is 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson. It presents a seemingly ordinary small town with an annual lottery. The paradox lies in the fact that this lottery, which is a long - held tradition, is actually a brutal stoning. People blindly follow the tradition without really thinking about its inhumane nature.

A great example is 'The Sound of Thunder' by Ray Bradbury. In this short story, a time traveler steps on a prehistoric butterfly during a safari in the past. This small action has huge consequences in the present, creating a butterfly - effect - like paradox that shows how even the tiniest change in the past can drastically alter the future.

One famous time loop paradox story is 'Groundhog Day'. In this story, the main character relives the same day over and over again. He has to figure out how to break the loop. Another one could be in some science - fiction movies where a character goes back in time and changes something, but that change creates a paradox because it shouldn't have been possible in the original timeline.

There was a girl, Lily. She received a letter from the future. The letter told her not to take a certain flight. She listened and didn't take it. But the strange thing was, if she didn't take the flight, how could the person in the future, who knew she took the flight in the original timeline, send her the letter? This time paradox shows how complicated time travel can be.

Sure. One paradox bedtime story could be about a time traveler who goes back in time to prevent a disaster, but in doing so, causes the very disaster they were trying to avoid. Another might be a story where a character is given the power to make all their dreams come true, but then realizes that having everything they want leads to a sense of emptiness.

Another theme is the circular nature of time. Sometimes in these short stories, events seem to loop. Like a character keeps repeating the same actions in different time periods without being able to break the cycle. It shows how time can be like a never - ending circle in a time paradox situation. Also, the idea of self - fulfilling prophecies is common. A character might try to avoid something they know will happen in the future, but in the process of trying to avoid it, they end up causing it.

One common theme is the butterfly effect. A small action in the past can cause huge changes in the future, creating paradoxes. For example, in 'A Sound of Thunder', stepping on a butterfly in the past changes the entire future world. Another theme is self - causation. Characters often become the cause of their own existence or problems through time travel, like in 'All You Zombies'.