time paradox short story

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.

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.

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'.

In a paradox time travel story, causality is often disrupted. One type could be the predestination paradox. Say a time traveler goes back to give a famous scientist an idea that leads to a great invention. But it turns out that the time traveler only knew about the idea because of the invention in the first place. It makes you wonder about the nature of time and whether events are fixed or can be changed.

A short story like 'The Mysterious Clock' often contains a paradox. The way the clock behaves defies normal logic and creates a paradoxical scenario for the characters.

It's an allegory. The story uses symbols and events to represent larger ideas and social issues.

One common theme is the grandfather paradox. This is where a time traveler goes back in time and does something that would prevent their own existence, like killing their grandfather before their father was born. Another theme is the bootstrap paradox, where an object or information has no origin because it was brought back in time and became its own source.

Predestination is a common theme. For example, in stories where a character goes back in time to prevent an event but ends up causing it. Another theme is the bootstrap paradox, like when an object or information has no origin but is passed through time loops. Also, the idea of alternate timelines often pops up, where a change in the past creates a new future that branches off from the original one.

Another approach is the self - consistency principle. In a time paradox story, events might be arranged in such a way that they are self - consistent. For instance, in the 'Bootstrap Paradox' with Shakespeare, perhaps the works were always meant to be passed through time in a loop, and there is no true origin in the traditional sense. The universe somehow arranges things so that the loop can exist without violating causality on a fundamental level. This requires thinking about time and events in a non - linear way.