The Genie Paradox

“Curiouser, and Curiouser,” Sarah read. Ever since Sarah could remember her favorite book was Alice in Wonderland. She admired the main character, Alice, for her fearlessness and hoped that one day she might have her own adventure. That night, after reading Alice in Wonderland, Sarah wanted a midnight snack. Sarah hopped out of bed and tiptoed past her mom’s room. She stepped on each wooden panel anxiously, hoping that she wouldn’t wake her mom. As Sarah made her way to the kitchen, she noticed something lying on the floor. She bent down and picked up a smooth box-like object. It was about the size of a tissue box but was made out of a luxurious metal, that was smooth like glass. Sarah felt around the box, feeling some raised buttons until she stumbled upon a sticky note.

Sarah peeled off the sticky note and held it by its adhesive backing. The sticky note read: “Press the star-shaped button.” Intrigued, Sarah followed the simple instructions and pressed the star-shaped button. Within seconds, her mother’s face illuminated in front of her eyes. It was a hologram-like in every sci-fi movie she has seen, but this time it was real. She pressed the start button again, the hologram of her mother began to speak.

“Hello, Sarah, it is your mother from the future. I am stuck in the “end times” and I need to get out now. I have no time to explain how I got here, but I need you to hit rewind, ASAP! I know you can do it.” her mother spoke as her surroundings began to crumble and disintegrate. The message ended. Sarah wondered how can her mother be in the future when she is sleeping right in her bed right now. To test her theory, Sarah crept to her mom’s room and opened the door slightly. She was gone. She was not here. Stunned, Sarah ran back to the kitchen and reached for the box. She glazed her hand over the buttons. Finally, she felt the rewind symbol under her touch. She pressed it and watched the clock zoom back to 11pm. Relieved, Sarah set the box down gingerly and crept back down the hallway. Sarah placed her foot quietly on the wooden panels with a newfound sense of accomplishment knowing that she saved her mom. She peeked into her mother’s room again to check on her and wiped the sweat from her head when she saw her mom sleeping soundly. Sarah then opened the door to her room. However, she noticed something odd.

Sarah walked in and noticed something under her bed covers. As she approached it, she realized that something was much more, it was a person. It was speaking in a muffled voice under the covers. She saw the figure adjust her position on the bed, with that Sarah stealthily took a dive under her bed as she listened to the muffled figure.

“Curiouser, and Curiouser,” the figure read from its book. “Curiouser and Curiouser.”