Deep Connections

Why so glum? asked Pliny the Elder.

So much for connectivity in my three random things, I replied. All I have come up with so far is this: The fence in story one, the sand on the beach in story two, and the coconut cakes in story three.

What about them? asked Pliny.

They were the same colour, I said.

No one would even guess that, said Pliny. You didn't mention the colour of the fence. Perhaps you should look at the bigger picture. These are not just random things, they are complex random events. It seems to me that there is plenty of connectivity if you examine them as a trilogy.

Oh really? I said. Go on.

Firstly, said Pliny, in his best didactic manner, there is the element of time. The Big Bang occurs in the night time. The Half Woman in the afternoon, and the Lucky Person in the morning.

So they do, I said.

Secondly, length, said Pliny. The Big Bang is a short story, the Half Woman is mid-length and the Lucky Person is long.

Certainly true, I said.

Thirdly, went on Pliny, in the Big Bang story, we have an emptiness in the middle of the story, a lack of relevant information that would enable us to solve the mystery. In the Half Woman, we are presented with, as it were, a half-set of information, which none the less enables the mystery to be solved. In the Lucky Person, we have a set of instructions given over the telephone by a so-called 'real person', enabling the protagonist to uncover a unique and lucky number.

A possibly lucky number, I corrected.

Yes, said Pliny.

Well that is most impressive, I said. But what does it mean?

It means, said Pliny, that your three stories when examined together represent aspects of things that are common to all human experience. Time, emptiness, half-truths, whole truths, the processing of information, luck, and the sharing of cakes.....

He stopped, and looked at me pointedly.

Thank you, I said.