Past and Future

It was getting late. The next building they passed was already closed.

I hope that's not the library, said Baby Pierre.

It says ART GALLERY on the front, observed Frog.

So I was right, said Baby Pierre. It's not the Library.

Frog looked sour.

The next building was set back from the road beyond sunken lawns edged by palm trees. People were hurrying inside.

This must be the Library, said Baby Pierre.

But it wasn't the library, it was the Museum. Baby Pierre and Frog had arrived just in time for the Sprigg Lecture. They decided to stay.

They walked up the grand central staircase and turned right into the Pacific Cultures Gallery. They chose two seats on the front row.

What if someone sits on us? said Frog.

They will get a surprise, said Baby Pierre. Especially if they sit on you.

The lecture was about Megafauna. The speaker had published a book on the Diprotodon. She told the audience that just before she published the book she had learned that current thinking had changed. The two different species of Diprotodon were actually male and female of the same species.

There's a case where it would have been better to know the future, whispered Frog loudly.

Poo! said Baby Pierre. It would have been better to know the past.