Chapter 1

Slowing Down:

A week or so ago I met the most beautiful girl. I fell in love with her instantly and being an open sort of person did not hesitate to tell her so. My good fortune was that instead of ignoring me or looking at me with complete distain she said "Hey, slow down, slow down".

The next morning I went down to Bangtao beach for my usual walk. A chance to consider and weigh the important issues in life, like "If there are fifty five baht to the pound how much did my meal, last night, cost in real money?" or "If I decide to see if I walk with my feet out at an angle then how can I surprise myself so I don't cheat and straighten my stride before turning round to look at my footprints"?

Suddenly what she had said came back to me. I should slow down.

So I started my morning walk at a much slower pace than usual.
In fact I walked so slowly that I met myself coming back.
This was a surprise for both of me.
"Hi!" I said.
"Hi!" I replied.
"See you"
"Yes. See you."
This gave be some food for thought.

The next day I decided to walk much more slowly. This time I met myself coming back four times. "Hi..Hi..Hi..Hi..Hi..Hi..Hi..Hi". we said to my selves. This was getting interesting.

The next day, I tried walking even more slowly.
The experiment was a complete success. I met myself coming back ten times.
The pleased looks in my eyes were clear. A pattern was emerging.

So yesterday I decided to try the limiting case. I would walk at zero speed, that is to say, I would stand still on the beach.
What would happen. I found it difficult to guess since when you start dividing things by zero the results can be unexpected.

Perhaps, and this is not a happy thought for the world, I would meet an infinity of my selves coming back. But perhaps since I wasn't moving then they wouldn't have been anywhere to come back from. I had an image of an infinity of static copies of me stretched way down the beach. Going nowhere and coming back from nowhere.

In the event, when I tried this, apart from getting strange looks from passers by and a bit sunburned, the experiment was inconclusive. I saw no copies of me. Maybe they were there but I couldn't see them. It felt as though they were there but just not quite visible. It was as though they existed in a universe slightly displaced in time or space from mine. I felt their presence. Hmmm! very interesting!

Then this morning it occurred to me that I had missed out on an important part of the experiment.
What would happen if I walked backwards down the beach?
Well I would predict that as before, I would meet myself coming back, the number of times depending on how slowly I walked.
But would I, that is to say my alter egos, be walking backwards too?
Would they be mirror images of me? Or even, perhaps, negative images of me as they walked backwards through space?

The possibilities intrigue me.

What would happen if I was to make contact with a negative image of myself?

Well, today, I will find out.

When, and if, I return from my slow, backwards walk along Bangtao beach, and if there is still a place for me to return to, then, dearly beloved, I will tell you what happened.