And
this continued for some time until the little Grain finally said,
"Hasn't this taught you anything?"
"Well, I'm not sure if it taught me
anything," Spindizzy answered, "But I think I should
tell you that you could have gotten the same result by having me
add 73 to my number in the first place."
The Grain wished desperately for a pair
of hands so it could throw them up in frustration, but it had to
settle for a long sigh. "Don't you see? Any number you think
of, any number at all, no matter how large, can be made larger.
Even the number of grains of sand in the world is tiny when you
realize you can multiply that number by itself." Spindizzy's eyes
started to get very wide. "Do you see now? There is no
Largest Number."
With an effort, Spindizzy managed to get
up onto her feet. "Well, then," she declared, "I
shall simply have to visit an Unreachable Place. Those are the
best places to find Impossible Things, you know."
The Grain simply sat there, stunned.
"You're crazy," it said.
Spindizzy smiled her crooked little grin
and said, "I know."
For a moment the Grain almost forgot to
forget that it couldn't talk, but curiosity won out over logic.
"How do you expect to travel to an Unreachable Place?"
Spindizzy flew up into the air, looking
around for something, and called down, 'All you need is a Paradox
and there's bound to be one around here. ... Yes, there's one!
Goodbye, Grain!"