There’s No Time To Count To Infinity

Once there was a little girl who loved to count.

“Mama,” she said one morning. “I’m going to count to infinity!”

“But darling,” her mother replied. “There’s no time to count to infinity!”

But the little girl was precocious and wanted to find out for herself.

So she began to count:

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5…”

The next day the little girl was still at it:

“Eighty-six thousand four hundred, eighty-six thousand four hundred one, eighty-six thousand four hundred two, eighty-six thousand four hundred three…”

Then three weeks passed:

“One million eight hundred fourteen thousand four hundred twenty-one, one million, eight hundred fourteen thousand, four hundred twenty-two…”

Then five years passed:

“Thirty-one million five hundred fifty-six thousand nine hundred twenty-seven, thirty-one million five hundred fifty-six thousand nine hundred twenty-eight…”

And then ten years:

“Fifteen million seven hundred seventy-eight thousand four hundred sixty-four, fifteen million seven hundred seventy-eight thousand four hundred sixty-five…”

At 15 years, a counting museum was erected around the girl, and everyone who visited marveled at her persistence:

“Three hundred fifteen million five hundred sixty-nine thousand two hundred sixty-two, three hundred fifteen million five hundred sixty-nine thousand two hundred sixty-three…”

And 35 years later, she was still at it:

“One billion one hundred four million four hundred ninety-two thousand four hundred eleven, one billion one hundred four million four hundred ninety-two thousand four hundred twelve…”

55 years later, she was presented with an award for counting higher than anyone else ever had (and nobody even minded that she was unable to stop counting to say thank you):

“One billion seven hundred thirty-five million six hundred thirty thousand nine hundred thirty-eight…”

But she still didn’t stop. She kept on counting, higher and higher, and higher.

For 95 years, the little girl counted. Of course by this time, she was no longer a little girl. She was a very, very, very old woman.

And finally, she ran out of breath:

“Two billion six hundred eighty-two million three hundred thiiirty-eeeeight thou…”

(plunk)

When her angels came to take her back to heaven, they smiled tenderly:

“Your mother told you there was no time to count to infinity!”

But the little girl was so determined, she continued with her counting.

In fact, if you listen very closely, you can still hear her counting today.

(Angelic counting: “One quadrillion, four hundred fifty billion, three hundred thirty-two million, eight hundred seventy-nine thousand, four hundred and twenty-four...”

The end.

 -JLK