Originally published at Sythyry. Please leave any comments there.

On Memory [11 Lage 4261]

(This was in the middle of the dinner, but some monsters
asked about it, so here it is. *sigh*.)

Anoof:“Do you start losing track of memories
after four thousand years? I know Glikkonen gave Sythyry an
enchanted journal, and zie’s very diligent about recording
things in it.”

Yylhauntra:“You’re Glikkonen’s child,
Sythyry?”

Me:“Zir grandchild. Eitharheinen is my
~mother~.”

Yylhauntra:“Ah!”

I don’t know if that was real or feigned ignorance.

Yylhauntra:“In any case, I don’t have any
trouble with memories: I can remember the fifth century as
easily as you can remember last year, and I can remember the
first days a great deal more easily.”

Anoof:“Because they were more
memorable?”

Yylhauntra:“Perhaps, and perhaps because I am
more often called upon to describe them than than the fifth
century. Though the fifth century was far more interesting,
really.”

Havune asked “Why?”. Yylhauntra ignored him.

Yylhauntra:“In any case, Glikkonen’s journal is
an excellent idea. I don’t forget many facts about
previous times. But later memories and thoughts certainly
color the earlier ones — it’s hard to think about the
Holocaust Wars without a great deal of hindsight, for
example. I imagine Sythyry will read zir journal in ten
thousand years and exclaim, ‘My! How naive I was back
then!’!”

Everyone but me:“Zie’ll do that in about two
weeks!”

I took this opportunity to die horribly.

Yylhauntra gave me a curious look, but didn’t probe in
public.