Nation

There is no such thing as ‘does not happen.’ But there is always ‘happened somewhere else

Mau opened his mouth to reply and found it choked with words. He had to wait until he could see a path through them.

They wanted an answer. It would be nice if it was the right answer, but if it couldn’t be, then any answer would do, because then we would stop being worried… and then his mind caught alight. That’s what the gods are! An answer that will do! Because there’s food to be caught and babies to be born and life to be lived and so there is no time for big, complicated, and worrying answers! Please give us a simple answer, so that we don’t have to think, because if we think, we might find answers that don’t fit the way we want the world to be.

They wanted an answer. It would be nice if it was the right answer, but if it couldn’t be, then any answer would do, because then we would stop being worried

Magic is just a way of saying “I don’t know.