Probability by Louis Trimble
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"Probability" by Louis Trimble is a science fiction short story written during the early 1950s. The narrative explores the life of Mike Murphy, a bartender, and his interactions with a peculiar customer named Rabelais Pettis, who seems to lead a mundane life yet harbors a secret involving time travel and probability. The story blends humor and speculative elements, particularly focusing on the impacts of small choices on future outcomes. The plot unfolds
as Mike Murphy develops a friendship with Rabelais, witnessing his transformation from a timid regular into a wealthy man who can manipulate time. After a series of raucous events, they embark on adventures through the near future, experiencing changes in wealth, status, and even potential fame for Mike. However, the tale pivots when Mike learns that their previous timeline may lead to catastrophic consequences, and Rabelais wants to guide him towards a path of political influence to avert disaster. The story culminates as Mike navigates the challenges of this new trajectory, maintaining a sense of uncertainty about the impact of their actions on future history while ultimately embracing the changes ahead. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Trimble, Louis, 1917-1988 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Emshwiller, Ed, 1925-1990 |
| Title | Probability |
| Series Title | Produced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction April 1954. |
| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 93.1 (5th grade). Very easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Time travel -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 32739 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-32739-6 |
| Release Date | Jun 8, 2010 |
| Last Update | Jan 6, 2021 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 331 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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