Whim

404 Pages·2002·52.89 MB·English

by  Luke Rhinehart

MAN
Author of THE DICE
Boston Public Library
MA
02116
Boston,
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2015
in
https://archive.org/details/whimOOIuke

WHIM
By
LUKE RHINEHART
MAN
THE DICE
Author of
©2005LukeRhinehart.AllRightsReserved.
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproduced storedin aretrievalsystem ortransmittedby
, ,
meanswithoutthewrittenpermission oftheauthor.
Firstpublishedby1stBooks08/15/05
ISBN:1-4033-4798-0(sc)
Printedinthe UnitedStatesofAmerica
Bloomington Indiana
,
Thisbook isprintedonacid-freepaper.
About theAuthor
Luke Rhinehart is the internationally acclaimed author of
THE DICE MAN and six other books.THE DICE MAN, cited
BBC
by a production as one ofthe fifty most influential books of
LOADED MAGAZINE
the last halfcentury, was honored by in
1999 as the “Novel of the Century.” It has been an international
best-seller for thirtyyears and is selling more copies now than ever.
In the last few years three documentaries have been shot about
Luke or people influenced by the book, three stage plays based
TV
loosely on Luke’s work have toured the U.K., and the six-part
DICE
series will be aired later this year.
His other books include:
WHITE WIND BLACK RIDER a dramatic and moving
, ,
storyofthree samurai and their conflicting and deadlyloves
for the beautiful Matari.
THE BOOK OF THE DIE a collection of essays, parables,
,
proverbs, film scenes and stories that dramatize his unique
ideas; and
And LONG VOYAGE BACK an extraordinary story ofpeople
,
fleeing by sailboat from a nuclear holocaust.
Visit Luke at www.lukerhinehart.net.

1
From THEBOOKOFTHEDIE OverlookPress, 2002, pp.xiv-xxii.
,
PROLOGUE IN HEAVEN
And it came to pass that one day the GreatTwin Deities Cause
and Effect were called in to visit the Lord Chance and make their
bi-millennia report. They arrived as usual with a huge retinue of
satellite Gods and angelic hangers-on. Past and Future were there
and Hypothesis, and Because - a total ofseveral thousand in all.
The bodies of Cause and Effect were joined together, some
authorities have it, by the left arm ofCause being continuous with
the right arm ofEffect, although some claim that it was the tip of
Effect’s penis which was contiguous with the buttocks of Cause.
In any case all authorities agree that the two Gods were in some
way inseparable Siamese Twins. Down through the millennia this
freakishness had encouraged their developing a circus-like reper-
toire ofacts.As a result, after offering a perfunctorygreeting to the
Lord Chance, who was strolling haphazardly through space and
paying only sporadic attention, they began to perform.
“What happens to this apple ifI let it go?” asked Cause.
“It falls,”answered Effect, and their followers applauded enthu-
siastically.
“What’s an unpredictable causal sequence?” asked Effect.
“A real Cause playing hide and seek,” replied Cause trium-
phantly, and laughter cascaded through the hall.
“What happens when one looks at Chance through a micro-
scope?” asked Cause.
“He evaporates!” laughed Effect, and cheers and applause
reverberated through the universe.
1
Nevertheless, after three months ofthis sort ofthing everyone
was bored, including Cause and Effect, so they began presenting
statistics,graphs and computer printouts to demonstrate the steady
progressTheyhad made in mens minds since the last report,giving
detailed descriptions ofsome oftheir new acts: the great advances
ofEinstein and Gates,ofnuclearbombs and missiles and spacecraft
and web sites, and newgerms and poisons and cures - the advances
of all those who had discovered new ways ofjoining together the
separated.
The Lord Chance listened with great patience and interest.
“You certainly seen to be doing your work,” the Lord Chance
finally said, stifling a yawn.
“Naturally,”replied Cause. “Human beings are learning to look
Me
for everywhere.”
“They see an unending link ofUs through all creation,” added
Effect with his usual smirk.
Me
“And seek as the Ultimate Truth,” continued Cause.
“Fine,” said the Lord Chance, and this time he did yawn, the
yawn lasting six days, during which all stood respectfully.
But when the yawn was finished the Only Begotten Divine
Son ofChance, Our BelovedWhim, He ofMany Chances,who in
two hundred thousand years had never before dared to speakwhen
his Father was holding one ofhis sporadic formal hearings, for the
first time spoke:
He
“Father?” asked timidly.
“Mmmm?” said Lord Chance. He was never surprised at any-
thing and looked down at his young Son with a vague smile.
“It seems from these reports that everyone’s forgetting all about
You,”Whim went on with shy determination. “No one acknowl-
edges your Presence. The universes are filled with unbelievers.
Everyone’s slobbering after Cause and Effect.”
“Really?” replied the Lord Chance indifferently.
2