Project Gutenberg 2021-01-19 Public domain in the USA. 112 Cente, H. F. Sales Talk Produced from Planet Stories July 1953 Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Sales Talk" by H. F. Cente is a science fiction novella written in the early 1950s. The story revolves around Big Bill Bennett, a salesman who, after feeling disillusioned with his current life and the state of the world, decides to escape into the future using an alleged time machine inherited from his late uncle. The novella explores themes of escapism, the human condition, and the role of civilization through the lens of a seemingly absurd but profound narrative. In "Sales Talk," Bill and his wife Molly embark on a journey into the future accompanied by their two fox-terriers, Is and Was. Their initial enthusiasm is soon overshadowed by the realization that they are flung millions of years into the future with no hope of return. As they settle into their spaceship, the couple discovers that they are not alone; they become entangled with a Supreme Intelligence entity that seeks to resurrect the universe, promising to recreate life as they know it. However, through a humorous misunderstanding, Bill realizes that the Supreme Intelligence has confused their dogs with the humans aboard. Ultimately, the couple decides to seize this unexpected twist, reflecting on the absurdity of life while contemplating the potential for a new beginning that focuses on love, companionship, and the concept of life evolving anew under the intelligence of their dogs. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 87.4 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Dogs -- Fiction Time travel -- Fiction Space ships -- Fiction Inventions -- Fiction Spouses -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Humour 60533 2025-06-25T10:34:33.432298 text/html 37153 2024-10-18T09:52:00 text/html 368130 2025-06-25T10:34:35.291274 application/epub+zip 366972 2025-06-25T10:34:33.849271 application/epub+zip 78164 2025-06-25T10:34:33.612318 application/epub+zip 406904 2025-06-25T10:34:36.538327 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 399687 2025-06-25T10:34:35.088376 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 111119 2022-09-28T23:14:40.397860 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 53660 2025-06-25T10:34:33.313272 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 33908 2024-10-18T09:52:00 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17617 2025-06-25T10:34:36.657296 application/rdf+xml 33577 2025-06-25T10:34:33.712299 image/jpeg 5426 2025-06-25T10:34:33.661302 image/jpeg 501696 2025-06-25T10:34:33.447316 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog