august 2026 there will come soft rains by ray bradbury

in the wall, tiny robot mice darted 12 A sudden swift movement. Out of warrens 11 An enclosed place where small game animals or birds are kept, esp. NINE-FIFTEEN, sang the clock, time to clean. The dirty dishes were dropped into a hot washer and emerged twinkling 10 An act of shining with intermittent gleams of light. scraped them down a metal throat which digested and flushed them away to the distant sea. An aluminium wedge 9 A triangular piece of hard material used for raising, holding, or splitting objects. At eight-thirty the eggs were shrivelled 8 Contract and wrinkle, as from great heat, cold, or dryness, useless. After a long wait the door swung down again. and lifted its door to reveal the waiting car.

Outside, the garage chimed 7 To sound harmoniously or in chimes, such as a set of bells. The weather box on the front door sang quietly: “Rain, rain, go away rubbers, raincoats for today…” And the rain tapped on the empty house, echoing. under electric eyes.ĮIGHT-ONE, tick-tock, eight-one o’clock, off to school, off to work, run, run, eight-one! But no doors slammed, no carpets took the soft tread of rubber 6 A low overshoe of this material. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills.” Somewhere in the walls, relays clicked, memory tapes glided 5 To move smoothly and continuously along, as if without effort or resistance, as a flying bird, a boat, or a skater. Today is the anniversary of Tilita’s marriage. “Today is August 4, 2026,” said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, “in the city of Allendale, California.” It repeated the date three times for memory’s sake. If you flip them and cook them on both sides they’re fried over easy, sixteen slices of bacon, two coffees, and two cool glasses of milk. sigh and ejected from its warm interior eight pieces of perfectly browned toast, eight eggs sunny side up 4 Fried eggs that are sunny-side up have only been cooked from the bottom. gave a hissing 3 To express disapproval or contempt (for) by making a hiss sound. Seven-nine, breakfast time, seven-nine! In the kitchen, the breakfast stove 2 A portable or fixed apparatus that furnishes heat for warmth, cooking, etc., commonly using coal, oil, gas, wood, or electricity as a source of power. The clock ticked on, repeating and repeating its sounds into the emptiness.

IN THE LIVING ROOM, the voice-clock sang, tick-tock, seven o’clock, time to get up, time to get up, seven o’clock! As if it were afraid nobody would. Later that same year the story was included in Bradbury’s T he Martian Chronicles (1950). By Ray Bradbury 1 There Will Come Soft Rains is a short story by science fiction author Ray Bradbury which was first published in the issue of Collier’s.

August 2026 there will come soft rains by ray bradbury