The Martian Chronicles

By Ray Bradbury

After reading Bradbury Stories, I realize I've read a few sections of this novel which hopefully doesn't affect the story. We begin with seeing how everyone is dealing with winter until "rocket summer" begins, which means rockets will be launched and make everything warmer. The next section, February 1999: Ylla is in Bradbury Stories where we are introduced to Ylla and Yll, a Martian married couple who differed in temperament and would soon be dealing with strange dreams of an odd looking man. Yll had lost interest in Ylla and preferred playing with his books; since this was how they go about reading them.

Ylla has this dream during the day and Yll irritably goes to her to learn if she'd called to him, she not realizing she'd made a sound at all and told him of her dream, he thinking it all meaningless. We discover in her dream after the Earthman had landed and spoken to her in his home language, she somehow understanding, he hadn't traveled alone, being with another man still inside. Yll is bothered even more when Ylla sings a song she'd heard in the same strange language, putting him off the meat she'd prepared for him after continuing to sing. When he finishes his meal alone, he offers they go to the city for fun, which she's surprised he would even offer after how long it had been since they both had gone, he making business trips fairly regularly, but not offering to take her out for half a year.

This day though, she doesn't actually want to go for waiting for something to occur, but he insists so they go out and as they're flying toward the city in their fire-bird drawn canopy he decides they should go away on vacation the next morning to her surprise, but in the end she decides against it. The next morning Yll is watching Ylla wake up from sleep after informing her she'd woken him with her talking in her sleep so much, he then getting upset after hearing what had happened in the dream and confronting her about the parts he'd heard her say out loud, she not denying it and after exploding his rage, calms down, and she offering they forget all about it whilst she prepared breakfast, he agreeing and mechanically showing affection as apology for his outburst. Ylla then informs Yll she was planning to visit a friend in the same area as her dream of the Earthman had been, Yll then confessing he'd invited a doctor to come visit in the afternoon and she must stay, he insisting again and she being trapped to agree. He then decides he's going to go out to hunt and after leaving, Ylla continues to do some housework, she listening to his gun go off after hearing something flying through the sky and when he returns, explaining how he'd forgotten the doctor would be coming the next day.

When they then sit down for dinner, Ylla becomes upset for not being able to remember the strange song she'd been singing and her husband believing she'd feel better tomorrow. This story annoys me for her lack of conviction. We then get an overview of what some towns in Mars had going on in their night-life, one band singing and playing music they hadn't heard before and didn't understand, bewildered and surprised when it continued to happen and effectively ending the night. Elsewhere some children recite a rhyme in another language no one understood and how in certain areas women were waking up screaming and upset by the dreams they were having, believing something horrible would occur in the morning.

We are next introduced to a woman, Mrs. Ttt who is invaded upon by three Earthmen who didn't seem to want to leave her doorstep, even after bidding them adieu, the man who continued to knock was a Captain Williams, he trying to explain why they were there and how many expeditions had already been made, she not caring. Captain Williams then asks to see Mr. Ttt after Mrs. Ttt explains she's quite busy with her usual chores, after which explaining Mr. Ttt was busy, as well. Now Captain Williams is adamant in speaking with Mr. Ttt, so Mrs. Ttt goes to inform him of the idiot Earthmen downstairs, making them wait an hour before handing Captain Williams a slip of paper to see a man on a neighboring farm for whatever it was he wanted to speak with someone about, the Captain finally giving up and taking his men out. After reaching the other farm and trying to explain who they were to Mr. Aaa and he not willing to be interrupted after realizing Mr. Ttt would send the group to him regardless of whether Mr. Aaa was busy, told them he'd refuse to speak to them at all if they didn't stop signalling for him to stop speaking since he was used to people gladly listening to what he had to say.

After Mr. Aaa gets out he's planning on calling Mr. Ttt for his inconsideration and after doing so mentions having a duel with the man, he sends the men to Mr. Iii in another town who may be more inclined to listen to them, they not being in his line of study. When they get to the town, the Captain enquires of a little girl where Mr. Iii lived and after she points it out, he proceeds to try and unload his story on her, revealing how York, the man in Ylla's dream was the one in the first expedition and he was the second, they not knowing what had happened to them and the little girl not displaying much interest in his story and after he'd finished suggesting they go on to see Mr. Iii who would show more fascination with their arrival. Mr. Iii is about to be off to a lecture, but takes a moment to uncover the proper paperwork for the Captain to sign, getting a kick out of his question of whether his crew would have to sign, as well and then giving him a key to a place for them to stay until Mr. Xxx could go see them. The Captain asks if Mr. Iii would oblige him by at least congratulating them on their awesome ability of even getting to Mars, Mr. Iii going along with his request mechanically, the four now deflated by such a lackluster welcome.

After getting to the place the key opened, they are greeted by a Mr. Uuu, the four getting more of the welcome they thought they deserved after disbelieving the reaction by the rest inside until a minute of it's staying strong. When it dies down and Mr. Uuu asks them to speak of themselves, they begin to get confused by how some believed they were from Earth, as well even though the cities didn't sound like anything from Earth, soon realizing these places were not the same Earth. The Captain then deduces where they must truly be staying, his men checking the door they'd gone through and it being locked. By morning Mr. Xxx shows up and takes them to his office, he believing only the Captain to be insane and after Williams tries to explain who they were and how they'd gotten there, finally convinces the doctor to go with them to look at the rocket ship.

When they get there the doctor requests to look inside and as the crew wait outside for him to emerge, they speak of how they planned to veer others away from going to Mars since the people were so wary and unbelieving of visitors off-planet. When the doctor comes back out he admits to the Captain of being impressed by his complete psychosis and congratulating him on his ability to sustain all senses to impress his made-up reality then asking if he had any last words before he put him out of his misery for being incurable. The doctor doesn't believe the other crew members would survive if he killed the Captain, he testing the theory and soon realizing he must have gotten the insanity from the Captain, administering the cure to himself. Pritchard from Ohio is our next focus, he wanting to go to Mars and fighting for his right by declaring to be a tax-paying citizen and not wanting to be on Earth when the atomic war broke out in a couple years.

The men working on the rocket didn't take him seriously and believed him to be joking, confiding how the first and second expeditions hadn't even returned and it didn't look good they were even still alive which would beg the question why Pritchard would want to go to Mars, at all. Pritchard declared they didn't know for sure of anything having happened and so he should be allowed to be on the third expedition, the crew demanding he shut his trap and Pritchard being dragged away in a paddy wagon. The third expedition to Mars is given a healthy farewell from the townsfolk of Ohio and the sixteen surviving crew make it to Mars with only one casualty to sickness. When the rocket lands, everyone within is surprised to observe their surroundings were confusingly similar to Earth with the exception of the air being a bit thinner, but breathable.

The captain of this rocket, Black reasons why there would be so many odd coincidental similarities between Earth and this part of Mars and not willing to exit the ship until he had more understanding on the subject, also figuring it to be strange since the two previous expeditions had landed on the opposite side of where they had, to protect them from the possibility of hostile Martians. Black relates to the two members who were more willing to go out and investigate this strangely mirror-like town they three would go and the rest of the crew would stay there until they found out more and would be able to flee if necessary on the possibility of anything going wrong. When they got outside, they hear someone is playing a song they knew on the piano within the town somewhere. One of the two younger crewmen, Hinkston began theorizing why, as they got closer to the town, it would be so similar to the homes they left, coming up with an almost sensible consideration.

They reach a home with a woman humming inside, Captain Black getting her attention by ringing the doorbell. The lady who answers the door has some troubling information the Captain and crew have difficulty believing which involved the planet they were currently on, wasn't Mars and the year wasn't the one they'd thought they were in, she going back indoors to leave them with their thoughts. Captain Black decides to try another house to consider the possibility the people living in this town believed they weren't on Mars through group hypnosis, but then Lustig, the other crewman sees something he can't believe and runs off to another house, where he's met by his grandparents who invite him in for iced tea. When they have sat down, they are told some troubling information about the grandparents and how they'd somehow arrived on Mars, Lustig glad to see them.

Captain Black then decides they need to get back to the rocket to figure out what is going on when he hears shouts of greeting coming from outside and upon going out, sees the rest of his crew is no longer within the ship, but pouring out to meet the people outside. Captain Black becomes incensed when the entire crew disobey his orders of staying inside the ship and instead go off with their loved ones into their homes, vowing to make them regret their forgetfulness when Captain Black is approached by his brother, he then realizing how the crew could leave their orders aside to investigate their individual improbable reunions; his two men also leaving to be among their families. Captain Black follows his brother who mentions of their parents waiting for them back at the old homestead, they racing each other back. After an afternoon and evening of wonderful family living, Captain Black is about ready to gather his men to get a report together, but his parents convince him it could wait until morning due to the lateness of the evening and some of them possibly being in bed asleep already, so he goes to his old bedroom to rest until morning, as well.

As he lays in his bed, he thinks a terrible and what seems to him impossible thought, it being the idea perhaps the Martians' way of warfare included the ability to telepathically disarm the intruders by giving them their memories of family and home. Captain Black theorizes this to the point of true fear and silently gets out of bed, but his brother asks after him when he's about to walk out and not sounding kindly when he did so, either. After coming up with a valid excuse, his brother doesn't buy it and even as Captain Black tries to escape, in the end he doesn't make it out the front door. The next morning the town, after taking care of some downbeat business, takes "the day off".

This next section June 2001: -And the Moon Be Still As Bright is also within Bradbury Stories, it dealing with Spender, an archaeologist who learns the crew he's with not having the same values to preserve the area on Mars they were inhabiting as purely as he believed they should, his belief becoming stronger as he learns more of the dead city they were camped near. It doesn't end well for many of the crew, but if one would care for a more detailed description, click on the above link. We then have a short section on the first settlers of Mars and how it was promoted by ads, not many choosing to go, but it slowly progressing as time goes by, although the first group being the more lonely for choosing and being chosen to go first. We next follow a Benjamin Driscoll who has the aspiration of getting more trees on Mars for multiple reasons, but the main one being for more oxygen and then to help ease people's abilities of getting through hard weather.

Benjamin even likens himself to an even better Johnny Appleseed since he was planting a variety of trees rather than the only one Appleseed was known for. We then get a flashback of Benjamin's first encounter with Mars atmosphere, he almost being returned to Earth since he couldn't seem to handle the minimal oxygen, but he fighting to get through it and then figuring out his place on Mars would be to plant trees. He'd been going about it for a couple weeks and wondered whether his plan was futile or if his planting would be successful, not being able to know until it rained. At night, getting lucky and being awakened by rain which lasts two hours, he then goes back to sleep and by morning is surprised by what he sees, fainting with what he breathes in.

A couple months later, rockets are seen blasting Mars with flames, destroying parts of its surface and being molded to something man was used to, women doing the same in their kitchens; Pff, ha-ha! Six months after we follow a Tomás stopping at a gas station where he engages conversation with the old man who owns the place, he confessing why he'd gone to Mars to live somewhere different from what he knew. Tomás being on his way to a party and the ancient highway he was driving on devoid of any other drivers. He had the feeling Time was palpable more than usual as he drove along the deserted road and soon stopped at a dead town, admiring its majesty, driving on and stopping further along to eat some lunch, soon noticing a Martian coming down the highway on a strange praying mantis-looking machine.

Tomás then greets the Martian telepathically to override his fear and being sociable, continuing to try in English, the Martian responding in his own language, they having a misunderstood conversation with each other, including introductions. Then whatever impeded their inability to understand each other, changes and they communicate with each other easily, Tomás offering a coffee and then they both realizing they can't touch what the other has and both being able to see through one another, then both believing the other must be dead. The Martian then asks where Tomás is from and how long he's been there, he revealing to the Martian they'd found many of his kind dead already and few survivors, the Martian unbelieving and adamant to the opposite, then pointing out the city he'd slept in and Tomás, upon looking at it seeing ruins and when Tomás tries to point out the Earth rocket ships, the Martian being unable to see them and only seeing the ocean. The Martian is first to consider perhaps one of them is from the future and past, but then they argue which is from where, the Martian figuring perhaps it's neither, explaining his theory and the feeling they'd both shared when Tomás was driving his car and feeling alone.

In the end, they decide to leave well enough alone and bid each other farewell, the night ending with complete silence in the surrounding area with no other people, Human or otherwise to break the silence. The next section tells of the first men and second group to emigrate to Mars, both being American and from different lifestyles, but both complementing the other so there wasn't friction between them. We then getting a rundown of the types of trees and lumber brought to Mars to build the towns which were slowly popping up and how the pastimes and religion of the people hadn't changed because their scenery had. Some boys are then followed on a hike through Martian country with their packed lunches from their mothers and threats of beatings if they did go through the dead towns, but the boys still daring each other to run through the deserted homes and stomp around what is vaguely described as particular kinds of ashes and not caring if their parents found out, succumbing to their inevitable punishments before the dead towns were burned down.

The next three chapters are also in Bradbury Stories, the next one, June 2003: Way in the Middle of the Air being an odd one with all the black people deciding to go to Mars to live instead of having to endure their slavery on Earth anymore. Here's another link to Bradbury Stories for a more detailed review. The one after, The Naming of Names which makes more sense after reading some of the previous stories since some of these names are characters which weren't mentioned in Bradbury Stories takes the places on Mars which not only kept Martian names, but added those who had come there by rocket. After Mars was properly settled, the higher class would drop by for vacation and whatnot trying to place rules on people trying to escape from being directed how to live their lives which then made some rebel. Usher II is also well reviewed in Bradbury Stories in which a Mr. Stendahl is a bit nuts and decides to build his own house of Usher with dark results.

The old people are now interested in emigrating to Mars and since this chapter is more of an introduction I'll continue on to the next chapter which shows a Mr. and Mrs. Lafarge noticing it's raining from their house and Mr. Lafarge is reminiscing about a person called Tom and how he wished he was there with them, his wife thinking he should forget about him since he's been dead for awhile and to forget anything else to do with Earth. He agrees with his wife and they both then go to bed, but Mr. Lafarge soon asks if she hears anything, she having not and then confiding he'd heard whistling, deciding he'll go and look. When he opens the door to the outside he sees a slight figure standing in the rain, Mr. Lafarge calling out to discover who it was and when he doesn't get an answer, starts getting fearful, his wife coming up behind him to ask him to get to bed since Mr. Lafarge thought the small figure looked like Tom. When he tries to convince her, showing her he was still out there, she sees and shouts for the little guy to move along, spooked to even consider dealing with the situation, going back to the bedroom.

Mr. Lafarge stays only long enough to let the boy who looks like Tom know he'd leave the door unlocked if he was cold so he could come in and get warm by the hearth, then going back to bed to comfort his wife who is still shaken by the experience. Later on he hears the door open, well after his wife has gone to sleep and by morning it's extremely hot and not seeing anyone in the living room, Mr. Lafarge goes to get bathing water from the canal, but before he gets out the door, he runs into Tom who's already gotten a bucket of water and greets Lafarge who gives a confused response on how Tom was actually there, Tom making sure Lafarge was glad to see him and revealing how he'd gotten his mother to accept his presence there, as well, getting the proof when she soon enters the room. After some good times, Mr. Lafarge questions Tom as to whether he was a Martian, since it was rare, but sometimes occurred Martians would take human form, which Tom then tries to shield his face and answering, declaring he should accept him, regardless, then running off along the canal, Mr. Lafarge asks his wife if she remembered Tom getting ill and the cemetery he was buried in, she not seeming to understand and taking his questioning lightly, he dropping the subject. When Tom returns from a town he said he'd almost gotten trapped in and not understanding or being able to explain we then see a man poling a boat through the canal and greeting Mr. Lafarge who knew the poling man as Saul.

They immediately begin talking of a man they both knew who had fled Earth because he'd killed someone, naming the man and then Saul revealing what the man had done to himself the same day and when Saul had gone, Mr. Lafarge asks Tom what he'd done in his time away from the house, getting the answer of "nothing". Anna, Mr. Lafarge's wife then decides they were all going to town, making Tom go even though he didn't want to and Mr. Lafarge wondering about Tom's origins whilst they rowed there. When they reach town, Tom starts acting squirrel-y and protective, wanting the two to stay close so he wouldn't get trapped, but Anna believing he was overreacting. The town was quite crowded and Mr. Lafarge tried to ease Tom's mind by letting him know he'd be close by, but he and Anna lose him in the crowd, she not worried and believing he'd turn up by the boat.

They go to the theatre and unlike Anna's thoughts, Tom didn't appear at the boat, Mr. Lafarge offering to look for him. He then runs into a man called Mike, soon getting into a story about a girl named Lavinia who had been thought dead and was found by her parents and upon hearing this story and seeming to look faint, is offered a spot of whiskey, but declines then moving off to where he soon observes Lavinia and how she used to be Tom, but how it was now too late for the being to change back for the thoughts of her parents being too strong to break, but Mr. Lafarge doesn't give up and when the change of Lavinia back to Tom is done, they escape, but must split up for being followed and shot at, Mr. Lafarge informing Anna, Tom will be along shortly. With Tom taking so long, Mr. Lafarge soon questioning himself whether the boy was caught until they see a figure running toward them, but a crowd is coming after and they stop them before they can disembark, they all having seen someone they knew and when drawing the creature back on to the dock, everyone's belief and thought he was who they recognized was too much and the results, scaring everyone off leaving Mr. and Mrs. Lafarge holding hands in the rain until they eventually go home and again and Mr. Lafarge again hearing something in the night, looking and waiting, but this time nothing coming of it. We next learn through the radio of a luggage-store owner there will be a war breaking out on Earth which seems impossible to those on Mars since Earth was so far as to look like a bright star, comparing it to when China was at war and how Americans saw it.

We then discover the people on Mars might even decide to go back to help on Earth if the war did come about due to only having been gone for a couple years and still having family on Earth, the collected few who were old most likely the only ones to stay, but the idea being rejected and the store owner making a sale with the man he was speaking with, realizing he needed a new overnight bag. Sam Parkhill is then shown sweeping up in front of his hot dog stand, speaking with his wife about how much of a success he's going to be and how lucky he was to not still be working as a soldier. We are told where Captain Wilder is stationed after dealing with the Spender incident. They then speak of the atomic bomb and how the wife isn't sure of a war actually occurring and would believe all the people would come to Mars when she saw it, she then informing Sam a friend was there to see him and we being shown a figure with a mask and Sam acting menacing toward the creature, threatening disease if he kept showing up.

The creature then informs Sam of something is going on with Earth, he not knowing since his radio didn't work. Sam is feeling imperiled to the point of whipping out his firearm and when the creature pulls out a scroll-like object, Sam decides it's a gun and shoots, his wife stating it was a message in another language and Sam verbalizing his mistake, but getting paranoid of he being watched and deciding to bury the criminal evidence. Sam is continually apologizing to his wife for his hasty actions until she tries to quiet him, noticing and pointing out blue sand sail ships obviously of Martian origin. Sam is properly fearful of their getting closer and tries to get his wife, Elma to flee to their truck, but she's enamored by the sight of the ships and once he directs her to his truck he realizes it won't go far as his mode of transportation, then deciding on his newly bid upon sand ship, she at first against it, but he insisting and getting them away temporarily until he sees a vision of a girl advising him to go back where he was before he fled and how the others had need to talk with him, he again, threatening with violence by his firearm and she revealing they had no intention of hurting him, but he giving her until the count of three to disembark his "stolen" vessel.

He does what he wants and she dissipates in his wake, his wife now agreeing to the idea of him stopping, but he not doing so and beginning to destroy the ghost towns they passed, but the following sand ships are now getting closer. When his ship finally stops and the Martians aboard the other ships finally talk with him as he tries to explain his killing one of their people, they suggest he return to his stand and wished to explain why they were there. The Martian Leader then gives Sam deeds to all the surrounding lands once he's back at his stand, he asking why he's given him the legal territory, the Leader warning him to be ready and Sam believing it was because of all the Earth-men to arrive sooner than expected. Sam excitedly prepares his stand for what he believes will be droves of Earth people, but Elma is first to notice what Earth began to look like, Sam realizing the planet was changing and Elma coming alive again with the knowledge the busy season to come would now be an "off-season".

All the other settlers of Mars stopped what they were doing to look at Earth and had their evening meals outside until they got a Morse code message which demanded the settlers to "COME HOME". Everyone then sold out the luggage owner's business. We then ascertain towns are becoming newly abandoned and a man walking down the street dropping dimes as he went being Walter Gripp who had discovered the towns deserted and making merry with the food and drink, he living in the Martian foothills and going to town periodically only to meet a good woman to marry; but, now he stayed in town and ate like an epicurean, but soon becoming cogent to his being the last one on Mars, until he hears a phone ringing and at first dissociating the fact he's the only one who can pick it up, soon rushing to ferret out the phone, but all for naught, missing the call and shouting at himself for being a dingus and hoping aloud whoever will ring again. He waits there trying to ignore he's waiting for a return call, soon verbalizing how he's hoping it was a woman trying to reach anyone left on Mars.

Walter begins listening for a ring from any other phone, soon hearing one and racing for it, but again, not reaching it in time and taking out his frustration on the innards of the house he'd had to break into so he could reach the phone. Soon Walter resorts to calling the numbers in the phone book, getting duped by a voice-mail and leaving a profane message due to being had by it's humanistic trickery. Walter after more disappointing choices of phone numbers, finally decides to try a beauty parlor, since where else would a woman decide to stay if she were the only one left in her town; Cripes, Bradbury, of the times, yeah? Lo and behold, a woman picks up and she's quite happy to hear someone else is still on Mars, but before he can answer her question as to his whereabouts, the line goes dead and Walter books it to where she is, a thousand mile drive.

He gets there in the middle of the night and happens upon only a handkerchief, now thinking she must have gone to where he was, not encountering her. He drives even more quickly back, hoping she'll be there, upon arriving, she stepping out of the local beauty parlor in Marlin Village. Walter, upon viewing her ample physique, realizes she's not what he's expecting and most likely vice versa, they making sure the other is who they think and then they picnic and he sets up a movie, she only wanting to see a Clark Gable film and being sticky fingered like a child, but it not stopping her from pinching and getting her grubby hands on him; hilarious, especially since he's so uncomfortable. She then seems to be ready to end the night and Walter voices his divergence, offering to play her a record, but she wanting to show him something she'd brought with her from the town she was in, being a wedding dress and Walter then admitting he wished to say, "Good-by!", high-tailing it out of there before she could say anything else, he driving for a week until he reaches another satisfying enough town and knowing well enough to not answer the phone if it rang. April 2026: The Long Years is another specifically reviewed story in Bradbury Stories and is about a Mr. Hathaway and his family, revealing what he'd done to survive on Mars until he's reunited with his old crew.

We then get an alarm which verbalizes the time and what is to be done during the hour from a living room and a home where the kitchen has a sizable breakfast awaiting the lucky taker to eat it. Other recordings are played stating the date and of the bills of the home and what events would be taking place the same day. We then detect the house is empty and no one would be partaking of the food or driving the car still waiting in the garage, the home then cleaning the dishes and announcing the hour to be cleaning more thoroughly. We also learn part of the house has been burned with a portion blackened by whatever fire had occurred, this home being the last one standing in a specific city in California.

The house lets back in the family dog which is by this time greatly emaciated and when it smells the freshly baking pancakes, but isn't able to get them in time, is given a disturbing end. We watch the rest of the scheduled and automatized human pastimes get shuffled along until a fire breaks out and the house is unable to save itself for using up its water reserve. The house takes a last resort which ends in futility and as it dies unreservedly, it also vocalizes other mechanized responsibilities it would normally be useful for and ending with a single voice speaking of the day, repeatedly. We then see a family going off on a picnic and fishing, the mother, father, and three boys who pile into a boat for their destination.

Their mother points out a dead city and their father looks into the sky for moral reasoning. They then begin to see a group of silver fish and their father digresses into the state of Earth, being quieted by his wife, the boys asking if they'll see Martians and their father confirming it whilst their mother believed they were a dead race. Their father then began listening to a portable radio which gave some news which made him speed up their boat and land a bit violently on a wharf to see if their boat's ripples were visible to follow, they all waiting and listening. The eldest child deduces what their father had heard to make him speed the boat up and after their father no longer heard anything from the radio, he revealing to the questioning children they probably wouldn't until they had great-grandchildren.

Their father then gives them the option to choose the city they most liked and once arriving, declaring it would be where they would live from then on, one of the boys getting upset until their father soothes of he getting more in return, soon making them realize they owned the city and pretty much the world which did it's work of calming the boy. The father then reveals eventually of going back to their blown up rocket to pick up the hidden cache of food and to look for another couple with children who were supposed to meet them. Once night fell and their father lit a fire, he told them of why they'd fled Earth, digressing into a politician's rant, of which he was one, but supposedly a openly honest one, an enigma of his kind. After he expresses to the children why they were genuinely there he goes on to bring them to a spot to show them the Martians, this one ending in metaphor. Overall an interesting, if not told in an old-world way of thinking, but quite entertaining and an extremely easy flow of story, the one's collected in Bradbury Stories not affecting the whole of this story, whatsoever.