Short Fiction: "Today is August 4, 2026..."

Tuesday Salutations, writers! You know I love short fiction, but I haven't been posting much about it because, well, I've been down the rabbit hole with my novel. But this morning, I woke up thinking about it.

And this is kind of wild: the version of Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” published in The Martian Chronicles takes place on August 4, 2026.

Um... that's today.

Bradbury published the original story in Collier’s Weekly in 1950 and a revised version in The Martian Chronicles that same year. The title comes from Sara Teasdale’s 1918 poem “There Will Come Soft Rains,” which the house reads aloud late in the story. Teasdale imagines nature carrying on without us, while Bradbury imagines our machines doing much the same.

Hello, AI!

If you’ve never read the story, it’s only about five minutes long. And if you’ve read it before, well, today seems like a pretty good day to read it again. (Read the poem, too.)

Let me know what you think about the poem or story in the comments or message me through my website!

Peace & Plenty,