In contrast with the house’s somewhat chipper efficiency, the dog is beside itself upon realizing that the family is no longer there.

The mice seem irritated to have to go to the trouble since the house had already been cleaned. While the house lets the hunger-panged and sore-covered dog in, the pet receives a rude reception when robot mice emerge again to collect the mud it tracked inside. With any other animal, the house would haughtily forbid it from entering, but the technology that runs the house is intelligent and recognizes the dog, even though it is a shell of its former self. At night, the city emits a powerful, radioactive glow.Īt noon, a surprise visitor arrives. In the entire city, this is the only house that remains. Their bodies protected those parts of the house from the full blast of the bomb, but the rest of their home is covered in charred particles. These figures were left by the McClellan family, since they were standing outside when the atomic bomb landed on Allendale. On the side of the house, silhouettes show four human figures engaged in typical outdoor activities. Soon, the house is pristine and the mice disappear.ĭuring the lull of late morning activity, the narrator pans out to observe the house’s exterior and the city as a whole. Once they have gathered all that they can carry, these tiny machines carry their loads to a chute that leads to the incinerator. Small robot mice emerge from nooks and crannies throughout the house and begin to vacuum, dust, and sweep. Once the house completes this morning send-off, it cleans up breakfast with alacrity. After breakfast, the house ushers non-existent children off to school, letting them know what weather to expect on their way out. The house seems highly organized and concerned with the wellbeing of the family, both physically and socially.

Over the course of the meal, the house announces a number of important details, such as a birthday, anniversary, and the payment status of certain bills. The kitchen begins to prepare a standard American breakfast using a variety of automated appliances. The clock is afraid that no one will hear it, but it begins to direct the day anyway, declaring that it is breakfast time. After a nuclear explosion kills a California family but leaves their artificially intelligent house intact, the house continues to act as though nothing has happened.

The house short story by ray bradbury