There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
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A smart home continues its automated routines after its family is killed in a nuclear blast.
Ray Bradbury's 1950 short story depicts a fully automated house on August 4, 2026, carrying out its daily functions, preparing breakfast, reading poetry, cleaning, despite the complete absence of its human inhabitants, who have been vaporized by a nuclear attack. The story draws its title from Sara Teasdale's poem, which describes nature's indifference to human destruction. The house eventually succumbs to a fire, highlighting the fragility of technology without human oversight. The PDF also includes Bradbury's "The Pedestrian" on its final two pages.
What commenters are saying
Commenters noted the story's publication date of August 4, 2026, and its enduring relevance amid renewed nuclear tensions. Some praised Bradbury's prose-poetic style, while others found it overly flowery. A split emerged between those who found the premise haunting and those who found it bleak but important contextually, given its 1950 publication shortly after Hiroshima. Several shared adaptations: a 1987 Russian animated short, a Leonard Nimoy reading set to music by Zarelli, and Yetide Badaki's reading on Selected Shorts. Multiple commenters also highlighted "The Pedestrian" included at the end as perhaps more unsettling for modern life.