| All Summer in a Day | |
| Author: | Ray Bradbury |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Published In: | The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction |
| Media Type: | Short story |
| Pub Date: | March 1954 |
"All Summer in a Day" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, first published in March 1954 for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.[1]
The story is about a class of students on Venus, which, in this story, is a world of constant rainstorms, where the sun is only visible for two hours every seven years.
One of the children, Margot, moved to Venus from Earth five years earlier and is the only one who remembers the sun, since it shines regularly on Earth. She describes the sun to the other children as being like a "penny" or "fire in the stove". The other children, being too young to have ever seen it themselves, do not believe her. Just before the sun comes out, a boy named William rallies the other children, and they lock Margot in a closet down a tunnel.
The teacher arrives to take the class outside to enjoy their hour of sunshine while Margot is banging on the door. In their astonishment and joy, they all forget about Margot and gleefully rush to play outside, savoring every second of their newfound freedom.
It begins to rain again, and the children start crying once they realize they will not get to see the sun again for another seven years. The children run back inside as the sun disappears and it starts storming. At this point, one of them remembers Margot. They let her out of the closet, ashamed over what they have done, now that they finally understand what she had been missing.
A 30-minute television adaptation was created, originally broadcast on the PBS' children's series WonderWorks in 1982. The adaptation differs from the story in that the sun only appears every nine years, and the ending is expanded: the children atone for their horrible act by giving Margot flowers they picked while the Sun was out. The director of photography was Robert Elswit, who went on to become an Academy Award winning cinematographer.