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THE DEPARTURE
LINKS Home Colonization Life on Mars Departure Background Analysis Ray Bradbury Bibliography	THE DEPARTURE As atomic war breaks loose on Earth, the people of Mars begin to return home, leaving the once populous planet all but deserted. The Luggage Store, November 2005 The luggage store owner and a priest discuss the nuclear war that has finally begun on Earth. The priest thinks that most of the people will return to Earth, and the store owner decides to dust off his luggage, thinking that there's going to be a lot of sales soon. The Off Season, November 2005 Sam Parkhill, one of the members of the fourth expedition, has opened a hotdog stand, when a lone martian walks in. Panicking, he kills it. Suddenly, many Martians appear in sand ships. Parkhill takes his wife and runs, but the Martians catch up and give Parkhill a message: he now owns half of Mars. But as Parkhill looks up to the sky, he sees the Earth aflame, a result of the nuclear war. His wife finally says "This looks like it's going to be an off season." The Watchers, November 2005 The colonists look up into the night sky to watch Earth. They hear the message that Australia has been atomized and London and Los Angeles bombed. En masse, colonists begin to walk to the luggage store, and by morning, the owner's shleves are empty. The Silent Towns, December 2005 Almost everybody has left Mars to go to Earth, but Walter Gripp remains behind in the mountains. He is lonely, and calls every place he can to find some female companionship. He finally reaches a woman named Genevieve Selsor, and he rushes to meet her. But when he meets her, she is disgusting, and he runs away as far and fast as he can. He decides that life alone isn't so bad, and once in a while, when the phone rings, he doesn't answer. The Long Years, April 2026 Hathaway, another member of the fourht expedition, is living alone on Mars. His family has died, and he has replaced them with robots. Captain Wilder returns to Mars from a mission to Jupiter and offers to rescue him, but Hathaway dies before he can depart. The crew plans to leave, but decides not to leave the robot family "alive." One of the crew returns to the house with a pistol, but shortly after returns, sweating, having been unable to bring himself to kill the robotic family even knowing that they were not truly human. There Will Come Soft Rains, August 2026 The story concerns a household in California after the nuclear war has wiped out the population. Though the family is dead, the robots scurry about maintaining the family's daily schedule, unaware that all that remains of them is their silhouettes which are permanently burned onto the side of the house by a nuclear blast. At one point, the house reads the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Sara Teasdale. The theme of the poem is that nature will survive after humanity is gone. In the end, the house is destroyed by a fire, and all traces except for one wall are gone. The Million-Year Picnic, October 2026 A family takes a "fishing trip" escaping from war-torn Earth to Mars. The father had saved a rocket for twenty years, waiting until things on Earth had come to an end. Then he and his family took off, and claim a Martian city as their new home, because their is no more Minnesota, and no more Earth. The Father wills the planet to his children and when they ask to see a Martian, he says that "they are right there," pointing to the reflection of the children in a canal.

THE DEPARTURE

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THE DEPARTURE

As atomic war breaks loose on Earth, the people of Mars begin to return home, leaving the once populous planet all but deserted.

The Luggage Store, November 2005

The luggage store owner and a priest discuss the nuclear war that has finally begun on Earth. The priest thinks that most of the people will return to Earth, and the store owner decides to dust off his luggage, thinking that there's going to be a lot of sales soon.

The Off Season, November 2005

Sam Parkhill, one of the members of the fourth expedition, has opened a hotdog stand, when a lone martian walks in. Panicking, he kills it. Suddenly, many Martians appear in sand ships. Parkhill takes his wife and runs, but the Martians catch up and give Parkhill a message: he now owns half of Mars. But as Parkhill looks up to the sky, he sees the Earth aflame, a result of the nuclear war. His wife finally says "This looks like it's going to be an off season."

The Watchers, November 2005

The colonists look up into the night sky to watch Earth. They hear the message that Australia has been atomized and London and Los Angeles bombed. En masse, colonists begin to walk to the luggage store, and by morning, the owner's shleves are empty.

The Silent Towns, December 2005

Almost everybody has left Mars to go to Earth, but Walter Gripp remains behind in the mountains. He is lonely, and calls every place he can to find some female companionship. He finally reaches a woman named Genevieve Selsor, and he rushes to meet her. But when he meets her, she is disgusting, and he runs away as far and fast as he can. He decides that life alone isn't so bad, and once in a while, when the phone rings, he doesn't answer.

The Long Years, April 2026

Hathaway, another member of the fourht expedition, is living alone on Mars. His family has died, and he has replaced them with robots. Captain Wilder returns to Mars from a mission to Jupiter and offers to rescue him, but Hathaway dies before he can depart. The crew plans to leave, but decides not to leave the robot family "alive." One of the crew returns to the house with a pistol, but shortly after returns, sweating, having been unable to bring himself to kill the robotic family even knowing that they were not truly human.

There Will Come Soft Rains, August 2026

The story concerns a household in California after the nuclear war has wiped out the population. Though the family is dead, the robots scurry about maintaining the family's daily schedule, unaware that all that remains of them is their silhouettes which are permanently burned onto the side of the house by a nuclear blast. At one point, the house reads the poem "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Sara Teasdale. The theme of the poem is that nature will survive after humanity is gone. In the end, the house is destroyed by a fire, and all traces except for one wall are gone.

The Million-Year Picnic, October 2026

A family takes a "fishing trip" escaping from war-torn Earth to Mars. The father had saved a rocket for twenty years, waiting until things on Earth had come to an end. Then he and his family took off, and claim a Martian city as their new home, because their is no more Minnesota, and no more Earth. The Father wills the planet to his children and when they ask to see a Martian, he says that "they are right there," pointing to the reflection of the children in a canal.