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Rocket Summer
A rocket launches in the winter, causing the area around it to heat up. -
Ylla
Ylla and Yll are a Martian married couple. She is ignored by Yll and has dreams about a man from Earth named Nathaniel York. Her jealous husband starts paying attention to her but she is thinking about her dream. The man from Earth lands on Mars and Yll goes out to shoot him and his crew. -
The Summer Night
Martians everywhere are reciting poetry and singing songs from Earth, specifically the United States. -
THe Earth Men
Captain Jonathan Williams and his crew arrive on Mars. They expect a huge congradulations and to have everyone amazed. Everyone they run into thinks they are crazy hallucinating Martians. One martian, Mr. Xxx, shoots Williams and his crew. When he sees the "hallucinations" still there on the ground after being shot, he thinks he is crazy and shoots himself. -
The Taxpayer
Pritchard is a taxpayer from Earth. He knows that nuclear war is close and wants to get off of the planet. HE goes to the launch site and thinks that since he pays his taxes he should be allowed to get on the rocket. Instead, he goes to jail. -
The Third Expedition
Captain John Black leads the third expedition. He and fifteen others arrive on Mars finding Earth-like cities. In these cities they all find their dead relatives and go off with them. These relatives are really telepathic Martians who kill them that night. -
-and the Moon Be Still as Bright
Captain Wilder leads the fourth expedition. All of the Martians died because of chicken pox. Most of the astronauts start drinking and destroying Martian stuff, but Spender leaves the expedition because he respects Martian culture. He comes back and kills someone. The Captain agrees with Spender about respecting Martian cultures, but not with killing the astronauts. Captain Wilder then kills Spender to save the others. The next day an astronaut breaks some Martian things and the Captain hits him -
The Settlers
The pioneers of Mars are lonely. -
The Green Morning
benjamin Driscoll finds it hard to breathe on Mars because the air is so thin. He plants trees hoping that it creates more oxygen, but the planet is so dry they do not grow. One night it rains and all of the trees grow. -
The Locusts
Americans are swarming to Mars, colonizing it. -
Night Meeting
Thomas Gomez meets a Martian from a different time on Mars. They can see and talk to eachother, but they can't touch. They talk about what they like about their times, but can't see what the other sees. -
The Shore
The first group of men were taming the Martian frontier while the second were finding their way to God. -
Interim
AMericans make an entire Earth-like town on Mars. -
The Musicians
In this chapter there are a group of boys playing with the dead Martian bodies befoere the firemen come to destroy them. -
Way in the Middle of the Air
Teece is mad that all of the black people are leaving Earth since he likes bossing around his slaves. He is not in control and is not handling it well. -
The Naming of Names
The pioneers are renaming Mars. The next people coming to Mars are not pioneers, but businessmen. -
Usher II
In Usher II, teh man who lives in the house has created a place of horror and creativity. This is illegal, and since they burned all of his books it is the only thing he could do. When the officers come he kills them, recreating scenes from the books they burned. -
The Old Ones
Mars is safe and becomes a place for retired people to come. -
The Martian
An older couple comes to Mars. They have a son who has died and they are very sad about it. Their son shows up one day and they take him in town. Their son transforms into someone elses daughter. It was a Martian trying to find a home. -
The Luggage Store
The father and luggage store owner are talking about the upcoming nuclear war and how people will move back to Earth. -
The Off Season
Sam makes a hot dog stand on Mars. The Martians won't leave him alone and he kills one. He tries to run away but they catch up and tell him they are giving half of Mars to him. That night the nuclear war begins. -
The Watchers
The people onMArs watch Earth catch on fire. A survivor on Earth tells people to come home and they listen. -
The Silent Towns
Walter is the last man on Earth and he is very lonely. One day the phone rang, and it was the last woman on Mars. Of course, he wants to meet and be with her because he is alone. WHen he sees her she is very large, abnoxious and loud. She pulls out a wedding dress and he runs away. -
The Long Years
Captain Wilder comes back to Mars where Dr. Hathaway is living with his non-aging family. Captain Wilder discovers that the family members are robots and his family has died. Hathaway dies of a heart attack and Wilder leaves the robot family behind. -
There Will Come Soft Rains
An automated house tends to a family's everyday needs on Earth, even though the family has long been dead from nuclear vaporization. The dog comes home and dies and in the end of the story the house burns down because the house couldn't control it. -
The Million-Year Picnic
Timothy takes his family to Mars for "vacation" during the nuclear war. He blows up the ship and burns papers from Earth to start a new life. He takes his kids to the canal when they were looking for Martians and tells them to look at their reflections, because they are.