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House wakes up
The story starts with the house annoucning the wake-up time. It then creates breakfast, which was toast, eggs, and bacon. Because there are 4 drinks, we can infer that there are 4 people living in the house, but no one comes to eat the breakfast. THe story is set in Allendale California. At 8:00, the family is supposed to go to school. -
House is cleaned
After the family was supposed to leave for work, the house was cleaned by mechanical mice. It's interesting that they got rid of fall the uneaten food, but the house (even with all of its advanced technology) didn't notice that the people weren't there. -
Dog comes in
The family dog returns home, but is sick and dying. Outside, the images of a perfect family have been burned into the wall, and that detail along with the dog provide the first inferences that there has been a nuclear attack. The people died instantly, but the dog is suffering and eventually dies in the house. After an hour, themice come out and clean up the mess again. -
Dog Dies, mouse clean it up
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Bridge tables for game, but no one plays
THe house contionues with the standard day, including the activities for the adults. Intresting that there isn't TV listed, but instead card games like the 1800's. This seems ironic as the advancement of technology seems to have killled everyone. -
Nursery time- children's hour
While the bridge games are going, the children were to be entertained int eh nursery. IT is itneresting that it obviously doesn't involve the parents interacting with the kids, but only technology. -
Bath, dinner, study, bedtime rituals including a poem
THe poem seems to foreshadow the end of the sotry, and the connections between the themes are obvious. -
tree falls over and lights the house on fire
The storm outside (nature as predicted in the Sara Teasdale poem) cause a burning tree to fall into the house and light it on fire. Though the house recognizes the danger, it is unable to put the fire out. No one responds, of course, because there is no one to respond to it, and in fact, the house (protagonist of the story) is the only one still standing. -
house keeps repeating same phrase
It cannot break out of the technilogical cycle it is in, though it is destroyed just as humanity is.
