Ray Bradbury's 'There Will Come Soft Rains' is set today (2026-08-04)
Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" is set today (2026-08-04)
On August 4, 2026, the automated house in Ray Bradbury's classic short story continues its daily routine—preparing breakfast, cleaning, and reading poetry—despite the absence of its human inhabitants, who have been annihilated by a nuclear war. The story, first published in 1950, depicts a world where technology outlives humanity, and its eerie prescience resonates today as we approach the exact date it is set.
And not one will know of the war, not one Will care at last when it is done, Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree If mankind perished utterly;