Vintage Sci-Fi Radio

X Minus One - The Veldt

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Duration:: 26m
Broadcast on:: 15 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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Visit renterswearhouse.com to request a free rental price analysis that's renterswearhouse.com or call 303-974-9444 to speak to a rent-to-state advisor today. Thanks Ryan, and I have a question for you. What do you do when you win? Like are you a fist-pumper, a woohoo, a hand-clap or a high-fiver? If you want to hone in on those winning moves, check out Chumba Casino. Choose from hundreds of social casino-style games for your chance to redeem serious cash prizes. There are new game releases weekly plus free daily bonuses, so don't wait. Start having the most fun ever at Chumba Casino.com. Count down for blast off, X minus 5, 4, 3, 2, X minus 1, fire. From the far horizons of the unknown, come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future. Adventures in which you'll live in a million could be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith, publishers of astounding science fiction, presents... X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X This is the office of Dr. David McLean, resident psychiatrist of the new Chicago Institute of Human Engineering. All right, Ms. Carver, will you take this, please? To Charles S. Howard, senior psychiatrist, new Chicago Institute of Human Engineering, the following constitutes my report on the case of George and Lydia Abbott, which we discussed by telephone. Subject George relates on set of symptoms to the purchase of a $60,000 soundproofed happy life home. Under NACO synthesis during initial interviews, subject described the experience in the following manner. Ms. Carver, would you play back the sonic record of the initial interview? We've always wanted one, and then we could afford it. So go on, Mr. Abbott, tell me about the home. The home. Well, it was supposed to do everything the agent told us. And it did, I guess. It clothed us, fed us, and rocked us to sleep, played, and sang, and it was good to us. Very good, sure. Tell me about the nursery. The nursery. The nursery, ah. It was completely automatic, completely automatic. There were crystalline walls that wavered from two to three dimensions. There were pseudo textured floors that shifted from brick to dirt to waving grass. The nursery was the best, but then we wanted the best for the children. Doctor, I must be crazy. We have no children. What about Peter and Wendy? There, your children? Oh, no, no. We have no children, Doctor. We have no children. All right, Ms. Carver, to continue. After three sessions, the subject was able to recall and accept the idea that he had two children. He described the first day. All right, Peter and Wendy, this is your nursery. What's so special about a nursery, Dad? Plenty. Just go in and see. Do we have to? You'll be surprised. Gee. Go ahead. I'm scared. I'm not. Hey, it's nice in here. It is? Come on in, Wendy. Boy, look at the pictures on the walls. They're real. They're almost real. You can change them any way you like, just by thinking. Go on in, dear. Well, all right, Mommy. Hey, Wendy, look what I can do with the pictures. That's the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Sure. I just thought about it, and there it was. Let me try. Peter, let me try. We'll go ahead. Just think. How about Wizard and Oz? I want to see Wizard and Oz. Well, there. There we are. Oh, they like it. Does it? Why shouldn't they? All I have to do is think, and they've got whatever they want in three dimensions. Color, sound, and smell. Oh, it's nice that we can give them all the advantages. Sure. What else are we working for, huh? Well, what do you want to do this evening? Well, the Peterson's asked us over for Bridge, but-- We don't have to worry about the kids. They'll be all right in the nursery. Come on, Lydia. We deserve a night out. [MUSIC PLAYING] And in the nursery, the walls were a colalloscope of time and space and imagination. The green forest of Sherwood and the quiet forms of Robin and his merry men gave way to the role of the high seas and the smell of salt in the air as Sir Henry Morgan sailed into the harbor at Jamaica. And behind the crystalline quartz walls, the vacuum tubes and grids and banks of metal image tape spun quietly and efficiently, erasing the line between illusion and reality. Of course, the electric bill from consolidated utilities was tremendous, but it was worth it. The happy life home breathed contentedly as life proceeded with soft automaticity as guaranteed in the brochure and bill of sale. George. Mm. George, I wish you'd look at the nursery. What's-- what's wrong with it? I don't know. I was in the nursery last week. It's perfectly all right. It's different now. What do you mean, different? I want you to come and see. Are the kids there? No. Mag allen took them to a show along with her kids. That's why I want you to look at it now before they get back. All right. But what you expect me to do, I don't know. I'm no mechanic. This isn't a question of a leaky faucet, George. All right, dear, I'm coming. The nursery light flicked on as they came down the hall. The relays clicked and the tubes warmed and chemical odor banks and pipes bubbled into life as they paused before the closed door. Go ahead, George. Open it. On all sides, in three dimensions, stretched the hot, tired landscapes of an African belt reproduced to the last stick and pebble and bit of straw. The ceiling above them became a sky with a hot yellow sun, a wind blew in from the paked veldtland, the hot straw smell of lion grass, the cool green smell of the hidden waterhole, the great rusty smell of animals. The howl of the jackal in the distance, and the papery rustling of the great vultures that wheeled and circled under the yellow burning sun. Let's get out of this, son. It's a little too real. Oh, George, you promised you'd look around. Well, I don't see anything. Wait a minute. There are the vultures. Filthy creatures. There. There are the lions far over that way. Yes, I see them all. Well, they're on their way to the waterhole. They've just eaten. It's some animal, a zebra, or a baby giraffe, maybe. Can you see it? Are you sure? It's a little late to be sure. Nothing over there but clean bone and the vultures swooping down for what's left. Did you hear that scream? What scream? How about a moment ago? Sorry, no. Here come the lions. George, they're frightening. Take it easy, Lydia. They're just illusion. The lions were 15 feet away. So real, so startlingly real, you could feel the prickling fur on your hand and your mouth was stuffed with the dusty upholstery smell of their heated pelts. And the yellow of them was in your eyes like the yellow of an exquisite tapestry. The yellows of lions in summer grass and the sound of the matted lion lungs exhaling on the silent moon tide and the smell of meat from the panting dripping mouth. George, I'm afraid they're so real. They're only an illusion, Lydia. That's all. Watch out. [SCREAMS] I'll quick up sign. They almost gone. I'll take it easy, calm down. I could feel their breath. Get a hold of yourself, Lydia. They aren't real. Walls, that's all. There's crystalloid walls. They look so real. Of course they do. But it's all dimensional, color, reactionary process, a metal tape film behind glass screens. It's all odor of phonics and sonics. Oh, here, take my leg. I'm afraid. Did you see? Did you feel it? It's too real? No, no, Lydia. We've got to tell Wendy and Peter not to read any more on Africa. Of course, of course. I want you to lock that place up. But you know how difficult Peter is about that? I punished him last week by locking the nursery for an afternoon and he threw a tantrum. And Wendy too. Well, they live for the nursery. It's got to be locked. That's all there is to it. You've been working too hard, Lydia. You need a rest. I don't know. Maybe I don't have enough to do. I have too much time to think. All I do is set the menu selected dials at the beginning of the week. But that's the whole idea. The house is automatic. I know, but couldn't we turn it off for about a week and take a vacation? You mean you want to fry eggs for me? And darn socks. I feel like I don't belong here. The house is wife and mother and maid. How can I compete with the African vaults? George, those lions can't get out of there, can they? Of course not, dear. I don't think about it anymore. They ate a lawn. He sat idly watching the dining room table produce warm dishes of food from its mechanical interior. You forgot the ketchup. That's better. It wouldn't hurt to lock the children out of the nursery for a while. It was clear that they had been spending too much time in Africa. That son, he could feel it on his neck still like a hot paw. An alliance and the smell of blood. Remarkable how the nursery caught the telepathic emanations of the children's minds and created a life to fulfill their desires. The children thought zebras and there were zebras. Son, son, giraffes, giraffes. Death and death. They were so young, but long before you knew what death was, you were wishing it on someone else. But this, the long, hot African vilt, the awful death and the jaws of a lion and repeated again and again and again. The children came home dutifully at eight for thee. Hi, mom. Hi, pop. Hi. Do you want something to eat, dear? We're just having dessert. We're full of strawberry ice cream. And hot dogs. We'll just sit and watch. Sure. Peter, tell us about the nursery. The nursery? All about Africa and everything. I don't understand. Well, your mother and I were just traveling through Africa with rod and reel. There's no Africa in the nursery. Oh, come now, Peter. We know better. I don't remember any Africa. Do you win? Uh-uh. Go run and see, huh? Sure. I'll be right back. Wendy, come back here. Wendy? Oh, she'll be right back, pop. She doesn't have to. I've seen it. Come on. Sure, pop. But Wendy, you'll tell us. Open the door. See, Daddy? It's not Africa. It's farther. Like in Bendy. There go the deer. See? It is in Africa. I see it isn't. Go to bed. But it is in nine o'clock. You heard me go to bed. OK. Good night, Mom. Good night, Pop. Good night. Good night, dear. I'll be right in. Wait a minute, Lydia. Look at this. What is it? This is the corner where the lions were, isn't it? Well, what is that you picked up? An old wallet of mine. There's a smell of hot grass on it. The smell of a lion. It's wet with saliva. And it's been chewed. George, those smears are blood. Come on out. Now let's go to bed. But in the middle of the night, he was still awake. And he knew his wife was awake. George, how did your wallet get in the nursery? I don't know. Wendy must have changed the walls from the African belt. I'm going to keep it locked. Maybe it isn't good for the children. My father used to say children are like carpets. They should be stepped on occasionally. We've never lifted a hand. They're spoiled and we're spoiled. I think I'll have Dr. McLean come tomorrow morning and have a look at Africa. But it isn't Africa now. It's Florida and Bambi. I have a feeling it'll be Africa again before then. Although their automatic sum no beds tried very hard, the two adults could not be rocked to sleep for another hour. A smell of cats was in the night egg. Then in the morning, the stove cooked French toast and the dining room table poured the syrup then melted butter. Pop. Yes? You aren't going to lock up the nursery for good, are you? That all depends. On what? On you, and your sister. We feel you should have some variety here. I wouldn't want the nursery locked up ever. Well, as a matter of fact, we're thinking of turning the whole house off for about a month, sort of camping out. Be fun for a change. Now, don't you think so, Wendy? No, it'd be all. I don't want to do anything but look and listen and smell. What else is there to do? Oh, all right, all right. Go play in Africa. Are you going to shut off the house soon? We're considering it. I don't think you better consider it any more, Pop. I won't have any threats from you, son. OK, Pop. Come on, Wendy. Let's get back. [MUSIC PLAYING] After breakfast, Dr. David McLean arrived. I saw the nursery last year, George. It looked all right to me. You didn't notice anything unusual? No, the patterns showed the usual violence, a tendency towards slight paranoia. All children feel persecuted by their parents. They're perfectly normal. There, there it is. Suppose we take a look at it now. They entered without knocking and sent the children out. The screams had faded and the lions were feeding quietly under the trees. I wish I could see what they're eating. How long has this been going on? A little over a month? Certainly doesn't feel good. I don't want feelings. I want facts. George, a psychologist never saw a fact in his life. He knows about feelings. And this doesn't feel good. My advice to you is to have the whole room torn down and your children brought to me every day for the next year of a treatment. Is it that bad? I'm afraid so. You know, that's why the nursery was developed originally, to let us examine the patterns left on the wall by a child's mind. But what is it? What's wrong with Peter and Wendy? It's hard to say. I haven't punished them more than average. Oh, I took away a few gadgets. Last week, I locked the nursery to show I meant business. You've let this room replace you and your wife and your children's affections. This room is their real father and mother. And now you come along and want to shut it. But you can feel the hatred coming out of that sky. George, turn everything off. The nursery, the automatic kitchen, the whole automatic house. And start now. But won't the shock be too much for the children? I don't want them going any deeper. Let's get out of here. I never liked these rooms, the nerves. Those lions look real, don't they? I don't suppose there's any way that they could become real. Not that I know. Some flaw in the machinery tampering? No. I don't imagine the room will like being turned off. Nothing ever likes to die, even a room. I wonder if it hates me for turning it off. Paranoia is thick today. Hello. Is this your scarf? Stained, brown, blood. That's Lydia's. Come on, the main fuse box is out here. I go ahead and pull the switch. Yeah. It's off. [MUSIC PLAYING] The two children were in hysterics. They screamed, and kicked, and threw things. They yelled, and sobbed, and swore, and jumped on the furniture, weeping. It's off, and it stays off. The whole house dies as of now. He marched around the house, cutting switches, and pulling fuses. Don't let them do it. Don't let Bob kill everything. I hate you. I hate you. Insults won't catch you anywhere. I wish you were dead. We were for a long while. Now we're going to start really living. Instead of being handled and massaged, we're going to live. One's more, Daddy. Just one's more. One more minute of the nursery, that's all. Just one more minute. Oh, George. It can't hurt, really. Oh, all right, all right. Only shut up. One minute, and that's the end, forever. Gee, thanks, Pop. Thanks. And then we're going on a vacation. Dr. McLean is coming in half an hour to help us out. Lydia, turn on the nursery for just a minute. Oh, boy. Come on, Wendy. Come on. Thanks, Daddy. Thanks a lot. Just one minute, remember? Now what'd I put those suitcases? Lydia. Don't shout, George. I'm right here. Did you leave them alone in the nursery? Well, I've got to get ready, George. Well, I guess we better get them out of there before they get involved with those beasts again. Pop, Pop, come here. Daddy, Mommy. Come on, quick. Wendy, Peter, what's the matter? Hurry up. Open the nursery. Wendy, Peter. They aren't anywhere. Wendy, Peter. Peter, the door. Open the door. They locked up from the outside. Peter. Peter. Wendy, Peter, open the door, dear. Let us out, Peter. Open the door. It's time to go. Open the door. George, the lions. Peter, do you hear me? Open this door. All around us, George. Son. Son, do you hear me? Let us out. Son. George, look off. The lion, duck on me. [SIREN WAILING] [MUSIC PLAYING] When Dr. David McLean came, half hour later, he found the two children in the nursery sitting in the center of the open glade, eating a picnic lunch. Beyond them was the waterhole and the yellow velltland. Above was the hot sun. At a distant Dr. McLean saw the lions fighting and clawing and then settling down to feed and silence under the shady trees. Hi, kids. Where are your mom and dad? Oh, they'll be here directly. Good, good. We've got to get along. He squinted at the lions with his hands up to his eyes. Now they were done feeding, and they moved to the waterhole to drink. A shadow flickered as the vultures dropped down from the blazing sky to finish what the lions left. Dr. McLean? Dr. McLean? Huh? What? Have a cup of tea? Which concludes my report to date. There were no lions, of course, not in a physical sense. Lydia and George were devoured, however, almost as surely as if there had been lions. Their personalities were devoured by the mechanistic marvels which had usurped their role as parents. All four members of the family are under intensive therapy now and are doing as well as can be expected. Send that by Tellerow, Miss Carver. Oh, and would you ask George Abbott to step inside? I'm ready for him now. You have just heard X minus 1, presented by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith, publishers of a astounding science fiction. Tonight, by transcription, X minus 1 has brought you the vult written by Ray Bradbury and adapted for radio by Ernest Kanhoye, featured in the cast were Mary Patton, Bill Quinn, David Pfeffer, Beverly Lunsford, Charles Pennman, and John Larkin, your announcer, Fred Coven. X minus 1 was directed by Dan Sutter, and is an NBC radio network production. When it comes to renting out your property, the uncertainty of finding reliable tenants can feel like a real guessing game, responsible renter or perpetual party animal. 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