All Summer in a Day

Yesterday afternoon my friend, Carrie, stopped by my office to steal me away for a cup of coffee. Rather than taking the tunnel to the new building on our hospital campus, we walked outside to enjoy the unusually spring-like weather in the middle of December. It was nearly 70 and sunny and Carrie was especially enjoying the sun after a week of rain. She suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder so the sun was giving her a natural high. While we were waiting for Antoinette to make our Carmel Machiatos (Carrie insisted on buying, thanks Carrie!), we were discussing the seemingly unending rain we had over the past week. I said, "Whenever there are more than 3 days straight of rain I always think of that short story by Ray Bradbury..." before I could finish my sentence Carrie blurted out, "When they lock the girl in the closet!" We were simultaneously delighted that we had found somebody else familiar with that story! I had read it in elementary school (which was more than 25 years ago) and still remembered it like I had read it yesterday. Carrie said it was the same for her. Carrie vowed to find it on the internet and she DID. Here's the link: http://www.intermed.it/bradbury/Allsummer.htm

It's a very short story...less than 3 pages in my gradeschool textbook I think. But Ray Bradbury manages to convey so much in those few pages. Carrie and I both remember feeling incredible compassion for Margot, the main character. As an adult I can appreciate it on a different level. But mainly, it is about coveting another person's experiences and memories and how that can lead to cruel intentions and erase all traces of grace.