All Summer in a Day
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All Summer in a Day is a short story by science fiction author Ray Bradbury. This story was originally published in 1959 in a Bradbury short story collection entitled, A Medicine for Melancholy.
The story deals with a group of frolicking schoolchildren residing on an inhabited, tropical Venus at an unspecified future time. The thick atmosphere of Venus still exists at this time, and it is constantly raining, so seeing the sun is a very rare event which occurs only every seven years for an hour or two.
The story is mainly about Margot, a little girl who moved to Venus from Earth five years before. She remembers the sun and the way it looked and felt. She doesn't play much with the other children and she is an outcast because of her sensitivity and the fact that she may return to Earth soon. She almost had a nervous breakdown from living with the constant rain.
She writes a poem about the sun. "I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour." She also describes it as "a penny" or a "fire in a stove". The other children don't believe her and the class bully William starts to harass her. While the teacher is out of the room, he convinces the other children to lock her in the closet.
The teacher finally comes back and takes the children outside once the sun comes out. They finally see the blazing sun and the blue sky. In their astonishment and joy, they all forget about Margot. They run and play in the warm fresh air.
Once the rain begins again, the children go back inside. All of a sudden, one of the children remembers Margot, still locked in the closet. They all walk slowly down the hall, realizing what they have done and let Margot out of the closet.