Farewell Summer ~ Ray Bradbury - Marimarister

come out on porches and wonder at the darkening sky.
Douglas stared up, all drenched with sweat, and was about to speak when:
―I did it!‖ cried Tom.
―Tom!‖ cried Doug. ―We! All of us did it. But, good grief, what did we do?‖
―Before it falls on us,‖ said Tom, ―we‘d better run.‖
―Who says?‖ said Douglas.
―Sorry,‖ said Tom.
―Run!‖ cried Doug.
And the victorious army ran away into the night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
It was the middle of the night and Tom still couldn‘t sleep.
Doug knew this because several times he heard Tom‘s bedclothes fall to the floor, as if he
were tossing and turning, and each time he heard the sound of the sheets and coverlet being
reassembled.
At about two in the morning Doug went down to the icebox and brought a dish of ice
cream up to Tom, which, he figured, might cause Tom to speak more freely.
Tom sat up in bed and hardly touched the ice cream. He sat there staring at it as it melted
and then said, ―Doug, an awful thing has happened.‖
―Yeah, Tom,‖ said Doug.
―We thought if we stopped the big courthouse clock we might stop the old people from
holding on to— stealing—our time. But nothing‘s been stopped, has it?‖
―No, sir,‖ said Doug.
―I mean,‖ said Tom, ―Time‘s still moving. Nothing‘s changed. Running home, I looked at
all the lights around us and none of them had gone out. I saw some policemen in the distance,
down the street, and they hadn‘t been stopped. I kept waiting for all the lights to go out or