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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30680-h.zip b/30680-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e53f61 --- /dev/null +++ b/30680-h.zip diff --git a/30680-h/30680-h.htm b/30680-h/30680-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dfb13bc --- /dev/null +++ b/30680-h/30680-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1079 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of All Day Wednesday, by Richard Olin + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; background-color: #FFFFFF; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +.tr {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 2em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 35%; + margin-right: 40%; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +/* Images */ + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-right: 0.25em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + + +/* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of All Day Wednesday, by Richard Olin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: All Day Wednesday + +Author: Richard Olin + +Illustrator: George Schelling + +Release Date: December 14, 2009 [EBook #30680] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALL DAY WEDNESDAY *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="tr"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p class="center">This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction March 1963. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.</p></div> +<p> </p> + +<h1>ALL DAY WEDNESDAY</h1> +<p> </p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>Practically everybody would<br /> agree that this is Utopia....</p></div> +<p> </p> +<h2>by RICHARD OLIN</h2> +<p> </p> +<h3>ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE SCHELLING</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/image_e.jpg" alt="E" width="18" height="50" /></div> +<p>rnie turned the dial on his television. The station he had selected +brightened and the face of the set turned from dark to blue. Ernie +sipped his can of beer. He was alone in the room, and it was night.</p> + +<p>The picture steadied and Jory looked out of the set at him. Jory's +face was tired. He looked bad.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Ernie," Jory said.</p> + +<p>Ernie turned the dial to the next station.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Ernie," the face of Jory said.</p> + +<p>At the next spot on the dial: "Hello, Ernie." The next: "Hello, +Ernie."</p> + +<p>There were five stations that Ernie's set was able to receive. When +the fifth station said "Hello, Ernie," and Jory's tired face looked +out at him, Ernie shrugged, took another sip from his can of beer and +sat down to watch the set.</p> + +<p>That happened Wednesday night. Wednesday morning began like this:</p> + +<p>Ernie woke feeling bored. It seemed he was always bored these days. An +empty can of beer and a crumpled pack of cigarettes rested on top of +the dead television. All he did nights was watch TV.</p> + +<p>Ernie sighed and thanked God that today was Wednesday. Tonight, when +he came home from work, he would be over the hump ... only two days +left and then the week end. Ernie didn't know for sure what he would +<i>do</i> on his week end—go bowling, maybe—but whatever he did it was +sure to be better than staying home every night.</p> + +<p>Oh, he supposed he <i>could</i> go out, just once in a while, during the +work week. Some of the guys at the plant did. But then, the guys that +did go out week nights weren't as sharp at their jobs as Ernie was. +Sometimes they showed up late and pulled other stuff like that. You +couldn't do things like that too often, Ernie thought virtuously. Not +if it was a good job, a job that you wanted to keep. You had to be +sharp.</p> + +<p>Ernie smiled. <i>He</i> was sharp. A growing feeling of virtue began to +replace his boredom.</p> + +<p>Ernie glanced at his watch and went sprawling out of his bed. He was +late. He didn't even have time for breakfast.</p> + +<p>His last thought, as he slammed out of his apartment, was an angry +regret that he had not had time to pack a lunch. He would have to eat +in the plant cafeteria again. Cafeteria lunches cost money. Money +concerned Ernie. It always did. But right now he was going to need +money for the week end; payday was another week away.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Ernie punched in twelve minutes late.</p> + +<p>His foreman was waiting beside the time clock. He was a big man, and +what was left of his red hair matched in color the skin of his neck. +And the color of his face, when he grew angry.</p> + +<p>His name was Rogers. He smiled now as Ernie nervously pushed his time +card into the clock. His voice was warm and jovial as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Well ... <i>good morning</i>, Mr. Stump. And did we have a nice, late, +cozy little sleep-in this morning?"</p> + +<p>Ernie smiled uncertainly. "I'm sorry, Rogers. I know I'm late, but the +time just sort of got away from me—"</p> + +<p>Rogers laughed lightly. "Think nothing <i>of</i> it, Mr. Stump. These +things happen, after all."</p> + +<p>"Uh, yeah. Well, like I said, I'm sorry and—"</p> + +<p>Rogers went on, unheeding. "Of course, complications can develop when +your number three wrist-pin man decides that he just isn't feeling +sharp this morning and he needs a little extra sleep to put him right. +If you're the foreman for Sub-Assembly Line 3-A, for example, Mr. +Stump, one wonders if the rush order that must be filled by this +morning is going to be finished any time before next Christmas. One +wonders where the wrist-pin man is, Mr. Stump. Does he intend to come +in at all, or will he just snooze his little head off all day? One +wonders what to say to the plant manager, Mr. Stump. How do you tell +him that twenty men are standing idle on Sub-Assembly Line 3-A +because, through a laughable oversight, there is no one to put in a +wrist-pin? How do you explain it so he will <i>understand</i>, Mr. Stump?"</p> + +<p>Rogers stopped and caught his breath. His face began growing red. He +said slowly, "You <i>don't</i>, Mr. Stump. You don't explain it so he will +understand. I just tried!"</p> + +<p>Ernie swallowed. Hurriedly, he said, "Look I'm sorry. I'll get right +in there—"</p> + +<p>Rogers smiled. "That would be nice, Mr. Stump. I imagine there are +quite a few Sub-Assembly 3-A's stacked up in there by now. You just +trot in there and get them cleaned up."</p> + +<p>Ernie nodded doubtfully. "You ain't mad?"</p> + +<p>Rogers' smile grew broader. "Mad, Mr. Stump? Why, being chewed out by +the manager is a trifle. It's something a foreman must expect. It +happens to some of them every day—for a while. And when it does, it +doesn't matter because in just a little while they are no longer +foremen. Sometimes, they aren't even workmen, any more. And then they +have nothing at all to worry about, so don't let it concern you, Mr. +Stump. Do you take the streetcar to work?"</p> + +<p>"Huh? Uh, yeah, I do."</p> + +<p>"I thought so." Rogers nodded his head benignly. "Well, just as a +suggestion, the next time you see you're going to be late it might be +better if you saved your car-fare and used it to buy a newspaper."</p> + +<p>Ernie smiled uncertainly. "O.K. Uh, why?"</p> + +<p>"Because," Rogers said slowly, no longer smiling, "the next time you +leave me in a crack like that, you're going to be reading the 'Help +Wanted' section! <i>Now get in there and get to work!</i>"</p> + +<p>Ernie did.</p> + +<p>He worked the rest of the morning in a sullen mood. For one thing, +with the extra time that Rogers had taken up, Sub-Assembly Line 3-A +was a mess. Incomplete sub-assemblies were stacked on the floor all +around Ernie's spot on the line. He would have to pin them and slip +them into the production line as best he could.</p> + +<p>Next to him on the line, Broncewicz said: "Ernie, we'll never get this +job out. Where were you?"</p> + +<p>And Ernie told him about the beef with Rogers. He worked as he talked, +but the more he talked the angrier he got. Rogers had been unfair. He +asked Broncewicz, "How can anybody do a good job with that guy all the +time riding 'em?"</p> + +<p>Broncewicz nodded. "You should take it to the union."</p> + +<p>Ernie snorted. "That's a hot one. Rogers used to be our shop steward."</p> + +<p>"Yeah, I forgot." Broncewicz scratched at a hairy ear. "Anyway, you +should tell him off."</p> + +<p>"Yeah, I should tell...." Ernie laid aside a wrench to phrase exactly +what he wished to say to Rogers, and the next sub-assembly slipped +past. Both he and Broncewicz grabbed it hastily.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, Rogers happened to be watching. He walked over. +Broncewicz became intently interested in his work. Ernie sighed +resignedly.</p> + +<p>Rogers seemed surprisingly resigned, himself. All he said was, "I +thought you got enough sleep this morning, Stump. Wake up, get on the +stick." He walked off.</p> + +<p>Broncewicz raised his head. "Hey, I thought you were going to tell +him?"</p> + +<p>"Aw, shut up."</p> + +<p>Ernie did not like his foreman, but neither did he like the prospect +of losing his job. He couldn't afford to be out of work.</p> + +<p>The noon whistle blew as he was finishing the last of the extra +assemblies. Ernie tossed his tools down and left the line.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The sight of the food in the cafeteria reminded him all over again +that he was spending too much money. His stomach had felt queasy. It +now turned sour. Without looking at them, Ernie selected a plate of +frankfurters and spaghetti, picked up a carton of milk for the sake of +his stomach, and sat down at the nearest table.</p> + +<p>Jory sat down beside him. "Joe's waving at you," he said, nodding at +the cashier at the end of the counter. "You forgot to pay."</p> + +<p>"What?" Ernie stomped over to the counter, threw down the money and +returned to his seat. To Jory he said: "I feel bad today."</p> + +<p>"Uh-huh," Jory said disinterestedly. He turned a page of the book he +had propped next to his plate.</p> + +<p>"Don't be a wise guy," Ernie grunted. He turned his attention to his +plate. Several mouthfuls of spaghetti convinced him that he was hungry +after all. He swallowed and opened his carton of milk. He looked up at +the book Jory was holding. Jory was a funny guy, always reading.</p> + +<p>"What's the book today?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Jory held the cover so he could see the title. "Celine's 'Journey to +the End of Night.' It's French."</p> + +<p>Ernie's interest quickened. "French, huh? Has it got any good stuff in +it? You know, like Miller has?" He laughed.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Well, what's it about?"</p> + +<p>"About a guy who thinks he might commit suicide."</p> + +<p>"Oh." Ernie thought about it for a minute. "Is that <i>all</i> it's about? +Just some guy wonderin' if he should bump himself off?"</p> + +<p>"Yes." Jory turned a page.</p> + +<p>"Oh." Ernie thought about it again. "And he made a whole <i>book</i> out of +it? Just that ... no sex or nothing?"</p> + +<p>"No. No sex or nothing."</p> + +<p>Ernie laughed. "Well, it sounds pretty stale to me."</p> + +<p>Jory sighed and gave up reading. He put the book down. "No, it isn't +stale. The book does depress me, though." He pushed it to one side.</p> + +<p>His eyes traveled around the cafeteria; he thought for a moment then +said: "Do you ever get the feeling, Ernie, that your life has gotten +stuck? That you are just going round and round, caught in one single +groove—that you just repeat the same scene, day after day?"</p> + +<p>Ernie shook his head. "Nah. I never feel like that."</p> + +<p>"I do. I get to feeling it bad, sometimes. Why do you suppose that is, +Ernie?"</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/image_001.jpg" width="300" height="805" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>Ernie considered the question for a moment. "Well," he said helpfully, +"it might mean you're cracking up."</p> + +<p>Jory laughed. "Thanks. But when I need an analyst I'll go out and hire +one. No, I think I feel that way because life has somehow become a lot +more futile than it need be."</p> + +<p>Ernie shrugged and let it go. He wiped the last trace of spaghetti +sauce from his plate. Jory got funny moods—probably because he read +so much, Ernie suspected—but he was a good man. All the guys in the +plant figured Jory for a regular guy. He liked to read some pretty +funny books, but so what? It was his eyesight, wasn't it?</p> + +<p>Ernie remembered something else. "Hey," he said to Jory as he lit a +cigarette, "Harrigan over in the tool room told me that you write +stories. That right?"</p> + +<p>"Yeah. But I don't have as much time for it as I once did."</p> + +<p>"You ought to stay home nights like I do. Then you'd have time." Ernie +paused and added piously, "It makes you sharper on the job, too."</p> + +<p>Jory started to laugh but caught it in time. He worked on the line +next to Ernie, and had witnessed the foul-up this morning. He said, +"What do you do until bedtime? Watch TV?"</p> + +<p>"Every night. Boxing is good on Fridays. Monday night ain't so hot. +Wednesday, tonight, will be good. Lots of Westerns.</p> + +<p>"You ought to try it. Come to think of it you look sort of tired. You +shouldn't go out drinking week nights."</p> + +<p>Jory shrugged. "Maybe I will try it. What are your favorite programs?"</p> + +<p>Ernie told him.</p> + +<p>"Say," Ernie asked, "do you make any money writing stories?"</p> + +<p>"Once in awhile. If I sell the story I'm working on now, I think I'll +lay off for a couple of months and get a cabin down in Mexico. The +fishing will be good at Vera Cruz—" He stopped and frowned. "No. I +guess I won't. I can't."</p> + +<p>"Why can't you?"</p> + +<p>"Something I forgot. Never mind."</p> + +<p>"No," Ernie persisted, "you were saying—"</p> + +<p>"Forget it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I get it. You're afraid to lay off because they might not hire +you back?"</p> + +<p>"Nuts. There's always some place that is hiring. You'd be surprised at +some of the jobs I've had, Ernie." He grinned. "As far as that goes, I +might get laid off here before I want to go."</p> + +<p>"What makes you say that?"</p> + +<p>"Look around you. How many men are working today?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Now that his attention was called to it, Ernie glanced around the +cafeteria. Normally, it was packed during the lunch hour. Today, it +was less than three-quarters full.</p> + +<p>"So? Some of the guys are out sick, that's all."</p> + +<p>"There won't be much work this afternoon. We got most of it out this +morning."</p> + +<p>"It's some new bug. Like that flu thing last winter." But Ernie's +voice, as he said it, was defensive. In Ernie's book, a layoff was a +bad thing.</p> + +<p>Inside, Ernie's mind began to calculate the possibilities. It was a +thing Ernie's mind always did when it was confronted with the +unexpected. His mind didn't like to work, but Ernie liked the +unforeseen even less.</p> + +<p>It was unlikely that the entire plant would be shut down. In that case +what supervisors would want him to stay on? He ran through the list of +his superiors and immediately came to Rogers.</p> + +<p>Ernie winced. After this morning, Rogers would post him for the layoff +for sure. He could take it to the union, but—Ernie stopped and looked +suspiciously at Jory.</p> + +<p>Did Jory know about the beef he had this morning with Rogers? Come to +think of it, Ernie didn't <i>know</i> there was going to be a layoff. Was +Jory just needling him?</p> + +<p>He looked around the cafeteria again. The tables on the edges of the +floor were deserted and empty. To Ernie's eyes it suddenly looked as +if the men who were eating had purposely gathered so they could be +close together. They sat with their backs hunched, turned on the empty +spaces behind them.</p> + +<p>Even the noise, compared to the usual din of the cafeteria, seemed to +be different. It echoed and fell flat. Ernie didn't like it. He felt +funny. The overly familiar cafeteria had suddenly become strange.</p> + +<p>A feeling began to grow in him that, somehow, the cafeteria was wrong. +"It ... looks funny," he said.</p> + +<p>Jory became alert. "What looks funny?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know ... the room."</p> + +<p>"What's wrong with the room?" Jory bent over. His eyes were intent, +but his voice stayed low. He spoke with great care.</p> + +<p>"I ... don't know. It looks funny. Empty. Older. No, wait—" And the +feeling was gone. Ernie shook his head. It was the old, crowded and +not too clean cafeteria, again.</p> + +<p>He turned to Jory. "Well, they better not! I was out of work six +months on the last layoff." He paused and marshaled a last, telling +argument: "I can't afford it!"</p> + +<p>Jory laughed. "Take it easy. I said there <i>might</i> be one. Lots of +things might happen. Hell, the world itself might come to an end."</p> + +<p>Ernie said grumpily, "I don't like 'mights'. Why can't they leave a +man alone and let him do his work? Why do they gotta—"</p> + +<p>Jory stood up and grinned. "Come on, Ernie. What do you need money +for? I mean, other than to keep up the payments on your TV?"</p> + +<p>Ernie rose. "Don't be such a guy," he grumbled. "We better get back. +If I come in late from lunch, I've had it."</p> + +<p>It was a quarter of a mile across the plant yard to where they worked. +They walked in silence for the first few yards. Ernie thought his own +thoughts and listened to the sound of their feet on the gravel.</p> + +<p>Presently, Jory said, "Ernie, you watch the fights. Do you remember +back when they had the Rico-Marsetti bout?"</p> + +<p>Ernie still felt irritable. "Hell, yes, I remember. It was just two +weeks ago. You make it sound like it happened six months back."</p> + +<p>"How well do you remember it?"</p> + +<p>"Well enough. That bum Marsetti cost me ten bucks when he dived in the +sixth. He was the two-to-one favorite."</p> + +<p>"He didn't dive."</p> + +<p>"Yeah? You ask him?"</p> + +<p>"No. I read the papers. He was pretty scrambled up ... in the head, I +mean ... for quite a while after they brought him back to his dressing +room."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he was that way all along. Maybe they just then noticed it."</p> + +<p>Jory laughed. "Don't get cynical, Ernie. It's a sign of old age. No. +Marsetti was really out of his head. He kept going through the last +round ... you know, in his mind. He did it perfect, thirty or forty +times, just up to the knockout." Then he stopped and went through the +whole round again.</p> + +<p>"The doctors that examined him said that it happened because he ran +into something he couldn't face."</p> + +<p>Ernie said sourly, "Yeah. Rico's left fist."</p> + +<p>"Maybe. But it gave me an idea."</p> + +<p>"Oh?"</p> + +<p>"Yeah. The idea is this: Could the world get knocked out that way? +Suppose it did. Suppose everybody ran into something they couldn't +take. Would they just run in a closed circle? Would they take a single +day, like Marsetti took the sixth round, and just repeat it over and +over again?"</p> + +<p>Ernie scowled and stopped. They were outside the plant door. "Boy," he +said, "you are a bug, ain't you? What are you trying to give me?"</p> + +<p>"Just an idea, Ernie."</p> + +<p>The suspicion that Jory was needling him came back. "Well, I don't +like it," Ernie said scornfully. "In fact, I think it's nuts." He +paused to think of something else to say, then shrugged and turned. +"I'll see you later. I got to get in to work."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>And now here he was, Ernie thought, sitting in his own room with +Jory's face looking at him out of the blue screen.</p> + +<p><i>The whole day has been nuts</i>, Ernie told himself.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Ernie," Jory's voice repeated tiredly. "Hello, Ernie.... +Hello, Ernie—"</p> + +<p>Ernie threw his beer can on the floor. Foam spewed out and soaked the +rug. "All right," Ernie bellowed, "All right—Hello!"</p> + +<p>Jory stopped. He put his hand to his head and looked excited. He was +wearing earphones, Ernie saw.</p> + +<p>"Ernie!" Jory said. "Do you see me?" He looked blindly out of the +screen.</p> + +<p>In his rage, Ernie nearly kicked in the face of the set. "Yes, I see +you! What are you trying to pull?"</p> + +<p>Jory turned excitedly to someone beside him, but off the screen. "I've +got him," he said quickly. "He's awake." He turned and faced Ernie.</p> + +<p>"Look, Ernie, I can't see you but we've got a microphone in your room. +I can hear every word you say. Now sit down for a minute and let me +explain."</p> + +<p>"You'd better," Ernie said ominously.</p> + +<p>"Are you sitting?"</p> + +<p>"Yeah, I'm sitting. Get on with it."</p> + +<p>"I've been on your screen every night for the past week, Ernie. We +took over the station. And we've been broadcasting to you on all +channels for the past week."</p> + +<p>Ernie shook his head. "You're nuts," he mumbled.</p> + +<p>"It's true, Ernie."</p> + +<p>"But—" A thought struck him. "Hey, are other people getting this on +their sets?"</p> + +<p>"Everyone in the city, Ernie. But they aren't seeing it. As far as we +can tell they think they're watching their usual programs. Everyone is +in a trance, Ernie. They just go through the same motions over and +over. It was the same with the engineers here. We just pushed them +aside. They're tied up now. We're keeping them under drugs. We had to +do that. When they were loose they just tried to get back at the +controls. But that was all, they never really saw us."</p> + +<p>Ernie shook his head again. "Wait a minute. Let me get my head +clear—O.K., now you say everybody is in some kind of trance. <i>Why?</i>"</p> + +<p>"I tried to make you see it today. The world is stuck. It's stuck in +this God-forsaken one day! We don't know why. Some of us—just a +few—have known it all along. But even we can't remember what caused +it."</p> + +<p>"You mean it's happening everywhere?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Or not happening, I guess you'd say. We're not getting reports +from overseas ... not any that are any different from the first +Wednesday. So it must be the same over there. It's the whole world, +Ernie."</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute. Let me think." After a moment, he got up, went into +the kitchen and got another beer.</p> + +<p>"O.K., I'm ready," he said as he came back. "Now, why did you guys +pick me? How many of you are there?"</p> + +<p>"Just a handful ... no more than twenty. We're scattered all across +the country. We picked you because you're a test case, Ernie. One of +us is a psychologist.</p> + +<p>"He says you're a common denominator. If we could break you out of it, +then we could get through to a whole cross section of people."</p> + +<p>Ernie grunted and sipped his beer. "A common denominator, huh? +Thanks, pal. You mentioned drugs. I guess you can go anywhere? Just +walk past people and never be seen?"</p> + +<p>"That's right."</p> + +<p>Ernie laughed scornfully. "You've got a good deal. Why louse it up? +What do you stand to gain?"</p> + +<p>Jory shook his head. "You're wrong, Ernie. For one thing, everything +is slowly running down. Miners go to the same part of the mine each +day and send out nothing but empty cars. The same thing is happening +all across the country, in farms, in factories, in hospitals—"</p> + +<p>Ernie got up. "Keep talking," he said.</p> + +<p>"Hospitals are hideous these days, Ernie. Don't go near a surgeon. All +he can do are the same operations he performed on the first Wednesday. +If you're the wrong height, the wrong weight, or just there at the +wrong time, he'll cut you to pieces.</p> + +<p>"Homes burn to the ground. And nobody tries to get out of them. The +fire department is no good. It's stuck in that first Wednesday.</p> + +<p>"We broke off broadcasting last night. We had to fight an apartment +house fire. There are only three of us here in the city. We didn't +save anyone. What could we do? We were lucky that we kept it from +spreading.</p> + +<p>"We need help, Ernie. We need it badly—"</p> + +<p>Absently, Ernie said, "Yeah, I see that all right." He kept pacing.</p> + +<p>"I don't know if I can make you understand how important you are right +now, Ernie. With you helping, we can isolate the thing that triggered +you out of this. We can use it as a technique on whole groups of +people. The world will begin moving again. At last, things will begin +to change."</p> + +<p>"Yeah—" Ernie stopped and looked at the rug beside his dresser. He +had found what he had been looking for. He picked the microphone up.</p> + +<p>And pulled loose the wires.</p> + +<p>From the television, Jory screamed. "Ernie, <i>listen to me</i>—"</p> + +<p>Ernie turned off the set.</p> + +<p>He sat on his bed and continued to think while he finished the can of +beer. When he had it all thought out he smiled. He felt very happy. He +could stop being afraid. Afraid of anything. His foreman, his job. All +of it.</p> + +<p>He wasn't interested in walking into banks and carrying off sackfuls +of money. What was the sense to that? He couldn't spend it anyway.</p> + +<p>Besides, he had something that was better.</p> + +<p>All his life there had been too many bright guys with too many bright +ideas. And the bright ideas got put into practice and then things +changed. They could never leave a guy alone and just let him do his +job. They always had to throw in the unexpected.</p> + +<p>But this time, nothing was going to change.</p> + +<p>Ever.</p> + +<p>He chuckled and turned out the light.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of All Day Wednesday, by Richard Olin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALL DAY WEDNESDAY *** + +***** This file should be named 30680-h.htm or 30680-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/6/8/30680/ + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: All Day Wednesday + +Author: Richard Olin + +Illustrator: George Schelling + +Release Date: December 14, 2009 [EBook #30680] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALL DAY WEDNESDAY *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction March 1963. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. + + + ALL DAY WEDNESDAY + + + Practically everybody would + agree that this is Utopia.... + + + by RICHARD OLIN + + ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE SCHELLING + + * * * * * + + + + +Ernie turned the dial on his television. The station he had selected +brightened and the face of the set turned from dark to blue. Ernie +sipped his can of beer. He was alone in the room, and it was night. + +The picture steadied and Jory looked out of the set at him. Jory's +face was tired. He looked bad. + +"Hello, Ernie," Jory said. + +Ernie turned the dial to the next station. + +"Hello, Ernie," the face of Jory said. + +At the next spot on the dial: "Hello, Ernie." The next: "Hello, +Ernie." + +There were five stations that Ernie's set was able to receive. When +the fifth station said "Hello, Ernie," and Jory's tired face looked +out at him, Ernie shrugged, took another sip from his can of beer and +sat down to watch the set. + +That happened Wednesday night. Wednesday morning began like this: + +Ernie woke feeling bored. It seemed he was always bored these days. An +empty can of beer and a crumpled pack of cigarettes rested on top of +the dead television. All he did nights was watch TV. + +Ernie sighed and thanked God that today was Wednesday. Tonight, when +he came home from work, he would be over the hump ... only two days +left and then the week end. Ernie didn't know for sure what he would +_do_ on his week end--go bowling, maybe--but whatever he did it was +sure to be better than staying home every night. + +Oh, he supposed he _could_ go out, just once in a while, during the +work week. Some of the guys at the plant did. But then, the guys that +did go out week nights weren't as sharp at their jobs as Ernie was. +Sometimes they showed up late and pulled other stuff like that. You +couldn't do things like that too often, Ernie thought virtuously. Not +if it was a good job, a job that you wanted to keep. You had to be +sharp. + +Ernie smiled. _He_ was sharp. A growing feeling of virtue began to +replace his boredom. + +Ernie glanced at his watch and went sprawling out of his bed. He was +late. He didn't even have time for breakfast. + +His last thought, as he slammed out of his apartment, was an angry +regret that he had not had time to pack a lunch. He would have to eat +in the plant cafeteria again. Cafeteria lunches cost money. Money +concerned Ernie. It always did. But right now he was going to need +money for the week end; payday was another week away. + + * * * * * + +Ernie punched in twelve minutes late. + +His foreman was waiting beside the time clock. He was a big man, and +what was left of his red hair matched in color the skin of his neck. +And the color of his face, when he grew angry. + +His name was Rogers. He smiled now as Ernie nervously pushed his time +card into the clock. His voice was warm and jovial as he spoke. + +"Well ... _good morning_, Mr. Stump. And did we have a nice, late, +cozy little sleep-in this morning?" + +Ernie smiled uncertainly. "I'm sorry, Rogers. I know I'm late, but the +time just sort of got away from me--" + +Rogers laughed lightly. "Think nothing _of_ it, Mr. Stump. These +things happen, after all." + +"Uh, yeah. Well, like I said, I'm sorry and--" + +Rogers went on, unheeding. "Of course, complications can develop when +your number three wrist-pin man decides that he just isn't feeling +sharp this morning and he needs a little extra sleep to put him right. +If you're the foreman for Sub-Assembly Line 3-A, for example, Mr. +Stump, one wonders if the rush order that must be filled by this +morning is going to be finished any time before next Christmas. One +wonders where the wrist-pin man is, Mr. Stump. Does he intend to come +in at all, or will he just snooze his little head off all day? One +wonders what to say to the plant manager, Mr. Stump. How do you tell +him that twenty men are standing idle on Sub-Assembly Line 3-A +because, through a laughable oversight, there is no one to put in a +wrist-pin? How do you explain it so he will _understand_, Mr. Stump?" + +Rogers stopped and caught his breath. His face began growing red. He +said slowly, "You _don't_, Mr. Stump. You don't explain it so he will +understand. I just tried!" + +Ernie swallowed. Hurriedly, he said, "Look I'm sorry. I'll get right +in there--" + +Rogers smiled. "That would be nice, Mr. Stump. I imagine there are +quite a few Sub-Assembly 3-A's stacked up in there by now. You just +trot in there and get them cleaned up." + +Ernie nodded doubtfully. "You ain't mad?" + +Rogers' smile grew broader. "Mad, Mr. Stump? Why, being chewed out by +the manager is a trifle. It's something a foreman must expect. It +happens to some of them every day--for a while. And when it does, it +doesn't matter because in just a little while they are no longer +foremen. Sometimes, they aren't even workmen, any more. And then they +have nothing at all to worry about, so don't let it concern you, Mr. +Stump. Do you take the streetcar to work?" + +"Huh? Uh, yeah, I do." + +"I thought so." Rogers nodded his head benignly. "Well, just as a +suggestion, the next time you see you're going to be late it might be +better if you saved your car-fare and used it to buy a newspaper." + +Ernie smiled uncertainly. "O.K. Uh, why?" + +"Because," Rogers said slowly, no longer smiling, "the next time you +leave me in a crack like that, you're going to be reading the 'Help +Wanted' section! _Now get in there and get to work!_" + +Ernie did. + +He worked the rest of the morning in a sullen mood. For one thing, +with the extra time that Rogers had taken up, Sub-Assembly Line 3-A +was a mess. Incomplete sub-assemblies were stacked on the floor all +around Ernie's spot on the line. He would have to pin them and slip +them into the production line as best he could. + +Next to him on the line, Broncewicz said: "Ernie, we'll never get this +job out. Where were you?" + +And Ernie told him about the beef with Rogers. He worked as he talked, +but the more he talked the angrier he got. Rogers had been unfair. He +asked Broncewicz, "How can anybody do a good job with that guy all the +time riding 'em?" + +Broncewicz nodded. "You should take it to the union." + +Ernie snorted. "That's a hot one. Rogers used to be our shop steward." + +"Yeah, I forgot." Broncewicz scratched at a hairy ear. "Anyway, you +should tell him off." + +"Yeah, I should tell...." Ernie laid aside a wrench to phrase exactly +what he wished to say to Rogers, and the next sub-assembly slipped +past. Both he and Broncewicz grabbed it hastily. + +Unfortunately, Rogers happened to be watching. He walked over. +Broncewicz became intently interested in his work. Ernie sighed +resignedly. + +Rogers seemed surprisingly resigned, himself. All he said was, "I +thought you got enough sleep this morning, Stump. Wake up, get on the +stick." He walked off. + +Broncewicz raised his head. "Hey, I thought you were going to tell +him?" + +"Aw, shut up." + +Ernie did not like his foreman, but neither did he like the prospect +of losing his job. He couldn't afford to be out of work. + +The noon whistle blew as he was finishing the last of the extra +assemblies. Ernie tossed his tools down and left the line. + + * * * * * + +The sight of the food in the cafeteria reminded him all over again +that he was spending too much money. His stomach had felt queasy. It +now turned sour. Without looking at them, Ernie selected a plate of +frankfurters and spaghetti, picked up a carton of milk for the sake of +his stomach, and sat down at the nearest table. + +Jory sat down beside him. "Joe's waving at you," he said, nodding at +the cashier at the end of the counter. "You forgot to pay." + +"What?" Ernie stomped over to the counter, threw down the money and +returned to his seat. To Jory he said: "I feel bad today." + +"Uh-huh," Jory said disinterestedly. He turned a page of the book he +had propped next to his plate. + +"Don't be a wise guy," Ernie grunted. He turned his attention to his +plate. Several mouthfuls of spaghetti convinced him that he was hungry +after all. He swallowed and opened his carton of milk. He looked up at +the book Jory was holding. Jory was a funny guy, always reading. + +"What's the book today?" he asked. + +Jory held the cover so he could see the title. "Celine's 'Journey to +the End of Night.' It's French." + +Ernie's interest quickened. "French, huh? Has it got any good stuff in +it? You know, like Miller has?" He laughed. + +"No." + +"Well, what's it about?" + +"About a guy who thinks he might commit suicide." + +"Oh." Ernie thought about it for a minute. "Is that _all_ it's about? +Just some guy wonderin' if he should bump himself off?" + +"Yes." Jory turned a page. + +"Oh." Ernie thought about it again. "And he made a whole _book_ out of +it? Just that ... no sex or nothing?" + +"No. No sex or nothing." + +Ernie laughed. "Well, it sounds pretty stale to me." + +Jory sighed and gave up reading. He put the book down. "No, it isn't +stale. The book does depress me, though." He pushed it to one side. + +His eyes traveled around the cafeteria; he thought for a moment then +said: "Do you ever get the feeling, Ernie, that your life has gotten +stuck? That you are just going round and round, caught in one single +groove--that you just repeat the same scene, day after day?" + +Ernie shook his head. "Nah. I never feel like that." + +"I do. I get to feeling it bad, sometimes. Why do you suppose that is, +Ernie?" + +[Illustration] + +Ernie considered the question for a moment. "Well," he said helpfully, +"it might mean you're cracking up." + +Jory laughed. "Thanks. But when I need an analyst I'll go out and hire +one. No, I think I feel that way because life has somehow become a lot +more futile than it need be." + +Ernie shrugged and let it go. He wiped the last trace of spaghetti +sauce from his plate. Jory got funny moods--probably because he read +so much, Ernie suspected--but he was a good man. All the guys in the +plant figured Jory for a regular guy. He liked to read some pretty +funny books, but so what? It was his eyesight, wasn't it? + +Ernie remembered something else. "Hey," he said to Jory as he lit a +cigarette, "Harrigan over in the tool room told me that you write +stories. That right?" + +"Yeah. But I don't have as much time for it as I once did." + +"You ought to stay home nights like I do. Then you'd have time." Ernie +paused and added piously, "It makes you sharper on the job, too." + +Jory started to laugh but caught it in time. He worked on the line +next to Ernie, and had witnessed the foul-up this morning. He said, +"What do you do until bedtime? Watch TV?" + +"Every night. Boxing is good on Fridays. Monday night ain't so hot. +Wednesday, tonight, will be good. Lots of Westerns. + +"You ought to try it. Come to think of it you look sort of tired. You +shouldn't go out drinking week nights." + +Jory shrugged. "Maybe I will try it. What are your favorite programs?" + +Ernie told him. + +"Say," Ernie asked, "do you make any money writing stories?" + +"Once in awhile. If I sell the story I'm working on now, I think I'll +lay off for a couple of months and get a cabin down in Mexico. The +fishing will be good at Vera Cruz--" He stopped and frowned. "No. I +guess I won't. I can't." + +"Why can't you?" + +"Something I forgot. Never mind." + +"No," Ernie persisted, "you were saying--" + +"Forget it." + +"Oh, I get it. You're afraid to lay off because they might not hire +you back?" + +"Nuts. There's always some place that is hiring. You'd be surprised at +some of the jobs I've had, Ernie." He grinned. "As far as that goes, I +might get laid off here before I want to go." + +"What makes you say that?" + +"Look around you. How many men are working today?" + + * * * * * + +Now that his attention was called to it, Ernie glanced around the +cafeteria. Normally, it was packed during the lunch hour. Today, it +was less than three-quarters full. + +"So? Some of the guys are out sick, that's all." + +"There won't be much work this afternoon. We got most of it out this +morning." + +"It's some new bug. Like that flu thing last winter." But Ernie's +voice, as he said it, was defensive. In Ernie's book, a layoff was a +bad thing. + +Inside, Ernie's mind began to calculate the possibilities. It was a +thing Ernie's mind always did when it was confronted with the +unexpected. His mind didn't like to work, but Ernie liked the +unforeseen even less. + +It was unlikely that the entire plant would be shut down. In that case +what supervisors would want him to stay on? He ran through the list of +his superiors and immediately came to Rogers. + +Ernie winced. After this morning, Rogers would post him for the layoff +for sure. He could take it to the union, but--Ernie stopped and looked +suspiciously at Jory. + +Did Jory know about the beef he had this morning with Rogers? Come to +think of it, Ernie didn't _know_ there was going to be a layoff. Was +Jory just needling him? + +He looked around the cafeteria again. The tables on the edges of the +floor were deserted and empty. To Ernie's eyes it suddenly looked as +if the men who were eating had purposely gathered so they could be +close together. They sat with their backs hunched, turned on the empty +spaces behind them. + +Even the noise, compared to the usual din of the cafeteria, seemed to +be different. It echoed and fell flat. Ernie didn't like it. He felt +funny. The overly familiar cafeteria had suddenly become strange. + +A feeling began to grow in him that, somehow, the cafeteria was wrong. +"It ... looks funny," he said. + +Jory became alert. "What looks funny?" + +"I don't know ... the room." + +"What's wrong with the room?" Jory bent over. His eyes were intent, +but his voice stayed low. He spoke with great care. + +"I ... don't know. It looks funny. Empty. Older. No, wait--" And the +feeling was gone. Ernie shook his head. It was the old, crowded and +not too clean cafeteria, again. + +He turned to Jory. "Well, they better not! I was out of work six +months on the last layoff." He paused and marshaled a last, telling +argument: "I can't afford it!" + +Jory laughed. "Take it easy. I said there _might_ be one. Lots of +things might happen. Hell, the world itself might come to an end." + +Ernie said grumpily, "I don't like 'mights'. Why can't they leave a +man alone and let him do his work? Why do they gotta--" + +Jory stood up and grinned. "Come on, Ernie. What do you need money +for? I mean, other than to keep up the payments on your TV?" + +Ernie rose. "Don't be such a guy," he grumbled. "We better get back. +If I come in late from lunch, I've had it." + +It was a quarter of a mile across the plant yard to where they worked. +They walked in silence for the first few yards. Ernie thought his own +thoughts and listened to the sound of their feet on the gravel. + +Presently, Jory said, "Ernie, you watch the fights. Do you remember +back when they had the Rico-Marsetti bout?" + +Ernie still felt irritable. "Hell, yes, I remember. It was just two +weeks ago. You make it sound like it happened six months back." + +"How well do you remember it?" + +"Well enough. That bum Marsetti cost me ten bucks when he dived in the +sixth. He was the two-to-one favorite." + +"He didn't dive." + +"Yeah? You ask him?" + +"No. I read the papers. He was pretty scrambled up ... in the head, I +mean ... for quite a while after they brought him back to his dressing +room." + +"Maybe he was that way all along. Maybe they just then noticed it." + +Jory laughed. "Don't get cynical, Ernie. It's a sign of old age. No. +Marsetti was really out of his head. He kept going through the last +round ... you know, in his mind. He did it perfect, thirty or forty +times, just up to the knockout." Then he stopped and went through the +whole round again. + +"The doctors that examined him said that it happened because he ran +into something he couldn't face." + +Ernie said sourly, "Yeah. Rico's left fist." + +"Maybe. But it gave me an idea." + +"Oh?" + +"Yeah. The idea is this: Could the world get knocked out that way? +Suppose it did. Suppose everybody ran into something they couldn't +take. Would they just run in a closed circle? Would they take a single +day, like Marsetti took the sixth round, and just repeat it over and +over again?" + +Ernie scowled and stopped. They were outside the plant door. "Boy," he +said, "you are a bug, ain't you? What are you trying to give me?" + +"Just an idea, Ernie." + +The suspicion that Jory was needling him came back. "Well, I don't +like it," Ernie said scornfully. "In fact, I think it's nuts." He +paused to think of something else to say, then shrugged and turned. +"I'll see you later. I got to get in to work." + + * * * * * + +And now here he was, Ernie thought, sitting in his own room with +Jory's face looking at him out of the blue screen. + +_The whole day has been nuts_, Ernie told himself. + +"Hello, Ernie," Jory's voice repeated tiredly. "Hello, Ernie.... +Hello, Ernie--" + +Ernie threw his beer can on the floor. Foam spewed out and soaked the +rug. "All right," Ernie bellowed, "All right--Hello!" + +Jory stopped. He put his hand to his head and looked excited. He was +wearing earphones, Ernie saw. + +"Ernie!" Jory said. "Do you see me?" He looked blindly out of the +screen. + +In his rage, Ernie nearly kicked in the face of the set. "Yes, I see +you! What are you trying to pull?" + +Jory turned excitedly to someone beside him, but off the screen. "I've +got him," he said quickly. "He's awake." He turned and faced Ernie. + +"Look, Ernie, I can't see you but we've got a microphone in your room. +I can hear every word you say. Now sit down for a minute and let me +explain." + +"You'd better," Ernie said ominously. + +"Are you sitting?" + +"Yeah, I'm sitting. Get on with it." + +"I've been on your screen every night for the past week, Ernie. We +took over the station. And we've been broadcasting to you on all +channels for the past week." + +Ernie shook his head. "You're nuts," he mumbled. + +"It's true, Ernie." + +"But--" A thought struck him. "Hey, are other people getting this on +their sets?" + +"Everyone in the city, Ernie. But they aren't seeing it. As far as we +can tell they think they're watching their usual programs. Everyone is +in a trance, Ernie. They just go through the same motions over and +over. It was the same with the engineers here. We just pushed them +aside. They're tied up now. We're keeping them under drugs. We had to +do that. When they were loose they just tried to get back at the +controls. But that was all, they never really saw us." + +Ernie shook his head again. "Wait a minute. Let me get my head +clear--O.K., now you say everybody is in some kind of trance. _Why?_" + +"I tried to make you see it today. The world is stuck. It's stuck in +this God-forsaken one day! We don't know why. Some of us--just a +few--have known it all along. But even we can't remember what caused +it." + +"You mean it's happening everywhere?" + +"Yes. Or not happening, I guess you'd say. We're not getting reports +from overseas ... not any that are any different from the first +Wednesday. So it must be the same over there. It's the whole world, +Ernie." + +"Wait a minute. Let me think." After a moment, he got up, went into +the kitchen and got another beer. + +"O.K., I'm ready," he said as he came back. "Now, why did you guys +pick me? How many of you are there?" + +"Just a handful ... no more than twenty. We're scattered all across +the country. We picked you because you're a test case, Ernie. One of +us is a psychologist. + +"He says you're a common denominator. If we could break you out of it, +then we could get through to a whole cross section of people." + +Ernie grunted and sipped his beer. "A common denominator, huh? +Thanks, pal. You mentioned drugs. I guess you can go anywhere? Just +walk past people and never be seen?" + +"That's right." + +Ernie laughed scornfully. "You've got a good deal. Why louse it up? +What do you stand to gain?" + +Jory shook his head. "You're wrong, Ernie. For one thing, everything +is slowly running down. Miners go to the same part of the mine each +day and send out nothing but empty cars. The same thing is happening +all across the country, in farms, in factories, in hospitals--" + +Ernie got up. "Keep talking," he said. + +"Hospitals are hideous these days, Ernie. Don't go near a surgeon. All +he can do are the same operations he performed on the first Wednesday. +If you're the wrong height, the wrong weight, or just there at the +wrong time, he'll cut you to pieces. + +"Homes burn to the ground. And nobody tries to get out of them. The +fire department is no good. It's stuck in that first Wednesday. + +"We broke off broadcasting last night. We had to fight an apartment +house fire. There are only three of us here in the city. We didn't +save anyone. What could we do? We were lucky that we kept it from +spreading. + +"We need help, Ernie. We need it badly--" + +Absently, Ernie said, "Yeah, I see that all right." He kept pacing. + +"I don't know if I can make you understand how important you are right +now, Ernie. With you helping, we can isolate the thing that triggered +you out of this. We can use it as a technique on whole groups of +people. The world will begin moving again. At last, things will begin +to change." + +"Yeah--" Ernie stopped and looked at the rug beside his dresser. He +had found what he had been looking for. He picked the microphone up. + +And pulled loose the wires. + +From the television, Jory screamed. "Ernie, _listen to me_--" + +Ernie turned off the set. + +He sat on his bed and continued to think while he finished the can of +beer. When he had it all thought out he smiled. He felt very happy. He +could stop being afraid. Afraid of anything. His foreman, his job. All +of it. + +He wasn't interested in walking into banks and carrying off sackfuls +of money. What was the sense to that? He couldn't spend it anyway. + +Besides, he had something that was better. + +All his life there had been too many bright guys with too many bright +ideas. And the bright ideas got put into practice and then things +changed. They could never leave a guy alone and just let him do his +job. They always had to throw in the unexpected. + +But this time, nothing was going to change. + +Ever. + +He chuckled and turned out the light. + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of All Day Wednesday, by Richard Olin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALL DAY WEDNESDAY *** + +***** This file should be named 30680.txt or 30680.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/6/8/30680/ + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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