Dimension X - Veldt - #43

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Dimension X - "The Veldt" (#43)
Date: May 6, 2026
Original Broadcast: NBC / Dimension X (adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s story from The Illustrated Man)

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode revisits “The Veldt,” a chilling science fiction story by Ray Bradbury, dramatized for radio. It explores the unintended consequences of technological convenience on family life, particularly the alienation between parents and children in an automated future. Through immersive sound design and suspenseful storytelling, the episode warns about the dangers of handing over parenting and emotional bonds to machines.

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Key Discussion Points & Storyline Breakdown

The HappyLife Home and Technology's Promise

• [00:36-01:46] The Hadleys have purchased a state-of-the-art “HappyLife Home,” which automates all domestic tasks—cooking, cleaning, and even child-rearing via a futuristic nursery.
• Notable Quote:
  "The soundproofed happy life home had cost $30,000. Installed it clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang and was good to their life." (Narrator, 00:36)

Introduction to the Nursery

• [02:01-05:16]

  • The pride of the house is the nursery: a 40x40 foot virtual reality room directly connected to the children’s minds. Just by thinking, the children materialize any environment they desire.
  • Peter and Wendy, the Hadley children, immediately immerse themselves, conjuring up magical worlds.

• Notable Quote:
  "All they have to do is think, and they've got whatever they want in three dimensions. Color, sound and smell." (George Hadley, 05:02)

The African Veldt and Growing Unease

• [07:16-13:17]

  • Lydia senses something is off with the nursery and asks George to inspect it while the kids are away.
  • When they enter, they find a disturbingly realistic African veldt—complete with lions, vultures, and intense sensory detail.
  • Lydia hears screams, and both parents are unsettled by the vividness and violence of the setting.

• Notable Quote:
  "George, I wish you'd look at the nursery." (Lydia Hadley, 07:16)
  "George, I'm afraid they're so real." (Lydia, 11:49)

Parental Doubts and Domestic Alienation

• [13:17-15:26]

  • Lydia expresses her feelings of obsolescence, as the house fulfills all wifely and motherly duties.
  • Both parents lament their loss of purpose in the fully automated home.
  • The children are clearly obsessed with the African veldt, and the parents begin to worry.

• Notable Quote:
  "I feel like I don't belong here. The house is wife and mother and maid. How can I compete with the African veldt?" (Lydia, 13:38)

Confrontation and Denial

• [15:40-18:21]

  • When the kids return, they deny any knowledge of the African veldt—gaslighting their parents.
  • George finds his own wallet, chewed and bloodied, in the nursery, intensifying parental fears.

• Notable Quote:
  "It's 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, 18:02)

Psychological Assessment

• [22:07-24:49]

  • Dr. David McLean, a psychologist, is brought in. He diagnoses psychological issues with the children, tied to overindulgence and the replacement of parental roles by the nursery.
  • He recommends shutting down the nursery and the whole automated house.

• Notable Quote:
  "George, you've let this room replace you and your wife in your children's affections. This room is their real father and mother. And now you come along and want to shut it. You can feel the hatred coming out of that sky." (Dr. McLean, 23:47)

Rebellion and Catastrophe

• [25:39-29:44]

  • The children react violently when the systems are switched off.
  • They beg for “just one more minute” in the nursery.
  • While the parents pack for a trip, the children lure them into the nursery, lock the door, and the lions attack.

• Notable Quote:
  "Don't let Pop kill everything. I hate you, Pop. I hate you." (Peter, 27:06)
  "We were for a long while. Now we're going to start really living." (George, 27:14)

Lethal Resolution and Chilling Denouement

• [29:44-30:44]

  • Dr. McLean returns; the children calmly picnic in the veldt, coyly saying their parents will join them “directly.”
  • The lions, having finished feeding, go to the waterhole, with vultures descending.

• Notable Quote:
  "Have a cup of tea." (Peter/Wendy to Dr. McLean, 30:44)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Technology Replacing Emotional Bonds:
  "George, you've let this room replace you and your wife in your children's affections." (Dr. McLean, 23:47)

• On Domestic Alienation:
  "The house is wife and mother and maid. How can I compete with the African veldt?" (Lydia, 13:38)

• On Parental Realization:
  "The more I see of the mess we put ourselves in, the more it sickens me. We've been contemplating our electrical mechanical navel for too long. We need air. Fresh, unfiltered, unconditioned air." (George, 25:58)

• Chilling Finale:
  "Oh, they'll be here directly." (Peter/Wendy, when asked about their parents, 30:14)

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• Introduction to the HappyLife Home: [00:36-02:01]
• Nursery demonstration to children: [03:39-05:02]
• First experience of the African veldt: [09:10-13:17]
• Discovery of George’s wallet in the nursery: [17:55-18:21]
• Psychologist advises severe action: [22:07-24:49]
• Parents attempt to shut down the house: [25:39-27:17]
• Children lure parents into lion attack: [27:19-29:44]
• Chilling conclusion - Dr. McLean’s arrival: [29:44-30:44]

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Flow and Tone

• The episode is tense, atmospheric, and evocative, using immersive sound design to create a feeling of mounting dread.
• Dialogue between family members captures emotional distance and rising conflict.
• The narration is factual, foreboding, and sometimes darkly ironic, staying true to Bradbury's style.

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Conclusion

"Dimension X - The Veldt" is a cautionary tale about overreliance on technology at the expense of human relationships and personal responsibility. The episode expertly dramatizes fears about automated convenience leading to emotional displacement and, ultimately, disaster. The radio format heightens the story’s psychological horror, making this an unforgettable entry in Golden Age sci-fi.

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Transcript

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

And, Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[George Hadley]

Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[George Hadley]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Anyways, get a'@libertymutual.com or with your local agent.

[George Hadley]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[Narrator]

Adventures in time and space told in future 10, The National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with street and Smith publishers of Astounding Science Fiction, bring you Dimension X. The soundproofed happy life home had cost $30,000. Installed it clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang and was good to their life. Purred on from day to day, measured and controlled by the nucleonic thermostats, the iridium sponge servo brains that made the beds and washed down the bathroom floors and made sure the salt cellars flowed freely without clogging. Twice a day the house paused, rang

[George Hadley]

a quiet bell

[Narrator]

and turned precisely 90 degrees on its axis in order that the view from the solaroid living room windows might be varied to avoid ennu. Of course, the pride of the house was the nursery. The agent for the company had been most enthusiastic.

[George Hadley]

This way. Right down the hall. All right.

[Lydia Hadley]

What was that?

[George Hadley]

Oh, it's all automatic. The nursery turns itself on when you come within 10ft of it. Soft automaticity. That's the motto of the company. All right. Now, this is the nursery. 40ft by 40ft and 30ft high. Separate power unit with automatic overload circuit breakers inspected and approved by the underwriter's laboratory. The nursery is educational, instructive, entertaining and therapeutic. The entire control mechanism is adjusted to the electroencephalographic key of the child. How much does it cost? 30,000 fob Los Angeles. But that's as much as the whole house. Why, no. But we do want the best for our children, don't we?

[Lydia Hadley]

Oh, yes. We want the best for our children.

[Narrator]

And it was the best. The crystalline walls wavered from two to three dimensions. The pseudo textured composition flooring shifted lightly from brick to dirt to waving grass. And the odorophonics wafted the scent of fantasy through the hermetically conditioned and filtered air. The nursery was the very. But then they wanted the very best for the children. The technicians installed the nursery and the heavy coaxial power cable was run in from the main line. The walls Sprang to life and the mental control banks and relays hummed.

[George Hadley]

All right, Peter and Wendy, this is your nursery.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

What's so special about a nursery, dad?

[George Hadley]

Plenty. You just go in and see.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Oh, do we have to? It's so big. You promised you'd play ball with me. Outside, Pop.

[George Hadley]

Go on, kids. Try out the nursery. It's better than any old yard.

[Lydia Hadley]

Aw, go on in, dear. You'll be surprised.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

She.

[George Hadley]

Go ahead, Wendy.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

I'm scared. I'm not. Hey, it's nice in here. It is? Come on in. Wendy, look at the pictures on those walls. They're real. Well, almost real.

[George Hadley]

You can change them any way you like just by thinking about it.

[Lydia Hadley]

Go on in, dear.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Well, all right, Mommy. Hey, Wendy, look what I can do with the pictures. Now, that's a white Magic from Alice in London ring.

[George Hadley]

Sure.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

I just thought about it, and there it was. Well, let me try, Peter. Let me try. Go ahead. Just think. How about the. Oh, I know. I want to see the wizard of Oz.

[George Hadley]

Well, dear, there we are.

[Lydia Hadley]

They like it, don't they?

[George Hadley]

Well, why shouldn't they? All they have to do is think, and they've got whatever they want in three dimensions. Color, sound and smell. Oh, think what it would have been like to have a nursery like that

[Narrator]

when you were a kid.

[Lydia Hadley]

It's nice that we can give them all the advantages.

[George Hadley]

Why, sure. What else are we working for, huh?

[Lydia Hadley]

Right.

[George Hadley]

Well, what do you want to do this evening?

[Lydia Hadley]

Well, the Petersons asked us over for bridge, but.

[George Hadley]

Oh, 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.

[Narrator]

And in the nursery, the walls were kaleidoscope of time and space and imagination. The Green Forest of Sherwood and quiet forms of Robin and his merry men gave way to the roll of the high seas and the smell of salt in the air as Sir Henry Morgan sailed into the harbor at Jamaica.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

It's my turn now, Peter. You've gotta be fair.

[Narrator]

It's my turn, Dorothy. And the wizard of Oz followed the yellow brick road round the nursery walls. Then Hansel and Gretel discovered the gingerbread house about three, three feet from the door. And from a high tower that stretched into the clouds, the little lame prince sailed out over his kingdom. And behind the crystal and quartz walls, the vacuum tubes and grids and banks of mental 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 house went on the stove Hummed happily in the kitchen, making breakfast, dinner and supper for four, turning the eggs over lightly and producing popovers electronically calculated by capacity to a 30 volt current and specific gravity. The automatic laundry did the shirts with a medium starch in the collars except the button down oxfords which had no starch at all. The happy life home breathed contentedly as life proceeded with soft automaticity as guaranteed in the brochure and bill of Sal.

[Lydia Hadley]

George, I wish you'd look at the nursery.

[George Hadley]

Well, what's. What's wrong with us?

[Lydia Hadley]

Well, I don't know.

[George Hadley]

Well, that might.

[Lydia Hadley]

I just want you to look at it, that's all. Or call a psychologist to look at it.

[George Hadley]

What would a psychologist want with a nursery?

[Lydia Hadley]

Oh, now, George, you know very well what he'd want.

[George Hadley]

I was in the nursery last week. It's perfectly all right.

[Lydia Hadley]

Well, it's different now.

[George Hadley]

What do you mean different?

[Lydia Hadley]

I just want you to come and see.

[George Hadley]

Are the kids there?

[Lydia Hadley]

No. Madge Allen took them to a show along with her kids. That's why I want you to look in now before they get back.

[George Hadley]

All right. What you expect me to do? I don't know. I'm no mechanic.

[Lydia Hadley]

This isn't a question of a leaky faucet, George.

[George Hadley]

All right, dear, I'm coming.

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[George Hadley]

Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

What is this, your first date?

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Together we're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[George Hadley]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Anyways, get a [e-mail] or with your local agent.

[George Hadley]

Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, Liberty.

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Yes you can. A five minute quick and easy calorie burning workout.

[George Hadley]

Give it a try. Come join our sweat sesh on TikTok.

[Narrator]

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.

[Lydia Hadley]

Go ahead, George. Open it.

[Narrator]

On all sides in three dimensions stretched the hot tired landscape of an African veldt, reproduced at 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 baked veldtland. The hot straw smell of lion grass. The cool green smell of the hidden water hole. The great rusty smell of animals. The smell of Dust like red paprika on the hot air. And now the sounds. The howl of the jackal in the distance. The thump of distant antelope feet on grassy sod. And the papery rustling of the great vultures that wheeled and circled under the yellow burning sun.

[George Hadley]

Oh, let's get out of this sun. It's a little too real.

[Lydia Hadley]

Oh, no, George. You promised. You look around.

[George Hadley]

Well, I. I don't see any.

[Lydia Hadley]

Now, wait a minute.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Look.

[Lydia Hadley]

There are the vultures.

[Narrator]

Filthy creatures.

[Lydia Hadley]

And there. There are the lions. Far over that way.

[George Hadley]

Yes, I see them.

[Lydia Hadley]

They're on their way to the water hole. They're just eaten. Eaten?

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Yes.

[George Hadley]

I can't see what sun. Too strong.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Well, shade your eyes.

[George Hadley]

It's some animal. A zebra or a baby giraffe, maybe.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Can you see it? Are you sure?

[George Hadley]

It's a little too late to be sure. Nothing over there but clean bone and vultures dropping for what's left.

[Lydia Hadley]

George, did you hear that scream?

[Narrator]

What scream?

[Lydia Hadley]

Just now.

[George Hadley]

Sorry, hon. No.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Here come the lions. George, they're frightening.

[George Hadley]

Take it easy, Lydia. They're just illusions.

[Narrator]

It was a miracle of mechanical efficiency. The lions prowling toward them over the tawny Veldtland. A miracle of inventive genius. Every house should have one. The lions were 15ft away. So real, so startlingly real, you could feel the prickling fur on your hand. Your mouth was stuffed with the dusty upholstery smell of their heated pelts. The yellow of them was in your eyes, like the yellow of an exquisite tapestry. The yellows of lions in summer grass. The sound of the matted lion lungs exhaling on the silent noon. And the smell of meat from the panting, dripping mouths.

[Lydia Hadley]

George, I'm afraid they're so real.

[George Hadley]

They're only an illusion, Lydia.

[Narrator]

That's all.

[George Hadley]

Watch out. Oh, quick. Outside.

[Lydia Hadley]

Oh, George.

[George Hadley]

Lydia. My poor, sweet Lydia.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

George, they almost got her.

[George Hadley]

No, not now. Now, take it easy. Calm down.

[Lydia Hadley]

But I could feel their breath.

[George Hadley]

Now, now, now, get. Get a hold of yourself with. Here. They aren't real walls. That's all it is. Crystalloid walls.

[Lydia Hadley]

But they look so real.

[George Hadley]

Yes, yes, darling, of course they do. But it's all dimensional, color, reactionary process. And metal tape film behind glass screens. It's all odorophonics and sonics. Now, here, here, take my handkerchief.

[Lydia Hadley]

I'm afraid. George, did you see? Did you feel it's too real.

[George Hadley]

No, no, Lydia.

[Lydia Hadley]

We've got to tell Wendy and Peter not to read any more on Africa.

[George Hadley]

Yes, yes, of course. Of course, dear.

[Lydia Hadley]

Do you promise?

[George Hadley]

Sure, sure.

[Lydia Hadley]

And lock the nursery for a few days.

[George Hadley]

Oh, now wait a minute, dear. Let's keep our sense of proportion.

[Lydia Hadley]

George, I want you to lock that place up.

[George Hadley]

Honey, 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. Honey, they live for the nursery.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

I tell you, it's got to be locked. That's all there is to it.

[George Hadley]

Lydia, you need a rest.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Oh, I. I don't know. I don't know.

[Lydia Hadley]

Maybe I don't have enough to do. I have too much time to think. All I do is set the menu selector dials at the beginning of the week.

[George Hadley]

But honey, that's the whole idea. The house is automatic.

[Lydia Hadley]

I know, but couldn't we turn it off for a couple of weeks?

[George Hadley]

Just.

[Lydia Hadley]

Just a couple of weeks and take a vacation?

[George Hadley]

You mean that you want to fry eggs for me?

[Lydia Hadley]

Yes, I do. And darn socks too. I feel like I don't belong here. The house is wife and mother and maid. How can I compete with the African veldt? And you, George, you don't know what to do with yourself in the house when you're home. You're drinking too much.

[George Hadley]

Am I?

[Lydia Hadley]

You'll feel useless too.

[George Hadley]

Yes, I. I suppose I do.

[Lydia Hadley]

George, those lions can't get out of there, can they?

[George Hadley]

Oh, of course not, dear. Now don't think about it anym.

[Narrator]

They ate alone. He sat idly, watching the dining room table produce warm dishes of food from its mechanical interior. You forgot to catch him.

[George Hadley]

That's finished.

[Narrator]

It wouldn't hurt to lock the children out of the nursery for a while. It was clear that they'd been spending too much time in Africa. Oh, that sun. He could still feel it on his neck like a hot paw. And the lions. 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 fought zebras. And there were zebras. Sun, sun, death and death. They were so young. But long before you knew what death was, you were wishing it on someone else.

[George Hadley]

But this.

[Narrator]

The long hot African veldt. The awful death in the jaws of a lion. And repeated again and again and again. The children came home dutifully at 8:30.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Hi, Mom. Hi, Pop. Hi, Peter.

[Lydia Hadley]

You're.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Want something to eat, Wendy? No, thanks.

[Lydia Hadley]

Well, we're just having dessert.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

We're full of strawberry ice cream and hot dogs. We'll just sit and watch.

[Narrator]

Sure.

[George Hadley]

Peter, tell us about the nursery.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Nursery?

[Narrator]

Yes.

[George Hadley]

All about Africa and everything.

[Lydia Hadley]

I don't understand.

[George Hadley]

Your mother and I were just traveling through Africa with Rod and Reel.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

There is no African in the nature nursery.

[George Hadley]

Oh, come now, Peter. We know better.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

I don't remember any Africa. Do you win run and see, huh? Sure.

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[George Hadley]

Hey, everyone, check out this guy in his. What is this, your first date?

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[George Hadley]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Anyways, get a [e-mail] or with your local agent.

[George Hadley]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Hate cleaning.

[TikTok Advertiser]

Hate scrubbing. Hate dishwashing. Bro, we got you millions of videos about smart cleaning hacks. Will make your chores feel like a breeze. Download TikTok and check it out.

[George Hadley]

Wendy, come back here. Wendy.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

She'll be right back.

[George Hadley]

She doesn't have to. I've seen it. Now come on.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Sure, Pop. Wendy will tell us though.

[Lydia Hadley]

Could they be lying?

[George Hadley]

We'll see in just a moment. Peter, open the door.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

See, Daddy? It's not Africa. It's Florida. What do you mean? There go the deer. See? It isn't Africa.

[George Hadley]

Yes, I see it isn't. Go to bed.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

But it isn't 9 o'. Clock. No, it isn't.

[George Hadley]

You heard me.

[Narrator]

Go to bed.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Okay. Night, Mom. Night. Hello. Good night, dears.

[Lydia Hadley]

I'll be right in.

[George Hadley]

Lydia, wait a minute.

[Narrator]

Here.

[George Hadley]

Look. Look at this.

[Lydia Hadley]

What is it?

[George Hadley]

This is the corner where the lions were, isn't it?

[Lydia Hadley]

What's that you picked up?

[George Hadley]

It's 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.

[Lydia Hadley]

George, those sweet as a blood.

[George Hadley]

Come on out. Now. Let's go to bed.

[Narrator]

So they went to bed. But in the middle of the night, Lydia was still awake. And she knew her husband was awake.

[Lydia Hadley]

George, how did your wallet get in the nursery?

[George Hadley]

I don't know. Wendy must have changed the walls from the African belt. Honey, I'm gonna keep it locked. Maybe it isn't good for the children.

[Lydia Hadley]

It's supposed to help them work off their neuroses in a harmless way.

[George Hadley]

I'm starting to wonder.

[Lydia Hadley]

We've given the children everything they wanted.

[George Hadley]

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. MacLean come tomorrow morning and have a look at Africa.

[Lydia Hadley]

Yes, Tony. It isn't Africa now. It's Florida and the yearling.

[George Hadley]

I have a feeling it'll be Africa again before then.

[Lydia Hadley]

George, Wendy and Peter aren't in their room?

[George Hadley]

No, they've broken into the nursery.

[Lydia Hadley]

Those screams, they sounded familiar.

[George Hadley]

Did they?

[Lydia Hadley]

Yes, awfully. Oh, George.

[Narrator]

Although their automatic Somno beds tried very hard, the two adults couldn't be rocked to sleep for another hour. A smell of cats was in the night air. And in the morning, the stove cooked French toast and the dining room table poured the syrup and melted butter.

[George Hadley]

Yes.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

You weren't gonna lock up the nursery?

[George Hadley]

That all depends.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

On what?

[George Hadley]

On you and your sister.

[Lydia Hadley]

We feel that you should have some variety, dear.

[George Hadley]

If you intersperse this Africa with a little Sweden or China.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

I thought we were free to play the way we like.

[George Hadley]

Well, you are, within reasonable bounds.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

But what's wrong with Africa, Daddy?

[George Hadley]

Oh. Oh, so now you admit you've been thinking up Africa.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

I wouldn't want the nursery cross locked up ever.

[George Hadley]

Well, as a matter of fact, we're thinking of turning the whole house off for about a month. Sort of camping out.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

You mean I'd have to tie my own shoes instead of having my shoe tie? Or do it and brush my own teeth and comb my own hair and give myself a bath.

[Lydia Hadley]

Well, Wendy, it would be fun for a change, don't you think, dear?

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

No, it'd be awful. I didn't like it when you took out the picture painted last month.

[George Hadley]

Well, that's because I wanted you to learn to paint by yourself.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

I don't want to do anything but look and listen and smell. What else is there to do?

[George Hadley]

Oh, all right.

[Narrator]

All right.

[George Hadley]

Go play in Africa.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Are you gonna shut off the house?

[George Hadley]

We're considering it.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

I don't think you better consider it anymore, Pop.

[George Hadley]

I won't have any threats from you, son.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Okay, Pop. Come on, Wendy. Let's get back.

[Narrator]

After breakfast. Dr. David McLean was announced by the audio knocker and the dining room table, recognizing him as an old friend. Poured an extra cup of coffee, light with four lumps.

[George Hadley]

I saw the nursery last year, George. It looked all right to me. You didn't notice anything unusual? No. Pattern showed the usual violence, a tendency towards slight paranoia. All children feel persecuted by their parents. Perfectly normal. I locked the nursery and they broke into it last night. I let them stay so they could form the patterns for you to see.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Here.

[George Hadley]

There it is. Well, suppose we take a look at it right now.

[Narrator]

They entered without knocking and sent the children out. The screams had faded and the lions were. Were feeding quietly under the trees.

[George Hadley]

Wish I could see what they're eating. You suppose some high powered binoculars? Hardly. How long has this been going on? Little over a month. It certainly doesn't feel good. I don't want feelings. I want fact. George. George's 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 for treatment.

[Narrator]

Is it that bad?

[George Hadley]

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? Well, it's hard to say. I haven't punished them more than average, though. I took away a few gadgets last week. I locked the nursery to show I meant business. George, you've let this room replace you and your wife in your children's affections. This room is their real father and mother. And now you come along and want to shut it. You can feel the hatred coming out of that sky. George, turn everything off. The nursery, the automatic kitchen, the whole confounded automatic house. Start now. But won't the shot 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. Get me nervous. Those lions look real, don't they? I don't suppose there's any way that.

[Narrator]

What?

[George Hadley]

That they could become real? Certainly not some flaw in the machinery tamp. No, no, no. I don't imagine the room would like being turned on. Nothing ever likes to die, even a room. I wonder if it hates me for turning down. Paranoia is thick today. Hello. Is this your scarf? It's stained brown. Say, that's blood. That's Lydia's. Come on. The main fuse box is out here. Go ahead, pull the switch. Yeah,

[Narrator]

it's off. 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.

[George Hadley]

It's often it stays off. The whole house dies. As of now. The more I see of the mess we put ourselves in, the more it sickens me. We've been contemplating our electrical mechanical navel for too long. We need air. Fresh, unfiltered, unconditioned air.

[Narrator]

He marched around the house, cutting switches and pulling fuses. The stove was disconnected with a roast lamb in the oven and a flapjack still in the air. The heaters, the shoe shiners, the shoelacers, the body scrubbers and swabbers and massagers. He pulled the plugs and shorted out the controls. One after, the house became full of electronic corpses. It was a mechanical cemetery, so silent, none of the humming, hidden energy of the machines waiting to function at the tap of a button and by the still dining room table, its radionic insides dead and currentless. Peter wailed at the house, don't let them do it.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Don't let Pop kill everything. I hate you, Bob. I hate you.

[Lydia Hadley]

Peter, please.

[George Hadley]

Insult don't get you anywhere.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

I wish you were dead.

[George Hadley]

We were for a long while. Now we're going to start really living.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

One more, Daddy. Just one more.

[Lydia Hadley]

Oh, Wendy, honey.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

One minute of the nursery, that's all. Just one more minute.

[Lydia Hadley]

Oh, George.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

George, it can't hurt, really.

[George Hadley]

Oh, all right, all right. Only shut up one minute and that's the end. Forever.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Gee, thanks, Pop. Thanks.

[George Hadley]

Then we're going on a vacation. Dr. McLean is coming in a half hour to help us out. Lydia, turn on the nursery.

[Lydia Hadley]

Now remember, kids, it'll be just for one minute.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Oh, boy. Come on, Wendy.

[Narrator]

Come on.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Thanks, Daddy. Thanks a lot.

[George Hadley]

Just one minute. Remember. Where'd I put those suitcases? Lydia, Don't.

[Lydia Hadley]

Don't shout, George. I'm right here.

[George Hadley]

Oh, did. Did you leave them alone in the news?

[Lydia Hadley]

Well, I've got to get ready, George. Oh, that awful Africa. What can they see in it?

[George Hadley]

Well, in an hour we'll be on our way to Iowa. What prompted us to buy a nightmare like that?

[Lydia Hadley]

Pride, I guess. We had the money and we were foolish.

[George Hadley]

I guess we'd better get them out of there before they get involved with those beasts again.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Pat. Pat, come in, Maddie.

[George Hadley]

Maddie, come on, quick.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Wendy. Wendy. Peter, what's the matter?

[George Hadley]

Hurry up. Open the nursery. Wendy. Peter.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Well, they aren't anywhere. Wendy. Peter.

[George Hadley]

Peter, the door.

[Narrator]

Open the door.

[George Hadley]

They've locked it from the outside. Peter. Peter, open up.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Peter, don't let them. Don't let them. Turn off the nursery.

[George Hadley]

Now, don't get ridiculous, children. It's time to go.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Wendy. Wendy. Open the door, dear.

[George Hadley]

Let us out. Peter, open the door. Time to go. Open the door. George.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

George, the lion.

[George Hadley]

Peter, do you hear me? Open this door.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

They're all around us. George.

[George Hadley]

Son.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Son, do you hear me? They're coming.

[Narrator]

When Dr. David McLean came a 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 water hole in the yellow Veldtland. Above was the hot sun. Dr. McLean saw at a distance the lions fighting and clawing and then settling down to feed in silence under the shady trees.

[George Hadley]

Hi, kids. Where are your mom and dad?

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Oh, they'll be here directly.

[George Hadley]

Good, good. We've got to get going.

[Narrator]

He squinted at the lions with his hands up to his eyes. Now they were done feeding. They moved to the water hole to drink. A shadow flickered as the vultures dropped down from the blazing sky to finish what the lions had left.

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Dr. McLean. Dr. McLean.

[Lydia Hadley]

Huh?

[George Hadley]

What?

[Children (Wendy and Peter Hadley)]

Have a cup of tea.

[Narrator]

You've just heard another adventure into the unknown world of the future. The world of dimension Action. How soon we actually build a spaceship to conquer the stars depends upon many factors, not the least of which is a man. The overwhelming desire to create such a ship, and the power to have it done. Next week we tell the story of such a man as Dimension X brings you Nelson Bond's the Vital Factor.

[George Hadley]

Dimension X is presented transcribed each week by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with street and Smith, publishers of the magazine Astounding Science Fiction. Today, Dimension X has presented the Velt, written for radio by Ernest Kanhoy from Ray Bradbury's the Illustrated Man. Included in the cast were Leslie woods and Bill Quinn as the parents, Joan Laser and David Anderson as the children. Your host was Norman Rose. Music by Albert Berman. Dimension X is produced by William Welch and directed by Fred Way.

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[Bus Driver]

I drive my bus in a busy city. That's why road safety is so important to me. I know that I must slow down and be extra careful when I make a wide turn. Buses need more room than cars. Everyone can help keep our roads safe. Next time you're driving, remember to give buses plenty of time and space to finish turning before driving ahead. Let's all plan to share the road safely. Learn how at www.sharetherodesafely.gov.