Yesterday my cat acted like a lunatic, running from one end of the apartment to the other, howling at the ceiling, even standing on the back of the couch on his hind legs, pawing at the air above his head and howling. He seemed to have taken leave of his senses. Today when he was back to his usual placid self, it clicked for me. Yesterday was a bright, beautiful sunny day and I had the window blinds all the way up to let all the sun in. Today it’s back to gloomy, cloudy rain. His reaction reminded me of a favorite short story by Ray Bradbury called All Summer in a Day. I remember reading it for the first time in 8th grade English class and actually crying in class. I found a short video on YouTube, cheekily low-budget and totally faking the ending. The filmmaker probably thinks people can’t handle the real ending which is a stark look at childhood cruelty without a Hollywood ending of redemption.

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