I took the last two weeks of 2021 to celebrate and just spend time with my family without all of the bullshit.
I read a good deal, from the books that I’ve staked up – waist high – and unread. Public domain stories from Project Gutenberg, too, while I build up the classics muscle that I never really developed.
I ran into some short stories, including, coincidently, Time Enough by Lyn Venable. It was originally published in If Magazine in 1953. It’s a short read.
Henry Bemis, our protagonist, has no time to spend as he wishes, between his work at the bank and the demands of his wife. What he wants is to read. There’s simply not enough time. That is until there’s a nuclear disaster and Henry is the only one to survive. Him and the books in the library.
There is, of course, a twist.
If you’re a fan of the strange, this story should sound familiar: it was adapted for The Twilight Zone and is one of my favorites. Burgess Meredith plays Bemis like the goofy nerd he is. I think he may have even modelled the character after the author.
Apropos of nothing, here are some Burgess Meredith outtakes from the Grumpy Old Men movies.