Plot Summary
The story is set on Venus in a jungle, where a group of four men whose rocket has crashed are attempting to reach the safety of the Sun Dome. Bradbury portrays Venus as having nearly eternal rains. The men are led by a character who is only identified as "the Lieutenant". One of the men is killed by a lightning strike when he tries to run when "he shouldn't have jumped up". The three remaining men make their way to a Sun Dome, but find that it has been destroyed and offers no shelter from the rain. One of the men becomes desolate and stops responding, instead staring up into the rain. He is shot by Simmons who defends his actions as a mercy killing, preventing the man from slowly drowning as his lungs fill up with rain. As Simmons and the Lieutenant continue on to where they think the next Sun Dome should be, Simmons believes that he is also going to go insane before they reach safety, and so commits suicide. The Lieutenant continues on, and finally reaches the Sun Dome where he is warm and safe, with dry clothing and hot chocolate; although Bradbury hints that the refuge may just be a hallucination.
Read more about this topic: The Long Rain
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