For example, when he was younger, he had read Robert Browning's long poem "Dr. Ben Ezra" twice, so of course he was deeply impressed.Although most of the content has been blurred, the opening three sentences have lingered over the past few years, like the rhythm of the heart. Two minutes before Joseph Schwartz disappeared forever from the earth he knew, he was wandering the delightful streets of Chicago's suburbs, muttering Browning's lines to himself. In a way, that was odd, since Schwartz didn't look like the kind of guy who could recite Browning's poems to any passerby.His appearance was exactly what he really was: a retired tailor who had never had what civilized people today would call a "formal education."However, driven by a thirst for knowledge, he read a lot on a whim.Because of his hunger for knowledge, he can say that he has dabbled in all kinds of knowledge, and thanks to his excellent memory, he can remember everything he has read clearly.

For example, when he was younger, he had read Robert Browning's long poem "Dr. Ben Ezra" twice, so of course he was deeply impressed.Although most of the content has been blurred, the opening three sentences have lingered over the past few years, like the rhythm of the heart.But today, in the early summer of 1949, on a very clear and bright day, he muttered to himself again, deeply immersed in the tranquil lake of his heart: Grow old with me! Good day and beautiful scenery can be expected, The end of life is not the purpose of the source... Schwartz can fully understand this artistic conception.He suffered a lot in Europe when he was a teenager, came to the United States as an adult, and struggled for half his life to survive. In comparison, a peaceful and comfortable old age is a great blessing.With his own house and savings in his pocket, he was ready to retire, and did.His wife is in good health, his two daughters are happily married, and he has a grandson to accompany him through his happy old age. What else should he worry about?

Of course, the atomic bomb was a big problem.But Schwartz has always believed in the inherent goodness of human nature, and believes that there will be no more major wars; the purgatory caused by the explosion of atomic bombs will never appear on the earth again.Therefore, he gave a tolerant smile to the passing children, and secretly prayed for them in his heart, wishing them to pass through their adolescence quickly and smoothly, and the days to come will be peaceful and happy. In the middle of the aisle ahead lay a rag doll called Raggedy Annie, smiling foolishly at him.Seeing this temporary orphan, he quickly raised his foot, unable to bear to step on it.When his feet have not yet fully touched the ground...

The Institute of Nuclear Energy, located in another corner of Chicago, has members who hold the best theories about human nature, but they are a little ashamed, because until now, no one has invented a quantitative measurement of human nature.Whenever they think of so-called human nature, they often hope that it will not let human nature (and damn talent) transform every innocent and interesting discovery into a terrible murderous weapon. However, even if a researcher would not suspend nuclear energy research that could destroy half of the earth out of conscience, he may risk his life to save the life of an ordinary compatriot in a critical moment.

What first caught Dr. Smith's attention was a blue light behind the young chemist. He was passing the half-open door when he stopped and looked in.The young and cheerful chemist Jennings was whistling while pouring out the measured solution in the measuring flask.There is some white powder in the solution, which is slowly spreading, and dissolves into a part of the liquid at different times.Although nothing abnormal could be seen for a moment, the intuition that initially made Dr. Smith stop at the next moment drove him to take immediate action. He rushed into the laboratory, grabbed a yardstick, and swept everything off the bench.Some molten metal spilled on the floor, making a horrible "hissing" sound.At this moment, Dr. Smith felt a bead of sweat slide to the tip of his nose.

The young chemist stared blankly at the concrete floor. The silver metal that had been splashed had now solidified into thin spots, but it still radiated intense heat. He asked vaguely, "What's going on?" Dr. Smith shrugged, and he was in a trance: "I don't know, tell me... what happened here?" "There's nothing going on here," the young chemist murmured. "It's just a sample of raw uranium. I'm about to run an electrolytic copper assay. . . . I don't know what can happen." "Whatever happened, young man, I'll tell you what I saw. There was a halo of light from that platinum cauldron, which meant strong radiation. Uranium, is that what you said?"

"Yes, but it's just uranium, and that's not dangerous. I mean, extremely high purity is one of the most important conditions for nuclear fission, isn't it?" He licked his lips quickly, "You think nuclear fission Doc, doctor? It's not plutonium, and it hasn't been bombarded." "Besides," said Dr. Smith thoughtfully, "even if it's pure, it's below critical mass." He looked at the soapstone counter, then at the blistered paint on the cabinets, at the concrete floor. silver markings. "However, uranium does not melt until about 1130 degrees Celsius. We still don't know much about the phenomenon of nuclear reactions, so we must not take it lightly. In short, this place must have been full of stray radiation. After this mass of metal cools down, the young Man, you better scrape it off, gather it together, and analyze it thoroughly."

He looked around thoughtfully, then walked to the other wall.A blotch on the wall, about shoulder height, disturbed him again. "What is this?" he said to the chemist. "Has it been here all along?" "What, Doctor?" The young man stepped forward nervously, then stared at the spot the Doctor was pointing to.In fact, it was a small round hole. It may be the result of knocking a thin iron nail into the wall and pulling it out.However, the nail must have pierced through the cement and red brick wall, because sunlight can penetrate into the room through that small hole.

The young chemist shook his head: "I've never seen it, but I've never looked for it, Doctor." Dr. Smith didn't say anything, he backed away slowly, to the thermostat.The thermostat is a parallelepiped made of thin iron sheets. The electric motor drives the agitator to rotate continuously, so that the water inside is endlessly circling.And the light bulb located below as a heat source, with the "click" sound of the mercury relay turning on and off, emits a distracting flash that flickers on and off. "Okay, so, was this spot there before?" Dr. Smith said, stretching out his finger and gently scratching the spot on the side of the thermostat, near the top.In fact, it was a perfectly tiny round hole drilled through the tin, a little above the water level of the thermostat.

The young chemist's eyes widened. "No, Doctor, it was never there before, I can assure you of that." "Well, is there one on the other side too?" "Well, hell if you don't. I mean yes, Doctor!" "Okay, you come here and look through these two holes... turn off the thermostat, please, just stay in that position." He pressed a finger on the hole in the wall, "What do you see?" he cried. "I see your finger, doctor. Is that where the hole is?" Dr. Smith didn't answer, he pretended to be calm and said: "Look in another direction... what do you see now?"

"I didn't see anything." "But the crucible that used to hold the uranium happened to be there just now. That's exactly where you saw it, wasn't it?" "I suppose so, Doctor." The answer was reluctant. The door of the laboratory was never closed, Dr. Smith glanced at the number plate on the door, and then said in a cold tone: "Mr. Kennings, this is absolutely top secret, you must not mention this to anyone, understand? " "Absolutely not, doctor!" "Let's get out of here, then. We'll get the radiation handlers to check this place out, and you and I will be locked up in the infirmary for a while." "You mean, radiation burns?" The young chemist turned blue. "We'll find out soon enough." As a result, neither showed serious signs of radiation burns.The red blood cell count was normal, and the hair roots did not show any abnormalities.The feeling of nausea was finally diagnosed as a psychological effect, and there were no other symptoms. And in the entire institute, no matter at that time or later, no one has ever offered an explanation - although the raw uranium in the crucible is much less than the critical amount, and has not been bombarded by neutrons, why it suddenly melted and radiated terrible radiation. And far-reaching halo. The only conclusion is that there are weird and dangerous loopholes in nuclear physics. Although Dr. Smith finally wrote a report, he didn't quite tell the truth.He made no mention of the small holes that appeared in the laboratory, let alone their sizes—the ones closest to where the crucible used to be were barely visible; the ones on the other side of the thermostat were slightly larger; That tiny hole—three times the distance from that dreadful location as the thermostat—is big enough to pass a nail. A beam of light that spreads in a straight line travels miles along the Earth's surface before the curvature of the Earth deflects it far enough from the surface to continue to cause harm.But before that, its cross-section could have been ten feet wide.After it deviates from the earth and enters the empty space, it will continue to spread, and its strength will continue to weaken, becoming a strange link in the structure of the universe. He never told anyone about this whim. He never told anyone that the day after the incident, he was still in the infirmary, so he came to the morning paper and read every news carefully.As for what news he was looking for, he knew exactly what to expect. But in a big city, many people go missing every day.No one ran to the policeman with a ridiculous story, saying that a person suddenly disappeared before his eyes.At least, there is no such record in the newspaper. Finally, Dr. Smith forced himself to forget about it. For Joseph Schwartz, it was a change between two steps.He was lifting his right foot, trying to step over "Ragged Anne", when he suddenly felt dizzy.It seemed that in such a short time, a whirlwind lifted him up, making him feel as if his insides had been ripped out of his body.When his right foot hit the ground again, he let out a big breath and felt himself slowly curl up into a ball and slip and fall on the grass. He closed his eyes and waited for a long time before opening them again. This is real!He is sitting on a patch of grass.But before that, he was walking on concrete roads. All the houses are gone!The previous white houses, each with a lawn in front of them, neatly lined up in rows, are all gone now! The place where he sits is not a lawn, because the grass is too dense and not man-made.And there were trees all around, lots and lots of trees, and more on the far horizon. His horror came to a head when he saw the trees, some of which had turned red, and he felt dry, brittle leaves on the edge of his palm.Although he is from the city, he still won't miss the autumn scenery. autumn!However, it was still June when he raised his right foot just now, surrounded by vibrant greenery. As soon as he thought of this, he naturally looked at his feet.Then he let out a scream and reached forward to grab... the doll he was trying to step over, a little symbol of reality, a... Hey, no!He grabbed the doll with trembling hands, turned it over and over and looked at it for a long time.It's no longer perfect, but it's not completely broken, it's split in two.Isn't that weird?Cut very neatly from head to toe, the stuffing inside is completely unmessed.It's just that every thread end is cut off, and the fracture is very smooth. At this time, the light on the left shoe attracted Schwartz's attention.He managed to lift his left foot over his right knee, still clutching the doll with both hands.As a result, he found that the front end of the sole, that is, the part that protrudes more than the upper, was also neatly cut off.Such a smooth fracture, no shoemaker in the world can cut it with a knife.From this impossibly smooth cut, an almost clear light shines. Schwartz's bewilderment rose up his spinal cord to his brain, until he froze with fright. Finally, he started talking aloud, because even his own voice was a source of comfort to him.Beyond that, the world around me was utterly insane.What he heard was a low, tense and panting voice. He said, "First of all, I'm sure I'm not crazy. I feel exactly the same as I used to...Of course, if I was crazy, I wouldn't know, would I? No—" He felt the hysteria rising inside him , and quickly suppressed it as hard as possible, "There must be another possible explanation." He thought about it for a while, and then said, "A dream, maybe? How do I know if it's a dream?" He pinched himself and felt the pain immediately, but he still shook his head: "I always can To dream that you feel pinched is not evidence." He looked around in despair.Can dreams be so clear, so detailed, and so persistent?He had read an article that said that most dreams lasted no more than five seconds and were induced by slight disturbances in sleep, and that the perception that dreams lasted longer was a sheer illusion. Self-comforting like this is simply self-defeating!He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and stared at the watch on his wrist.The second hand kept turning and turning, turning and turning.If it were a dream, those five seconds would be maddeningly long. He looked into the distance, and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead with his hand: "Could it be amnesia?" He didn't answer his own question, but slowly buried his head in his hands. If when he lifts his foot, his mind slips away from the familiar track that he has followed faithfully for a long time... If three months later, it is autumn, or a year and three months later, or ten Years and three months later, he came to this strange place, and when he took this step, his mind just returned... Ah, it would seem that there was only one step, and all of this... Then, during the past period, Where is he and what has he done? "No!" he yelled the word aloud.That can't be the case!Schwartz looked at the shirt on his body. It was the one he had put on this morning, or it must have been this morning, because it was still a clean shirt.He suddenly remembered something, and hastily reached into his coat pocket and took out an apple. He bites frantically at the apple, which is very fresh and still a little bit cool, because it was in the refrigerator two hours ago - or should have been two hours ago. And that little doll, how to explain it? He felt like he was going crazy, it must be a dream, otherwise he was truly insane. He also noticed that the time of day had changed.It's getting close to dusk now, because the shadows are all elongated.Suddenly, the silence and desolation around him flooded into his mind, making him shudder. He stood up unsteadily.He had to find someone, anyone, that was obvious.He had to find a house, too, which was equally obvious.And if you want to find someone, the best way is to find a way first. He naturally turned to the direction where the trees were sparsest, and walked forward. At last he found a straight, featureless asphalt and gravel road as the slight coolness of dusk crept into his coat and the treetops grew dark and indistinct.He was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes, and he hurried to that road, the solid feeling under his feet was so lovely. However, he couldn't see anything back and forth, and for a moment, he felt the chill hit his whole body again.He had expected to meet cars, wave to the occupants, and ask (he shouted eagerly): "Going to Chicago?" What if he wasn't anywhere near Chicago at all?It doesn't matter, any big city is fine as long as you can find a phone.He only had four dollars and twenty seven cents in his pocket, but the cops must be everywhere... He walked along the road, deliberately walking in the middle, and kept looking back and forth.He did not notice that the sun was setting, nor that the first stars had appeared in the sky. No cars, nothing!It's going to be so dark that you can't see your fingers around. At this time, he thought that the original dizziness had returned, because the horizon on the left was actually shining.From the gaps in the woods, a cold blue light can be seen.It wasn't a forest fire. In his imagination, a forest fire should be a dancing red flame, but what he saw was a dim, diffuse light.In addition, the gravel road underfoot seems to be slightly shiny.He bent down and touched the ground, but it felt normal.He did, however, see a faint glint in the corner of his eye. Unknowingly, he began to run wildly on the road, his feet making a heavy and irregular rhythm.He found that he was still holding the broken doll in his hand, and immediately threw it behind him with all his strength. The remnant of life still gave him a lot of glances... He suddenly stopped hurriedly.Whatever it was, it was always a proof of his sanity.He absolutely needs it!So he lay on the ground, groped in the dark for a long time, and finally found the doll.In extremely dim light, it appeared as a mass of black coal.The stuffing fell all the way out, and he absently forced it back. Then he hit the road again.Too bad to run, he told himself. His stomach was getting hungry, and he was actually surprised when he saw the flash on the right. Obviously, it was a house. He yelled frantically and got no answer, but it was indeed a house.After hours of fear and unspeakable bewilderment, he finally saw the light of truth.Immediately he left the road and ran in that direction, leaping ditches, rounding woods, through bushes, and across a stream. really weird!Even the brooks were glowing with phosphorescence!However, only a tiny part of his mind noticed this matter. He finally came to the house, and he could touch the solid white building with his hand.It wasn't brick or stone or wood, but he didn't notice it; it looked like plain, solid porcelain, but he didn't care either.His only purpose was to find a door, and when he finally found it, there was no bell.So he kicked on the door hard, and let out a devilish roar at the same time. He heard a commotion in the house, mingled with cursing.It was a human sound, and it sounded so lovely, so he yelled again. "Hey, here!" The door opened, and with a faint and smooth turning sound, a woman appeared inside the room, her eyes flashing with warning.She was tall and strong, and behind her was a thin figure, a stern-faced man in overalls... no, not overalls.In fact, it was something Schwartz had never seen before, but it certainly felt like workman's overalls, in terms of feel. Schwartz was not in the mood to analyze these.They, and their costumes, looked very beautiful to him.He was like a man who has been alone for a long time, suddenly excited to see an old friend. The woman said a word, her voice was pleasant, but her tone was quite cold.Schwartz quickly reached out and grabbed the door, supporting his precarious body.He began to squirm his lips, but nothing came out.Suddenly the worst fears came over him again, choking his windpipe and squeezing his heart. Because the woman spoke a language that Schwartz had never heard.