There was a couple, that prayed to God that he would take away all others, which they thought to bad people.

So one day they woke up and the were the only people in the world.

I think they were riding on a trolley, or whatever it is called, on the railway, looking at empty villages ...

Where can I find this short story?

This sounds at least 45% Bradbury but I don't recall it as one of his. There is also at least one episode of The Twilight Zone with a similar idea.

Off the top of my head, I don't recognize it. I defer to some of the more knowledgeable members of the board.

The story you are looking for is "The Vacation" (it's in The Machineries of Joy).

quote:

Originally posted by CathyAJ:
The story you are looking for is "The Vacation" (it's in The Machineries of Joy).

That sounds at least 100% Bradbury!

I know that this is a rather old thread, but after reading it I couldn't help thinking of one of my favorite non-Bradbury books, The Lathe Of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin. I think any Bradbury fan would enjoy this very imaginative work.

A man wakes up and finds that whatever he dreamed about is now true. not only that, but his dreams alter the fabric of reality so that whatever he dreamed of was ALWAYS true. So he runs into a scientist fellow who tries to manipulate his dreams to create the perfect utopian world. For example, he is given a hypnotic suggestion to dream of a world with no racism. He wakes up and everyone's skin in the same, drab and boring gray. Then he's given a suggestion to dream of a world with no over-population problem. But I won't give that one away.

Highly recommended!

...which reminds me of Vonnegut's "Welcome to the Monkey House"...

"...There was a Howard Johnson's next door to every Ethical Suicide Parlor, and vice versa. The Howard Johnson's had an orange roof and the Suicide Parlor had a purple roof, but they were both the Government. Practically everything was the Government..."

Sounds a bit like what's in the news today regarding the Health Care kerfuffle.