The Martian Chronicles

Sam Parkhill, a member of the fourth expedition featured in the story “—the Moon Be Still as Bright” is now married and has built a hot dog stand at the crossroads of what he expects to be a busy highway. Thousands of rockets, bearing hundreds of thousands of people, are expected from Earth, and Parkhill knows they will bring traffic past his stand. His wife Elma is uncertain of their success due to the increasing threat of atomic war on Earth.

A masked Martian manifests before Sam and requests to speak with him, but Sam grows panicked by its presence—this is the second time it has appeared that morning—and kills it after it presents a brass document tube he mistakes as a weapon. Elma retrieves the document, but neither she nor Sam can read the Martian writing. Sam buries the Martian’s remains.

When Sam spots a fleet of Martian sand ships approaching, he and Elma flee the hot dog stand using a sand ship Sam bought at auction. Another Martian manifests on Sam’s ship and commands him to return to the hot dog stand so the Martians can give him an important message about Earth. She claims the Martians come in peace, but Sam kills her with very little hesitation.