OUTCAST OF THE STARS

Episode #216· Written by Ray Bradbury · Narrated by Scott Miller

Fiorello Bodoni hears rockets every night and feels a hunger his world cannot satisfy. When the stars seem forever out of reach, he makes a choice that will change his family forever.

Fiorello Bodoni is a junk dealer living on the edge of poverty in a world rushing toward the stars without him. Each night he listens to rockets lifting into space, carrying the dreams of the wealthy while he remains grounded by responsibility and circumstance.

When an unexpected opportunity appears, Bodoni faces an impossible decision. Only one path leads upward, but every choice carries a cost. What follows is not a tale of conquest or technology, but a quiet act of defiance shaped by love, desperation, and hope.

Outcast of the Stars is science fiction at its most humane. Ray Bradbury uses space travel as a mirror, reflecting family bonds, unfulfilled longing, and the fierce need to give children something larger than fear. The story unfolds gently, letting emotion do the heavy lifting.

Bradbury was never interested in machines for their own sake. He cared about people standing beneath the machinery of progress, asking who benefits and who is left behind. This story captures that concern with remarkable tenderness and restraint.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray Bradbury was born in 1920 and became one of the most influential writers of speculative fiction in history. His work appeared in magazines during the golden age of science fiction, but his voice always stood apart.

Rather than hard technical detail, Bradbury focused on memory, longing, and the emotional cost of the future. His stories often feel like fables, rich with symbolism and moral weight, yet grounded in ordinary lives.

He is best known for works like Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, but many of his finest achievements appear in short fiction. These stories reveal his belief that science fiction is not about predicting the future, but understanding the present.

Outcast of the Stars remains one of his most compassionate stories. It reminds us that sometimes the greatest journeys do not require leaving the ground at all.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to Outcast of the Stars by Ray Bradbury — a vintage science fiction short story about sacrifice, family, and a dream that refuses to fade.

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