October 4, 2025 • 7 mins
Immerse yourself in captivating science fiction short stories, delivered daily! Explore futuristic worlds, time travel, alien encounters, and mind-bending adventures. Perfect for sci-fi lovers looking for a quick and engaging listen each day. 🎧 Go to www.solgoodmedia.com to access ad-free listening, exclusive content, and more!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Eyes Have It by Philip K. Dick. It was
quite by accident. I discovered this incredible invasion of Earth
by life forms from another planet. As yet, I haven't
done anything about it. I can't think of anything to do.
I wrote to the government and they sent back a
(00:22):
pamphlet on the repair and maintenance of frame houses. Anyhow,
the whole thing is known. I'm not the first to
discover it. Maybe it's even under control. I was sitting
in my easy chair idly turning the pages of a
paperbacked book someone had left on the bus when I
came across the reference that first put me on the trail.
For a moment, I didn't respond. It took some time
(00:44):
for the full import to sink in after I'd comprehended
it seemed odd I hadn't noticed it right away. The
reference was clearly to a non human species of incredible properties,
not indigenous to Earth, a species I hastened to point out,
customarily masquerading as ordinary human beings. Their disguise, however, became
(01:06):
transparent in the face of the following observations by the author.
It was at once obvious the author knew everything, knew everything,
and was taking it in his stride the line, and
I tremble remembering it even now. Read his eyes slowly
roved about the room. Vague chills assailed me. I tried
(01:29):
to picture the eyes. Did they roll like dimes? The
passage indicated not. They seemed to move through the air,
not over the surface, rather rapidly. Apparently no one in
the story was surprised. That's what tipped me off. No
sign of amazement at such an outrageous thing. Later the
matter was amplified. His eyes moved from person to person.
(01:55):
There it was in a nutshell. The eyes had clearly
come apart from the rest of him and were on
their own. My heart pounded and my breath choked in
my windpipe. I had stumbled on an accidental mention of
a totally unfamiliar race, obviously non terrestrial, Yet to the
characters in the book it was perfectly natural, which suggested
(02:16):
they belong to the same species. A slow suspicion burned
in my mind. The author was taking it rather too
easily in his stride. Evidently he felt this was quite
a usual thing. He made absolutely no attempt to conceal
this knowledge. The story continued presently, his eyes fastened on Julia. Julia,
(02:39):
being a lady, had at least the breeding to feel indignant.
She is described as blushing and knitting her brows angrily.
At this, I sighed with relief they weren't all non terrestrials.
The narrative continues, slowly, calmly, his eyes examined every inch
of her great Scott. But here the girl turned and
(03:02):
stomped off, and the matter ended. I lay back in
my chair, gasping with horror. My wife and family regarded
me in wonder. What's wrong, dear? My wife asked. I
couldn't tell her. Knowledge like this was too much for
the ordinary, run of the mill person. I had to
keep it to myself. Nothing, I gasped. I leaped up,
(03:23):
snatched the book, and hurried out of the room. In
the garage, I continued reading. There was more trembling. I
read the next revealing passage. He put his arm around Julia. Presently.
She asked him if he would remove his arm. He
immediately did so with a smile. It's not said what
(03:43):
was done with the arm after the fellow had removed it.
Maybe it was left standing upright in the corner. Maybe
it was thrown away. I don't care. In any case,
the full meaning was there staring me right in the face.
Here was a race of creatures capable of removing portions
of their anatomy. It will eyes, arms, and maybe more
(04:04):
without batting an eyelash. My knowledge of biology came in
handy at this point. Obviously they were simple beings, unicellular,
some sort of primitive, single celled things, beings no more
developed than starfish. Starfish can do the same thing, you know.
I read on and came to this incredible revelation, tossed
(04:24):
off coolly by the author without the faintest tremor. Outside
the movie theater, we split up. Part of us went inside,
part over to the cafe for dinner. Binary fission, obviously
splitting in half and forming two entities. Probably each lower
half went to the cafe, it being farther, and the
(04:46):
upper halves to the movies. I read on, hands shaking.
I had really stumbled onto something here. My mind reeled
as I made out this passage. I'm afraid there's no
doubt about it. Poor Bibney has lost his head again,
which was followed by and Bob says he has utterly
no guts yet. Bibney got around as well as the
(05:10):
next person. The next person, however, was just as strange.
He was soon described as totally lacking in brains. There
was no doubt of the thing. In the next passage, Julia,
whom I'd had thought to be the one normal person,
reveals herself as also being an alien life form similar
to the rest. Quite deliberately, Julia had given her heart
(05:33):
to the young man. It didn't relate what the final
disposition of the organ was, but I didn't really care.
It was evident Julia had gone right on living in
her usual manner, like all the others in the book,
without heart, arms, eyes, brains, viscera, dividing up in two.
When the occasion demanded, without a qualm. Thereupon she gave
(05:55):
him her hand. I sickened. The rascal now had her
hand as well as her heart. I shudder to think
what he's done with them. By this time, he took
her arm. Not content to wait, he had started dismantling
her on his own. Flushing Crimson, I slammed the book
(06:16):
shut and leaped to my feet, but not in time
to escape one last reference to those carefree bits of
anatomy whose travels had originally thrown me on the track.
Her eyes followed him all the way down the road
and across the meadow. I rushed from the garage and
back inside the warm house, as if the accursed thing
were following me. My wife and children were playing monopoly
(06:38):
in the kitchen. I joined them and played with frantic fervor,
brow feverish, teeth chattering. I had had enough of the thing.
I wanted to hear no more about it. Let them
come on, let them invade earth. I don't want to
get mixed up in it. I have absolutely no stomach
for it, and of the eyes have it. By Philip K.
(07:04):
Dick
The Eyes Have It by Philip K. Dick. It was
quite by accident. I discovered this incredible invasion of Earth
by life forms from another planet. As yet, I haven't
done anything about it. I can't think of anything to do.
I wrote to the government and they sent back a
(00:22):
pamphlet on the repair and maintenance of frame houses. Anyhow,
the whole thing is known. I'm not the first to
discover it. Maybe it's even under control. I was sitting
in my easy chair idly turning the pages of a
paperbacked book someone had left on the bus when I
came across the reference that first put me on the trail.
For a moment, I didn't respond. It took some time
(00:44):
for the full import to sink in after I'd comprehended
it seemed odd I hadn't noticed it right away. The
reference was clearly to a non human species of incredible properties,
not indigenous to Earth, a species I hastened to point out,
customarily masquerading as ordinary human beings. Their disguise, however, became
(01:06):
transparent in the face of the following observations by the author.
It was at once obvious the author knew everything, knew everything,
and was taking it in his stride the line, and
I tremble remembering it even now. Read his eyes slowly
roved about the room. Vague chills assailed me. I tried
(01:29):
to picture the eyes. Did they roll like dimes? The
passage indicated not. They seemed to move through the air,
not over the surface, rather rapidly. Apparently no one in
the story was surprised. That's what tipped me off. No
sign of amazement at such an outrageous thing. Later the
matter was amplified. His eyes moved from person to person.
(01:55):
There it was in a nutshell. The eyes had clearly
come apart from the rest of him and were on
their own. My heart pounded and my breath choked in
my windpipe. I had stumbled on an accidental mention of
a totally unfamiliar race, obviously non terrestrial, Yet to the
characters in the book it was perfectly natural, which suggested
(02:16):
they belong to the same species. A slow suspicion burned
in my mind. The author was taking it rather too
easily in his stride. Evidently he felt this was quite
a usual thing. He made absolutely no attempt to conceal
this knowledge. The story continued presently, his eyes fastened on Julia. Julia,
(02:39):
being a lady, had at least the breeding to feel indignant.
She is described as blushing and knitting her brows angrily.
At this, I sighed with relief they weren't all non terrestrials.
The narrative continues, slowly, calmly, his eyes examined every inch
of her great Scott. But here the girl turned and
(03:02):
stomped off, and the matter ended. I lay back in
my chair, gasping with horror. My wife and family regarded
me in wonder. What's wrong, dear? My wife asked. I
couldn't tell her. Knowledge like this was too much for
the ordinary, run of the mill person. I had to
keep it to myself. Nothing, I gasped. I leaped up,
(03:23):
snatched the book, and hurried out of the room. In
the garage, I continued reading. There was more trembling. I
read the next revealing passage. He put his arm around Julia. Presently.
She asked him if he would remove his arm. He
immediately did so with a smile. It's not said what
(03:43):
was done with the arm after the fellow had removed it.
Maybe it was left standing upright in the corner. Maybe
it was thrown away. I don't care. In any case,
the full meaning was there staring me right in the face.
Here was a race of creatures capable of removing portions
of their anatomy. It will eyes, arms, and maybe more
(04:04):
without batting an eyelash. My knowledge of biology came in
handy at this point. Obviously they were simple beings, unicellular,
some sort of primitive, single celled things, beings no more
developed than starfish. Starfish can do the same thing, you know.
I read on and came to this incredible revelation, tossed
(04:24):
off coolly by the author without the faintest tremor. Outside
the movie theater, we split up. Part of us went inside,
part over to the cafe for dinner. Binary fission, obviously
splitting in half and forming two entities. Probably each lower
half went to the cafe, it being farther, and the
(04:46):
upper halves to the movies. I read on, hands shaking.
I had really stumbled onto something here. My mind reeled
as I made out this passage. I'm afraid there's no
doubt about it. Poor Bibney has lost his head again,
which was followed by and Bob says he has utterly
no guts yet. Bibney got around as well as the
(05:10):
next person. The next person, however, was just as strange.
He was soon described as totally lacking in brains. There
was no doubt of the thing. In the next passage, Julia,
whom I'd had thought to be the one normal person,
reveals herself as also being an alien life form similar
to the rest. Quite deliberately, Julia had given her heart
(05:33):
to the young man. It didn't relate what the final
disposition of the organ was, but I didn't really care.
It was evident Julia had gone right on living in
her usual manner, like all the others in the book,
without heart, arms, eyes, brains, viscera, dividing up in two.
When the occasion demanded, without a qualm. Thereupon she gave
(05:55):
him her hand. I sickened. The rascal now had her
hand as well as her heart. I shudder to think
what he's done with them. By this time, he took
her arm. Not content to wait, he had started dismantling
her on his own. Flushing Crimson, I slammed the book
(06:16):
shut and leaped to my feet, but not in time
to escape one last reference to those carefree bits of
anatomy whose travels had originally thrown me on the track.
Her eyes followed him all the way down the road
and across the meadow. I rushed from the garage and
back inside the warm house, as if the accursed thing
were following me. My wife and children were playing monopoly
(06:38):
in the kitchen. I joined them and played with frantic fervor,
brow feverish, teeth chattering. I had had enough of the thing.
I wanted to hear no more about it. Let them
come on, let them invade earth. I don't want to
get mixed up in it. I have absolutely no stomach
for it, and of the eyes have it. By Philip K.
(07:04):
Dick
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