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Dave N. is looking for the name of a story that eludes him. Here is his description:
I don't remember the entire plot, but it involved the protagonist going to bed on what I believe was a Monday night & woke up very early in the morning. He found creatures, for lack of a better world, constructing all the things familiar to him, i.e. his house, the neighborhood, the town, etc., suggesting that the whole world was deconstructed during his sleep. He ended up somehow asking what day it was, or stating that today was Tuesday, and was told (I can't remember if it was from another human or one of the "creatures") that "Yesterday was Tuesday". Thanks for your help!!Can you name this story?
- Dave N.
Comments (7)
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday May 29, 2008 at 12:22 AM
© 2008 SF Signal
I saw something quite like this on TV long ago, maybe from the Eighties run of the Twilight Zone. In fact, for some reason, I was just thinking about this yesterday. These construction workers had to build reality for every moment of time. Somehow, somebody slips ahead a little bit and sees the future while it's still under construction. I'm guessing the episode was based on that story. Anyone know the episode?
Posted by Matthew Sanborn Smith on Thursday May 29, 2008 at 12:43 AM at 12:43 AM
That's "Yesterday Was Monday" by Theodore Sturgeon. I haven't read the story, but I do remember the televised version quite well (it was indeed from the '80s Twilight Zone.)
Posted by Christopher Dodson on Thursday May 29, 2008 at 12:52 AM at 12:52 AM
Sounds also very similar to The Tunnel Under The World, by Frederick Pohl, where an entire town was rebuilt to test advertising.
You'll see similar themes in Alex Proyas' Dark City.
Posted by Br260454 on Thursday May 29, 2008 at 3:04 AM at 3:04 AM
Definitely "Yesterday Was Monday" by Theodore Sturgeon. It's one of many great stories that that make up The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century, edited by Harry Turtledove and Martin H. Greenberg.
Posted by Joseph Mallozzi on Thursday May 29, 2008 at 3:31 PM at 3:31 PM
You can read the first couple of pages of the story on Amazon's excerpt. http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0345460944
Posted by Brett S. on Thursday May 29, 2008 at 4:50 PM at 4:50 PM
There was also a children's picture book called, I think, "The Caretakers of Wonder" about all the people who took care of the world while you slept. I remember the people pinning up the night sky like a giant sheet, then taking it down at dawn and storing it, folded up, under the front stairs.
Posted by Molly on Sunday June 01, 2008 at 7:24 PM at 7:24 PM
That would be "Yesterday was Monday" from the Time Travel stories collection by Harry Turtledove.
And I know how it feels to know the plot of the story/novel, but to forget the name 
Posted by Fleiger on Tuesday June 03, 2008 at 11:02 AM at 11:02 AM