After another miserable day at Larson’s Pump and Valve Works where he has worked for twenty years he returns home, heads straight to his model world in the basement and destroys the Pump and Valve Works building. The next day he quits his job and comes home to find his wife Madge cheating on him with Paul Tyler. Instead of dealing with that he spends the rest of the day remodeling his tiny version of Woodland, vindictively replacing everything to match the world he wants.

Somehow Paul Tyler suspects what will happen next. When Haskel declares he is finished with his grand project Madge and Tyler find that he and the train set have disappeared, and when they drive to the police station to report him missing they see the town now mirrors Haskel’s fantasy world. As Haskel has made himself mayor in this new Woodland things aren’t going to end well for Madge and Tyler.

Cast of characters

• Verne Haskel 
• Madge Haskel – Verne’s wife
• Paul Tyler – having an affair with Madge

The post Small Town appeared first on the world Dick made.

That night she gets violently ill. Their farm is far from the hospital, and she dies from what the doctor ends up ruling appendicitis before her husband can get her there. Seven or eight months later her husband and father-in-law visit her grave and find an apple tree growing in the field.

It’s obviously a quirky story but I like the mise-en-scène.

Cast of characters

• Lori Patterson
• Steve – Lori’s husband
• Ed – Lori’s father-in-law
• The apple tree?

The post Of Withered Apples appeared first on the world Dick made.

Once Mr. Billings has completed his documentation Project B will be eliminated and it will be on to Project C, still in its very early stages as tiny two-inch creatures kept in a pen in his rooftop garden. These “humans” have antennae and no innate drives with the hope they will be more rational than previous iterations. 

Tommy wants the creatures for himself, so he steals them. Mr. Billings wins them back in a game of marbles, but it’s too late as they’ve already learned about independence from Tommy. When Mr. Billings tries to return them to their pen they attack him and escape. He decides to report to his superiors the conclusion they might as well just let Project B run its course, since any consecutive attempts to create the perfect humans will end up in rebellion and failure anyway. 

Cast of characters

• Tommy Jackson
• Dave and Joan Grant – Tommy’s friends whose parents own the house where Mr. Billings rents a room
• Edward Billings – currently documenting the Project B round of humans on Earth

The post Project: Earth appeared first on the world Dick made.

Larry keeps the clock though, since he paid for it after all, but the cuckoo refuses to come out on the hour. When Larry approaches it angrily with a hammer the cuckoo strikes him in the eye and kills him. The doctor rules that he died from a fall, but only Bob suspects the truth about what happened. 

Cast of characters

• Larry and Doris
• Bob – Doris’s friend

The post Beyond the Door appeared first on the world Dick made.

Cast of characters

• Bernard “Bubber” Surle – a cookie-loving schoolboy
• Mrs. Drew – the titular cookie lady
• May and Ralf Surle – Bubber’s parents

The post The Cookie Lady appeared first on the world Dick made.

Cast of characters

• Robert Nye – suspects his son might not actually be his son
• Peggy Nye – Robert’s wife
• Tom Lindquist – Robert’s friend
• Sir Francis – Peggy’s pet duck and possible lover and deity in disguise 
• Stephen – Robert’s “son”

The post Out in the Garden appeared first on the world Dick made.

Cast of characters

Sylvia – our protagonist who has the ability to communicate with angels
Rick – Sylvia’s boyfriend
Walter Everett – Sylvia’s father
Betty Lou and Jean – Sylvia’s sisters

The post Upon the Dull Earth appeared first on the world Dick made.

I really like the 2011 movie, refashioned as The Adjustment Bureau, starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. It takes just the basic idea and turns it into a love story (which admittedly doesn’t feel all that phildickian) that deals with predestination and free will.

Cast of characters

• Ed Fletcher – our everyman protagonist
• Ruth Fletcher – Ed’s wife
• Nathan Douglas – Ed’s boss
• The Old Man – in charge of the whole shebang

The post Adjustment Team appeared first on the world Dick made.

Cast of characters

• Shadrach Jones – the king of the elves
• Phineas Judd – Shadrach’s friend who turns out to be the great troll

The post The King of the Elves appeared first on the world Dick made.