Synopses: In The Veldt, Lydia and George are the parents to Wendy and Peter Hadley. Their house is a “Happy Life Home” where everything is fully “machine programmed.” The house does everything from tie their shoes to scrub them in the shower. The children’s playroom is covered with screens which transport the children wherever they want to go. When the parents check in, they notice the kids are in the Africa veldt. The heat is sweltering as lions eat their catch, and it scares the parents. They have a visit from psychologist David McClean, who decides the kids are too obsessed with the technology. McClean decides to turn off the smart home, but after Wendy and Peter beg, the parents let them have one last adventure. The kids SCREAM, and the parents rush down to find the playroom empty when CLICK, the door locks behind them, the kids trap their parents in the African veldt with lions approaching. When McClean returns, he finds the kids eating in happiness, parents nowhere to be seen.

In Sound of Thunder, it is the not so distant future, technology has advanced, and the fate of the nation hangs on the outcome of an election. When Eckles and Travis travel back in time to kill a T. Rex, they have to follow the plan perfectly as to not disrupt the flow of time. But when faced with the Jurassic world up close, Eckles is terrified and goes off the safe path and runs back to the ship, not thinking he changed anything. Back in the present, everything has changed, even the results presidential race. Travis, noticing the remains of a butterfly, realizes Eckles changed time with just the crush of a butterfly.

The Argument: No matter how old and young we are desperate to keep the routine to keep things according to plan. While The Veldt was written as science fiction story back in the day, it’s a very modern story of children, even adults, who are too obsessed with technology and the extremes they will go to to acquire it back. With Sound of Thunder, the characters find out that even if they try to take all of the precautions and have a plan so that losing isn’t even an option, it somehow still happens. Sometimes you find the smallest thing can affect everything. The reality you knew is lost and you find yourself in a scary new world that maybe even scarier than the one you left.