--- title: "Dark Windows by Bryce Walton — Classic Ebook | Publica Now" description: "Read a free sample of Dark Windows by Bryce Walton at Publica Now — a public-domain classic ebook, readable online." canonical: "https://publica.now/creators/vito/works/dark-windows" --- Literary # Dark Windows by Bryce Walton [ V Vito ](https://publica.now/creators/vito) Follow $2.99 [ Sign in to buy ](https://publica.now/access?redirect=%2Fcheckout%2Fdark-windows) Secure payment on Stripe. publica.now never sees your card. Share Link copied Format epub Published May 03, 2026 Rating No reviews yet ![Dark Windows](https://fls-a13cb2d7-1b3e-4883-a0bd-297afd110a11.367be3a2035528943240074d0096e0cd.r2.cloudflarestorage.com/works/01kqqqzgp44rhd7rvr8rxym061/editions/2026-09-06-html-v1/cover.png?X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=d29ce3bb571c165c97a702f29f7aee93%2F20261011%2Fauto%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261011T023819Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Signature=1fba3aafa51a5e5559ce460fa52ab752e36ab332ab2ec7ccc2991c5878729740) ## About this work Sooner or later, it would happen. In a gray, broken city, old man Donnicker is taken away in the early morning by men from the Department of Internal Security. The narrator watches from behind his window, determined to remain uninvolved—and safe. He knows the rules: trust no one, speak to no one, and keep his clearance clean. Outside, machines are smashed, farmers return to hand tools, oil lanterns replace modern comforts, and official broadcasts promise that the past is dead and the future secure. Inside the Pentagon Circle, the narrator performs his daily work in a little cage, surrounded by guards and suspicion. But Donnicker’s disappearance raises an unsettling question: what had the shoemaker been hiding? Bryce Walton’s Dark Windows is a tense science-fiction tale of conformity, fear, and the dangerous spaces between what a society says and what its citizens can see. This Publica.now Classics edition includes a new typographic cover and publisher opening and closing pages. Sample ## Take a look inside DARK WINDOWS BY BRYCE WALTON Sooner or later it would happen, and after that he wouldn't ever have to worry again. He'd be dead, or worse, one of the silent living dead. \[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, October 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.\] I was suddenly wide awake and listening. A gray light the color of wet charcoal lay over the chilled room. There it was again. Plain and sharp through the thin wall separating my room from that of old man Donnicker, the shoe-maker. Maybe he was sick. No, that wasn't it. Another muted cry of pain, then a choking sound, and the unmistakable thud of a falling body. An odd whirring sound clicked off. Then a voice said, "Grab the verminous legs of this subversive, Marty. Let's get him in the wagon." "You gave him too much bip. He looks deader than Einstein." "I said grab his legs." A door shut. I went to the window. I was shivering in the morning chill. A black car moved away down the broken pavement. It swerved to miss a large mudhole in the middle of the street and an old woman with burlap wrapped around her feet didn't move fast enough. She flew across the sidewalk like a ragged dummy and lay in a heap. Goodbye, Donnicker. I had seen the black car before. Donnicker was dead. But it didn't bother me. I never had anything to do with neighbors, anybody I didn't know had a top clearance. I was clear and intended to stay that way. You just never knew. Donnicker had seemed like a true patriot. My carefully distant and casual observations of him had led me to believe… [ Sign in to buy ](https://publica.now/access?redirect=%2Fcheckout%2Fdark-windows) The sample continues in the full work. [ #Psychological fiction ](/search?query=Psychological+fiction) [ #United States -- Fiction ](/search?query=United+States+--+Fiction) [ #dystopian ](/search?query=dystopian) [ #social commentary ](/search?query=social+commentary) [ #surveillance ](/search?query=surveillance) [ #conformity ](/search?query=conformity) [ #individualism ](/search?query=individualism) [ #totalitarianism ](/search?query=totalitarianism) [ #rebellion ](/search?query=rebellion) [ #loss of freedom ](/search?query=loss+of+freedom) ## Reviews No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts. [Sign in to leave a review](https://publica.now/access?redirect=%2Fcreators%2Fvito%2Fworks%2Fdark-windows) No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts. 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