Project Gutenberg 2009-06-17 Public domain in the USA. 201 Cummings, Monette 1914 1999 Cummings, Monette A. Cummings, M. A. (Monette A.) No Pets Allowed Produced from Fantastic Universe August 1957. Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "No Pets Allowed" by Monette Cummings is a science fiction novella written in the late 1950s. This narrative explores themes of solitude and the conflicts between individual desires and societal rules in a futuristic setting. It addresses the prohibition against pets, uncovering a twisty tale of companionship, betrayal, and the nature of honesty in a seemingly utopian society. The story follows a solitary guard assigned to watch over a treasure in a nearly perfect state where dishonesty is virtually nonexistent. Bored and lonely, the protagonist secretly acquires a forbidden pet, a carnivorous plant, which grows rapidly as he feeds it small animals. When a council member named Gremm comes to retrieve treasures alone, urging him to hand over the key, a confrontation ensues, leading to Gremm's mysterious disappearance. The guard is left with the guilt of not reporting the incident, knowing that the truth of what happened could never be believed. As he grapples with his conscience and the plant's growing size, the story leaves readers questioning the fine line between honesty, loyalty, and fear in a seemingly perfect society. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 85.8 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories PS Text Science Fiction Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 33225 2025-08-12T06:34:47.207599 text/html 29143 2009-06-17T07:07:24 text/html 194424 2025-08-12T06:34:51.705551 application/epub+zip 192781 2025-08-12T06:34:49.711624 application/epub+zip 79639 2025-08-12T06:34:48.584565 application/epub+zip 292112 2025-08-12T06:34:53.235595 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 284710 2025-08-12T06:34:51.080610 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 149501 2022-09-13T13:46:33.100392 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 27207 2025-08-12T06:34:46.982567 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 27116 2009-06-17T07:07:24 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18522 2025-08-12T06:34:53.402547 application/rdf+xml 14515 2025-08-12T06:34:49.180584 image/jpeg 3659 2025-08-12T06:34:48.928597 image/jpeg 122226 2009-06-17T07:07:24 application/octet-stream application/zip 10244 2009-06-17T07:07:24 application/octet-stream application/zip 193482 2025-08-12T06:34:47.217592 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia