"Stopover in a Quiet Town" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

Opening narration

Bob and Millie Frasier -- average young New Yorkers who had attended a party in the country last night, and on the way home, took a detour. Most of us, on waking in the morning, know exactly where we are; the rooster or the alarm clock brings us out of sleep into the familiar sights, sounds, aromas of home and the comfort of a routine day ahead. Not so with our young friends. This will be a day like none they've ever spent, and they'll spend it in the Twilight Zone.

Synopsis

A married couple wake up in an unfamiliar house, remembering only that they had both drank too much at a party the night before, and that on the way home, a large shadow had appeared over their car.

They soon discover that the house is mostly props—the telephone has no connection, the cabinetry is merely glued-on facing, the refrigerator is filled with plastic food. They hear a girl's laughter and go outside to find the child. However, once outside, they discover that the town is deserted. They find a stuffed squirrel in a fake tree, search for help in a vacant church, and ring the bell in the church's bell tower hoping someone will come to their aide. When no one comes to help them, the increasingly desperate couple discovers even the trees are fake and the grass is papier-mâché. The exasperated Millie begins to think that perhaps she crashed their car on the way home, and they are now in Hell. They hear a train whistle and, thinking they have finally found a way out of the town, rush to the train station and board the train. As the train leaves the station, they begin a light-hearted conversation, relieved to be leaving. However, when the train comes to a stop, they realize it has only gone in a circle, and they are back where they started.

They leave the train and return to the town, only to be pursued by an ominous shadow, once again hearing a young girl's laughter. The shadow pursuing them is revealed to be the young girl's hand. As she picks them up, laughing joyously, it is revealed that the couple was abducted by an alien giant who brought them from Earth to be toys for his daughter's dollhouse neighborhood.

Closing narration

The moral of what you've just seen is clear: if you drink, don't drive. And if your wife has had a couple, she shouldn't drive either. You might both just wake up with a whale of a headache, in a deserted village, in the Twilight Zone.

References

• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090

External links

Twilight Zone links

• The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
• Episode List
• Season 5