Stopover in a Quiet Town

Plot

Bob and Millie Frazier, a married couple, wake up in an unfamiliar house. Millie recalls that Bob drank too much at a party the night before, and that while driving him home to Manhattan, a large shadow appeared over their car near Riverdale. They discover the house is mostly props: the telephone has no connection, the cabinetry is glued-on facing, and the refrigerator contains plastic food and empty cartons. Hearing a girl's laughter, they go outside and find the town deserted, with no birds and a stuffed squirrel.

They knock on another house and search a church, both vacant. Bob rings the church bell tower to attract attention, but no one comes. They find the trees are fake, and a fire reveals the grass is papier-mâché. A parked car has a mannequin in the driver's seat and keys in the ignition, but no engine.

Millie suggests they may have crashed and died and are in Hell. Hearing a train whistle, they rush to the station and board an empty train. As it leaves Centerville, they converse lightheartedly, admitting Millie had also been drinking. The train soon stops again in Centerville, having only gone in a circle.

They leave and walk out of town, still hearing the girl's laughter. A large shadow falls over them, and they are scooped up by the hand of a gigantic child. The town is revealed to be a model village with a miniature railway. The child's mother says, "Be careful with your pets, dear.

Daddy brought them all the way from Earth." The little girl drops the couple back into the town, and Bob and Millie run looking for a place to hide.