Monsters Are Due #1

There is a 5th dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow between science and superstition and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call The Twilight Zone. Maple street, USA, late summer. A tree lined little world of front porch gliders, barbecues, the laughter of children and the bell of an ice cream vendor. At the sound of the roar and the flash of light, it will be precisely 6:43 p.m.. On maple street. What was that a meteor? Yeah, that's what it looked like. I didn't hear any crash though, did you? No, I didn't hear anything except a roar. What was that? I guess it was a meteor, honey. Grandma, of course, isn't it? Too close for my money. Much too close. This is maple street that a late Saturday afternoon. Maple street. And the last calm and reflective moment. Before the monsters came. Operation. Steve, the powers off. I had the soup on the stove in the stove just stop working. Is your phone all right? I can't get anybody on mine. I'll cut across the backyard. See if the power is still on on floral street. Does make sense. Why should the power draw off all of a sudden and the phone line? Maybe some kind of an electrical storm or something. Now that don't seem likely. This guy's just a blues anything, not a cloud, no lightning, no thunder no nothing. How can it be a storm? I can't get a thing on the radio. Not even on the portable. Oh, why don't we go downtown and check with the police? Well, they'll probably think we're crazy or something. A little power failure and you better get flustered and everything. Isn't just a power failure, Charlie, if it were we'd still be able to get a broadcast from the portable. I'll take a run down town. Maybe I can get it straight now. Yeah. I don't understand it. It was working fine before. We out of gas? I just filled it up. Well, what does it mean? It's as if everything stopped. Maybe we better walk downtown. Well, that's supposed to go try to. Yeah. Mister brand? You better not. Why not? They don't want you to. Who doesn't want us to? Them? Them. Who are them? Whoever was in that thing that came by overhead. What? Whoever was in the thing that came over, I don't think they want us to leave here. What do you mean, Tom? What are you talking about? They don't want us to leave. That's why they shut everything off. What makes you say that? Where'd you get that idea? Maybe we had the craziest thing you've ever heard. It's always that way. And every story I've ever read about a ship landing from outer space. From outer spaceship. You better take them up to us, put them to bed. You've been reading too many comic books. They're saying too many movies or something. Tommy, you stop that kind of talk. Come on, let's go. Go ahead, Tommy. We'll be right back and then you'll see. It wasn't a ship. It was a meteor or something. Likely is not that the cause of the power failure in all the rest of it. Meteors can do crazy things like sunspots. Sure, that's the kind of thing like sunspots. They raise king with radio reception all over the world. This thing means so close as no telling the sort of stuff it can do. You go ahead, Steve, you and Charlie going to sound since that is what's causing it all. Mister brand. Mister bran, please don't leave here. You might not even be able to get to town. It was that way in the story. Nobody could leave. Nobody except. Except who? Except the people I'd sent down ahead of them. They look just like humans, and it wasn't until the ship landed that. Honey, don't talk like that. Mister craziest thing you ever heard of, the kid tells the comic book plot and we stand here listening. Wait, wait a minute. What kind of a story was it? What about the people they sent ahead? That was the way they prepared things for the landing. They sent four people a mother and a father and two kids who looked just like humans. But they weren't. Well, I guess what we need to do is run a check of the neighborhood and find out which ones of us are really human. Now you stand around making bum jokes about it. Under floral streets got the same kind of deal we have. See, where's peak van horn? Has it come back yet? Did your car start last? No dice. Well, I don't know what's wrong. Nothing seems to be working. I can't even get the car started. the started somehow. He got his car started.