Valerie, Fitzhugh, and Barry are running from a giant tramp. They crouch against a tree, and Chipper yips, drawing the tramp's attention. Chipper runs off and Barry runs after him. Valerie and Fitzhugh run after him, and the tramp chases them. As Barry gets his dog and runs, he hits an invisible force field and is knocked unconscious. The tramp tries to reach through it and is electrocuted as Valerie and Fitzhugh arrive. They can't get to Barry because of the force field, and they go to tell the others.
At Spindrift, Steve and Dan prepare to look for their overdue comrades when Valerie and Fitzhugh stumble into the camp. They explain what happened and go to the spot, and confirm that the tramp is dead. Barry and Chipper are gone, and there's no sign of the force field. Fitzhugh finds Barry's knife on the ground, and the force field hum starts again. When Fitzhugh panics and runs, he hits the force field and is knocked down. Steve tells everyone to stay put until daylight.
Come morning, Valerie finds a tree that is normal-sized to them. Mark realizes that all of the vegetation is their size, and Dan figures that they might have passed through another warp and returned to Earth. Steve doesn't believe it, and Fitzhugh wants to go back to the ship to get his valise with the money. Mark scouts ahead and says that they're back on Earth. Steve has Dan stay back, and the others join Mark.
Mark is standing next to a sign indicating the town of Midburry. Beyond it is an old-fashioned suburban neighborhood, but there's no sign of any residents. Fitzhugh runs down the street, yelling for anybody, and Mark spots a doctor's office. He knocks at the door but there's no answer. The front door is locked and Steve peers in the window. He realizes that nobody has been inside for years, and they look for the main street.
Fitzhugh goes from house to house, knocking on doors, but gets no response. Dan arrives and they enter the town's main street, but there's still no one there. Fitzhugh runs on and Dan figures that he's right about them being back on Earth. They find a church sign and figure that everyone is at church, and check inside. There's no people, just dusty pews and an altar.
A truck comes down the street, honking its horn. There's no one at the wheel, and it continues on when the Earthlings try to flag it down. Valerie figures that Barry is dead just like the tramp, and Steve suggests that they split up to cover more ground.
Fitzhugh comes to a man reading a paper, and gets no response to his question. When he grabs the man, the frozen figure falls over. Fitzhugh sees a phone booth and tries to reach the operator. There's no answer... and a giant girl rises up over the buildings and laughs. Fitzhugh finally sees her behind him and ducks into the phone booth. The girl picks it up, laughing.
The truck finally stops and a giant inventor, Akman, picks it up. HIs granddaughter comes over and shows him Fitzhugh, and says that there are other Earthlings in the town. Akman knows, and says that he put the wounded Barry in the town saloon. He's glad that the Earthlings are there, and tells his granddaughter that he needs Fitzhugh as the driver for his truck. Akman has the girl put Fitzhugh down, assuring her that with the force field up, none of the Earthlings can escape. Akman tells Fitzhugh that he can go but he'll find him when he needs him. The girl shuts down the force field and leaves with Akman, and Fitzhugh runs down the street.
The girl tells Akman that she wants one of the Earthlings for herself. He says he has work to do and tells her to play. The girl blames Fitzhugh and promises to get him.
As he checks the stores, Steve knocks over a "fire hydrant" and discovers that it's a mock-up. There are no supplies in the shop, but Valerie finds a dress in the dress shop. It was the only one, and it's covered in dust. Mark joins them, and they hear Betty scream. She's found the frozen "man," and the others confirm that it's a mannequin.
Fitzhugh runs up and tells them that it's not a real town, and explains that Akman and his granddaughter caught him and have Barry. He says that Barry is at the saloon, and the group goes there. Chipper and an unconscious Barry are there, and they wake Barry up. Steve suggests that they tunnel under the force field, and Akman and his granddaughter look down through the open roof. Akman introduces himself and explains that he built the town from a spaceship that came through a dimension lock. All of the Earthlings were killed, but there were pictures and books in the wreckage. Akman built the town from those, and says that he'll make them all very happy. He warns them about the force field to keep out small animals, and goes to continue his work. The girl stays behind and tells them that they're soon going to die before leaving.
Steve, Dan, and Mark go to the edge of town to dig. Fitzhugh runs up, tired of playing nursemaid, and Mark hands him a shovel. The girl is watching them through binoculars, and turns off the force field. The Earthlings hear the hum stop and confirm that it's off, but Steve figures that it's a trick. When Fitzhugh runs forward, the girl turns the force field back on and shocks him. Steve grabs him and pulls him free, and is shocked as well.
Barry and Chipper come to the tunnel entrance and go inside to find the others.
Fitzhugh and Steve recover, and they go back to finish the tunnel. Frustrated, the girl stomps on the tunnel, sealing Barry inside. When the men come back, the girl tells them that they'll never escape alive and storms off. They realize that Barry is inside the tunnel and dig him out.
Later, Akman makes a pot of stew, puts it on the truck, and drives it to the saloon where the Earthlings have gathered. They hear the truck horn and go outside, and find the stew. Akman is watching and Steve asks when he's going to let them out. The inventor refuses to discuss it, and says that after he gets some supplies, he's going to build them some furniture. Mark and Fitzhugh take the stew into the saloon, and Akman leaves with the truck.
Once Akman goes, Steve runs off down the street and finds the gazebo where Akman has his control panel. He watches as Akman turns off the force field surrounding it and goes inside, and goes back to the saloon where the others are eating. Steve has timed how long the force field to go down and back up, and reports that it's two seconds. As he sits down to eat, the girl peers down and says that she suggested that Akman make the food for them. She then dumps a bucket of dirt on them, ruining their meal, and calls them out to the street.
Steve goes out and finds gasoline on the street. The girl lights a match and tosses it on the gasoline, and says that it's her own idea to celebrate their arrival with fireworks. She lights more gasoline, surrounding Steve in flame, and Dan dives over the flames to rescue his friend. He gets Steve back to the saloon, and the girl says that if they tell Akman then she'll fix them good. Once she leaves, Steve leads Dan to the church and rings the bell.
Akman hears the bell and goes to investigate with his granddaughter. When Steve and Dan come out, they tell Akman that they're in danger from his granddaughter. Steve shows him the match and says that the girl did it. Akman realizes that his granddaughter is the only one who could have supplied the matches, and orders her to never come near her town again with a flame. Once she goes, Akman apologizes and goes to get his supplies, leaving them alone with the girl... just as Steve planned.
The Earthlings go back in the saloon and Steve has the others pile up everything that burns. He figures that the girl will be anxious to put the fire out. Meanwhile, Dan watches Akman go and runs back to warn the others. He runs back to the saloon, and Steve explains that the girl will forget to turn the force field back on when she fights the fire. If she doesn't then she'll set the rheostat down, and they'll turn it off themselves.
Steve tells the others to wait two minutes while he and Mark go ahead, and then start the fire and have Dan take them through the barrier once the force field is down. The two men run to the gazebo, where the girl is teasing a tarantula in a jar. Dan starts the fire and everyone yells fire. The girl shuts down the force field, sets down the rheostat, and runs over with a fire extinguisher.
Dan and the others head for the edge of town, and Steve and Mark go to the rheostat and shut down the force field. When they can't budge the switch, the two men short it out. Dan has the others wait at the border, and Steve and Dan get in the truck and discover that there's no reverse. The horn goes off and they have to drive forward through town. The girl sprays them with the extinguisher and then throws it in front of them, and the Earthlings just avoid it. She then drops rocks, just missing them, and finally knocks a building over on them.
As the girl laughs, Steve and Mark crawl out of the wreckage. As she prepares to grab them, Akman returns and orders her over. She insists that the Earthlings set the fire, but Akman doesn't believe her and starts spanking her. Steve and Mark run out of town and join the others.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 13, 2017