The Gate

Mom?

Dad?

Al?

Hello!

Al?

The thunderbolt.

Papa.

Papa.

Papa.

Okay! Bring her in!

That's it.

Okay, now put those... yeah. Secure it over there.

Yeah, the other tree.

That's it. Tighten it up.

Okay! Up, up!

Go.

Over! A little bit.

Watch it. Back it up. Keep it going.

Back her up. That's it.

Hey, Terry, what's that thing called again?

A geode. Thunder eggs.

- I don't think we should be doing this. - Hey, chill out. They'll never know.

My dad will have a seizure.

It's your own fault. You should have called me before they filled it in.

- Yeah, but... - There's gotta be more down there.

You know how much you can get for a big one? 100 bucks.

It smells like something died in there.

- It looks like a cave. - Wicked.

- Be careful. - Here.

- Jeez. - It's nothin'.

What is it?

What the hell was that noise?

I don't think we should be doing this.

Who cares?

We're rich.

Come on.

Al, don't! Wait a sec! You promised I could have these.

I said that 3 months ago. They've been sitting in my room.

But, Al...

Quit calling me Al. My name is Alexandra.

- Well, aren't we gonna launch 'em? - You can do whatever you want.

- I've gotta go. - Where?

- You promised we could launch them. - I'm going shopping with Lori and Linda.

The Lee sisters.

Al, wait! What about the thunderbolt?

Just forget about the thunderbolt. It's gone.

What do you need her for, anyway? I mean, what's the big deal?

Well, ever since I burnt a hole on the roof,

my dad says I can't launch any of my rockets without supervision.

Hey, I'll supervise.

Hey! You guys, wait for me!

Come on!

Get in the car!

- What are those for? - Live cargo.

Forget it. Got wet in the trash. Totaled.

How long do you think they can live without air?

- Hey, man, that's cruel. - Come on. It's neat.

Glen?

Glen!

It's just irresponsibility. I don't know.

Is it too late to call Mrs. Vandergrift?

Daddy, please, you can't call a baby sitter. I'm gonna be 16 in wot weeks.

You said I was mature enough to accept the responsibility.

And, honestly, I promise there won't be any problems.

Well, what do you think, Glen? Can you be trusted?

I don't know.

If your father and I agree to let the two of you stay alone for 3 whole days,

- how can we be sure that you'll behave? - It was Terry that started it.

If Terry jumped off a bridge, I suppose you'd jump off, too.

Sure. Why not?

Look, I can take care of Terry and I can take care of Glen.

I can take care of this house.

Please?

All right. But, you, young man, are grounded for the weekend.

And that means that you do not leave this house until we come back.

Grounded? For real?

For real.

And after dinner, pal, you fill in that hole.

Okay.

Good night, Glen.

No, leave it on.

Glen?

What's with you today?

It's... I don't know. It's something about that hole.

What do you mean?

I don't know. It's just weird.

Well, you... you filled it in, didn't you?

Yeah. But Terry told me something.

- What? - Well, he said a long time ago,

when they were building our house, a workman got killed.

And the other workmen didn't want to tell the police,

so they sealed him up in one of our walls.

Look, son...

let me tell you something about Terry.

You remember last year when Terry's mom died.

Yeah.

Well, ever since then, Terry's been a little strange.

I think he's kind of angry inside that his mom's gone.

So, you just remember that when he gets destructive or...

tries to scare you.

I think he's just a little confused, that's all.

- You know what I'm saying? - I think so.

- You want me to turn the light on? - No, it's okay.

Good night, tiger.

- Dad? - Yeah.

Never mind.

- Good night. - Good night, pal.

Don't forget that Angus gets his pills every day.

Make sure they're hidden in his dog food or he'll spit them out.

- And I don't want him on the furniture. - I know, Mom.

- Goodbye, hon. - Bye.

- Bye, Mom. - Goodbye.

- Bye, Dad. - See you guys.

- Goodbye! - Bye!

Bye, Mom.

And don't forget, the numbers where we'll be are on the refrigerator.

Al, if you need us for any reason, don't be afraid to give us a call.

- It's just being responsible. - I know, Mom.

- Remember, you stay in this weekend. - Okay.

And I want the house clean when we come home. No parties.

Okay!

Lori! Linda!

Hey, wow! Great party!

I don't know. Here.

What a tool. He just totaled his car.

Brutal!

Hey, somebody get this dog a beer.

Put me down!

Get away!

Come on!

Hey! Bug off, Angus! You stink!

I'd like smell you when you're 97.

He's not 97.

In dog years.

It's just not gonna break.

Why don't we get the Lee sisters to look at it?

Yeah.

No, we could throw it off the roof tomorrow. Come on. Let's go party.

- She won't let us. - Sure she will. Why not?

It's just... forget it.

Told ya. Look at it.

Is it supposed to do that?

I don't know.

Maybe it just got compressed air when it was being formed or something.

Look. It made some kind of marks.

It's words. What's it say?

It's weird.

"Aca...

"Kuto...

"Alla...

Eta."

He made his way down the dark hallway.

And the squeak keeps getting louder.

And there's also this... like a laugh.

And there's this weird tearing sound.

So she goes to the door and she opens it really slowly.

And there, in the rocking chair,

is the decomposed corpse of her dead father.

And in his lap is the severed head of her boyfriend.

And he's tearing out hair by the handful.

- You made that up. - I believe it.

- Come on. It's bullshit. - Weird things happen all the time.

So we make up ghost stories to explain the powers inside us that we don't understand.

- What kind of powers? - Well, like...

- Will you guys ever do levitation? - I've seen that. It's an illusion.

No, it's a matter of concentration. It really works.

Do you believe in all that stuff?

Me, too.

Now, everyone just... clear your mind.

- You broke your concentration. - No, I broke my fingernail.

- Too much junk food. - It doesn't matter. It's not the weight.

Hey, little man, come here.

- Glen, go back to your room. - No, come here. He'll be all right.

- Let's see if we can levitate him. - It's a cinch. He's a midget.

- Okay, we'll just use two people. - Sit down.

Brad.

Okay, hold your arms out, one on top of the other, and make little circles

to trans... transmit and stimulate the energy.

And everyone else concentrate.

Now everyone just... clear your minds...

and think of Glen as light as a feather.

Concentrate.

Okay.

Like...

dust...

drifting in front of the windows, like...

dandelions in the breeze.

Rise.

Rise...

Hey. Help!

Come on! Get me down!

Are you okay?

Glen.

Maybe I won't do that... again.

Glen.

Glen, you all right?

I think it's because he cried in front of everybody.

Hey, Glen... don't be embarrassed. Crying's nothing.

Remember when Trevor Stubblefield pantsed me in front of the whole auditorium?

Yeah. And I barfed on Steve Slavit after the 12-minute run.