| The Tale of a Door Unlocked | |
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| Season 5 , Episode 11 | |
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| Air date | February 3, 1996 |
| Written by | Scott Peters |
| Directed by | Ron Oliver |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous The Tale of the Vacant Lot |
Next The Tale of the Night Shift |
The Tale of a Door Unlocked, is the Eleventh episode of the Fifth season of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and the Sixty-Third episode in total.
Intro
That night Gary is holding a crystal ball. He tells his friends to all gaze into it to see a glimpse of their future. First he shows it to Kiki, and tells her that he can see that since she has an amazing singing voice, that someday she'll be a famous singer. Kiki is thrilled to hear this and says it's cool. Next he shows it to Betty Ann and tells her that since she is so intelligent and compassionate, he can see that she'll be lead to a career of working with medicine. Betty Ann is happy to hear this and smiles.
Next he shows it to Stig, and tell him he can see that one day he'll become a professional wrestler. Stig is happy and excited and says yes! Next he tells Sam that he can see that with her love for adventure that someday she'll be a famous explorer. Sam smiles happily when hearing this. Then last with not much enthusiam he tells Tucker, that he can see that he will clean elephant cages at the zoo. Tucker is mad hearing this, and snaps at him asking him what it shows for him?
Gary tells them he sees his future in a story, a story about looking into the future. Then he asks them to imagine if a crystal ball really worked, and to imagine how cool it would be to see what was going to happen to them. Whether it would be tomorrow?, next week? or five years from now? Sitting down on the Storyteller's Chair, he asks them but what if the future you saw wasn't a good one? What if it was filled with fear & danger? Would seeing a horrible future mean you could change it? Or would it mean you would have to live with the knowledge you knew and could do nothing but wait for it to happen and embrace it?
Gary, throws in the campfire dust to make the fire more intense while he submits his story for approval for The Midnight Society. He calls his story "The Tale of a Door Unlocked" and begins his story.
Story
Gary, tells the story. The story first takes place after school. Two teenagers, Justin and Ben are on their way home. Their discussing who they might take to the school dance. Ben is very confident and has no trouble talking to girls. Justin however is too nervous to speak to girls, because he is afraid to be turned down. They pass by an old house on the hill called the Albert's mansion. The house is a big old Victorian era house, literally falling apart, and condemned. Then a group of younger boys come running out of it. They use the place for their clubs new member initiations. The leader is Justin's younger brother Michael, justin snaps at him saying he's knows he shouldn't play in there because it's unsafe, but Michael rudely tells him he's being their mom's spy and runs off with his friends.
Then further on their way home, Ben sees an attractive girl passing by and goes over to talk to her. Justin enters the store they just happened to be at which is Sardo's Magic Mansion. Looking through the window, he can see Ben confidently speaking with the girl, and says out loud that he wishes he had the confidence that Ben has. Sardo, overhears him, comes out and asks him what he would give for it. Sardo introduces himself to Justin, and tells him his name and the proper way to say it. Justin explains about how he is too nervous and afraid to speak to girls. Sardo offers him a toy door. He tells Justin that it's a one of a kind, a doorway into the future and you just tell it what you want to see and it'll show you it.
Sardo, tells him that he can find out ahead of time, if a girl he asks out will say yes or no. He tries it out to see if he can believe it for himself. Then he asks the door to show him a girl who will go to the school dance with him. The door starts shaking, and he slides over the window on it. Then in a puff of smoke it shows him a beautiful brunette girl in a letterman's jacket. Justin is astonished and happily agrees to buy it. Sardo is thrilled to hear that and first asks for $64.95, Justin is shocked by expensive price. Then Sardo tries to keep him from changing his mind by telling him it's only $44.95. Justin still thinks the price is too much and can't afford it. Sardo then tries to ask for $24.95, Justin only has $10.00, Sardo desperate to make a sale agrees to the price. Then says as he always does that he's losing on the deal. When Just leaves, Sardo snickers and takes another toy door and places it on display in the window, possibly for another customer to con.
The next day at school, Justin lets Ben in on the secret of magic toy door. He tells him it will show him who he's taking to the dance. Justin opens the window, but it doesn't show them anything. Ben thinks he's acting crazy and walks away, then the door begins shaking again. Justin opens the window again. He can see that same brunette girl again and this time she's calling out "Brad? Brad?". Then later that night when doing homework in his room, the toy door begins shaking again. He looks into it and sees in a puff of smoke, the brunette girl once again walking around like she is looking for someone. She calls out for Brad, then turns around and suddenly she screams bloody murder. The place engulfs in flames and burning support beams fall on her. Then under thick smoke her screaming can still be heard. After seeing this, Justin is shocked and realizes that he is seeing visions from the future and must find this girl and warn her.
The next day on his way to school, he passes by Sardo's shop and he's mad to see another identical toy door on display in the window (realizing Sardo attempted to con him). He goes into the shop and asks Sardo why there is another one when he said it was one of a kind. Sardo tells him he meant one of a kind as the pair is a matching set, then admits that it's really two of a kind. Then he asks Sardo about what he's been seeing, Sardo is at first shocked to hear it works and goes along with it but can't explain it. Justin then realizes that the door only works for him when he's alone. When Justin leaves for school the second toy door in the display window has smoke coming out of it.
In class, Ben is happy because a girl named Amy agreed to go the school dance with him. Ben still thinks he is acting crazy about the toy door. Justin tries to tell him he's serious about it showing him visions from the future. Then explains about the girl he saw and how he can't even help her if he doesn't know who she is. Then their teacher Mr. Birney announces that a new girl has just transferred to their school. The girl is named Ashley Ruler, and she just happens to be the same girl Justin has been seeing in the visions in the door. Justin is both love struck and shocked to see her. During class change, they meet by their lockers and introduce themselves, and asks her if she's ever been in burning building, confused she says no. Then they find out that their young brothers have already made friends with each other. Then asks her if her father is a firefighter, confused again she says no.
Then during lunchtime, Justin and Ben are sitting together. Justin seems to be resting and slightly awake. He's just staring love struck over at Ashley, who is sitting down at the other end of the table. Ashley seems to like him too and keeps smiling and staring back at him. Ben tells him if he likes her so much, then to ask her to go to the dance with him. Justin says it's more important that he warn her about the fire. Ben thinks that if he tells her that, she'll just think he nuts. He tells Ben it's not funny and hopes she has smoke alarms in her house. Ashley who happens to be passing by, hears this she asks him what is with his obsession with fire.
Then after Ashley sits down again, the girl sitting next to her offers her a brownie complete with lit candles as a welcome to their school treat. Ashley is touched by the sentiment, but when Justin sees the burning candles, he literally runs right down the lunch table and throws a pitcher of water at her. Ashley screams and is soaked asking him "Are you crazy?" He tries to explain he thought she was in danger. The girl then lends Ashley her blue letterman jacket to wear home for the day to stay warm. Seeing Ashley put this jacket on, he knows the visions he saw will happen soon. He tries to warn her, but she doesn't know what he's talking about and everyone else laughs. Ben drags him away and tells them all he is tired and needs to catch up on his sleep.
Then Michael tells Ben to pass their clubs initiation, he needs to go to the top floor of the old Albert's mansion and sit in Mr. Albert's chair. Brad slowly enters the old crumbling mansion. Then a little later, Justin examines the toy door more carefully, he finds a sliding side panel near the bottom right, and it has a key in it that fits the doors lock that says IN. Ashley phones Justin and they speak on the phone. She isn't mad, she asks him to let her brother know it's time to come home for dinner. He tells her he isn't at his house, Ashley says now needs to go look for him. Before she hangs up he apologizes to her about the way he's been acting, and tries to convince her he's not usually like that. Also if she can possibly try and forget what's happened. Ashley smiles and says she'll think about it, but needs to find her brother before dinner burns and they hang up. Hearing her say burns he now panics, he finds out from his little sister Maryjo that Michael is at the Albert's Mansion doing an initiation for Brad.
Brad slowly walks up to the top floor in the Albert's mansion and sits in the chair. Then suddenly bed sheet ghosts appear scaring him. Then Michael's friends take them off laughing as Michael comes in holding a lit candle. Then seeing his bike is outside, Ashley goes into the old condemned mansion and calls for him. Brad can hear her, and tells them all his older sister is here. They all run off to avoid by caught playing in there. When they run out Michael's candle falls over and sets fire to the cloth tarps all over the floor. Ashley walks all over the house looking and calling Brad by name, as slowly the fire spreads. Michael and his friends all run out and smoke is seen blowing out of the window on the top floor.
Soon, Justin looks through the window on the door again and sees Ashley in the burning mansion looking for her brother. He realizes that it's no longer a vision, but it's happening right now! So he takes the IN key and unlocks the door and through a magical doorway he instantly teleported to where Ashley is. She is shocked and confused about how he got there. He pulls her out of the way just in time as a burning support beam falls down. Now the room they're in engulfs in flames and they slide down an old laudry shoot to the old laundry room. Then they find out all the doors down there are locked and soon they will suffocate from the smoke. Justin figures out that his door lets people in, so Sardo must have the door that lets people out.
Justin cries out for help hoping Sardo will hear him, in Sardo's shop, through the small toy door Sardo can hear him calling for help and to open the door. Sardo is instructed to check the side panel for a key, Sardo finds the OUT key and unlocks the door. Then another magical doorway appears letting them out. Then in a huge shaking tremor and bright flash, Justin and Ashley are safely transported out of the burning building and into the safety of the magic shop. They both relieved and shocked from their experience. Sardo is astonished and offers him a third door (possible in between) saying now it's three of a kind. Justin, realizing it's definitely more trouble than it's worth says no.
Ending
As the story ends, Gary says that Justin never got the magic toy door to work again. But whether a door is magic or not, there is a saying. "Whenever a door opened, it always leads to new possibilities". What Gary means is that soon we see Justin and Ashley have fallen in love and their happily going to the school dance together. Then Gary ends his story saying the end.
Then without permission, Tucker then grabs the crystal ball, and says he can see a guy standing up saying "I now declare this meeting of The Midnight Society closed" Gary happens to say that and is annoyed. Amused, Tucker then says "Give it to me Tucker!", which Gary also says. Tucker laughs saying it really does work.
Kiki then ask to try it, she says she sees a little guy getting pounded by a big guy wearing glasses. Seeing Gary is mad, Tucker gets scared and says later and runs off. Gary thanks Kiki for her help and they put out the campfire together, then everyone goes home.
- Anthony Etesonne-Bédard, who portrayed Michael, later reappeared in the series revival. He was in the "The Tale of the Silver Sight: Part 3" as young Bruce McGorrill.
- Shawn Potter, who portrayed Ben, later reappeared in the show two more times in the series revival. He was next in the episode "The Tale of Jake the Snake", as Duchamp. Then his third and final appearance was in the episode "The Tale of the Lunar Locusts", as Pete.
- Sardo's Sixth appearance, his next appearance would be in "The Tale of Oblivion".
- Amanda Walsh who portrayed The Girl, previously appeared in the show before. She first appeared episode "The Tale of the Dollmaker" as Susan Henderson.
- Ivan Smith who portrayed Mr. Birney, appeared in the show before. The first time he appeared in the episode, "The Tale of the Quicksilver", as Mr. Johnston. He appeared one more time in the series revivals episode "The Tale of the Wisdom Glass" as Trevor/Judge Day.
- Michael Maccarone as Justin
- Anthony Etesonne-Bédard as Michael
- Shawn Potter as Ben
- Richard Dumont as Sardo
- Elana Nap as Ashley Ruler
- Justin Karas as Brad Ruler
- Geneviére Kennedy as Maryjo
- Amanda Walsh as The Girl who gave Ashley a cupcake
- Ivan Smith as Mr. Birney