Gortimer, narrating: I've lived my whole life on Normal Street.
There's a lake at one end,
and a forest of shady trees at the other.
But what lies in between is anything but normal.
As little kids, we used to think
the scariest thing about the dark was monsters.
But as we get older
and learn that monsters aren't real,
the biggest fear...
becomes the unknown.
What's up with you?
[sigh] School starts next week,
and I haven't done anything all summer.
What are you talking about?
You got your orange belt in karate.
But it's not green.
You helped install the new ovens in the bakery.
But you didn't let me hook up the gas.
You volunteered at that animal shelter
for weird raccoons.
They were ferrets.
What's really bothering you?
You know,
I haven't seen Mel or Gortimer around
for a while.
The three of us
haven't hung out together in weeks.
Things are... different.
Mm.
Try this idea on for size.
What do you say we all go up to the cabins tomorrow?
Your dad and I can stay in the big house,
and you guys can stay in the little fishing cottage,
have some time together.
So we get to go up there alone?
Easy. We'll just be up the road.
Come on. You love the cabins.
I don't know.
What if I told you there was going to be
a meteor shower tomorrow night?
Is there going to be a meteor shower tomorrow night?
Yeah. The, uh...
gamma dolphins.
The gamma delphinids?
Wow.
It's the end of August already.
And since when are you into astronomy?
I'm not, but you are.
So you're coming, right?
I really can't.
You and Gortimer should still go, though.
But Gortimer said he wouldn't go unless you came.
I don't feel right leaving my dad.
Hey. What's up, kid?
Nothing much. Just having my perfect plan crushed,
that's all.
I was just explaining to Ranger
that unfortunately I won't be able to go
with his family up to the cabins tomorrow.
You love that old place. Why can't you go?
I didn't think you'd want me to.
Go. You need the sun.
And I don't want to contribute
to your Vitamin D deficiency.
I'll be just fine.
Thanks. She needs this.
I guess we're going to the cabin, then.
[door closes]
Come on. We can stay up all night.
We don't even have to go to sleep.
I like sleeping.
Well, then you can sleep the whole time.
We can do whatever we want.
We have the cabin all to ourselves.
Well, don't be mad at me, all right?
I'm just not feeling outdoorsy.
Plus I got to get all my stuff together
before school starts,
Fine.
I guess Mel and I
will just have to go without you.
Mel's going?
Yeah. And she really wanted you to come, too,
but go ahead. Disappoint her.
When do we leave?
All right. Best weekend ever commences
in T-minus--
How far away is the cabin?
45 minutes.
In T-minus 45 minutes.
You're going to have to create a new category for fun
because we're taking it to a whole new level.
I told you no fireworks.
Don't worry. I checked his bag.
Here.
Hey, guys.
I say shooting. You say stars. Shooting.
So what's this meteor shower?
Well, the gamma delphinids won't last long--
usually less than an hour.
But it says that the meteors will be going
almost 130,000 miles an hour.
Okay. We got the fire started,
and the cabin is officially spider-free,
at least for the next
20 seconds.
Leave the broom, please.
Right.
Our cabin is just up the road.
You yell if you need anything, okay?
We'll be fine.
You'll let me know if my dad calls?
Of course, honey.
Okay. Bye.
- Bye. - Bye.
Come on.
[chuckle] Look at this.
Front row seats for the meteor shower.
What about those clouds?
They're heading north, obviously.
[thunder]
I don't remember it being this...
Rustic?
That's a nice way of putting it.
No. This is great, just like old times.
Ah. Check it out.
Most of the pieces are missing.
That's okay. We can improvise.
Can you also improvise dinner out of two cans of beans?
[sigh] Don't worry.
My parents are going to grill us
some burgers later.
But I brought an emergency bag
of s'more stuff in case you guys get hungry.
I think we should just go up to your parents' cabin.
No. That would ruin the whole point of being here.
Why are we here?
Well, I'm only here
because you wanted me to be here.
But I'm only here
because you wanted me to be here.
I'll make the hot chocolate.
[sigh]
[thunder]
No way.
Is that what I think it is?
Prepare to be amazed.
Hey. It's Tim.
I haven't seen you in five years.
[laughing]
"Yesterday morning I got out of Bigfoot,
went to the bathroom, and brushed my Bigfoot"?
It says "Bigfoot" in every blank.
That was me. I was so into him.
And I renew my objection. "Bigfoot" is not a verb.
I remember that summer.
We imagined there were cannibals
hiding in the forest.
You might have imagined it,
but Gortimer and I, we had dinner with them.
They served us knuckle sandwiches.
[laughing]
Okay. Time.
What animal have I said would make a good Vice-president?
Dachshund.
Sweet.
How many is that in a row that we've gotten right?
39.
No one knows us better than us.
Shh. Listen.
It stopped raining.
Meteor shower.
Do I know how to build a fire,
or do I know how to build a fire?
Looks great, Dad.
If you guys stay up late, keep it down.
We can hear you. And have fun.
Together: Thanks.
Your dad is the best.
So when do you think the shower's going to...
start?
Wow.
Can we just acknowledge
that this is an absolutely perfect moment?
Thanks for tricking us into coming.
I wish we could stay here forever.
Gortimer: I thought you said
it was only going to last an hour.
Seems like it's been way longer than that.
Yeah. I can't hold it any longer.
I'll be right back.
[chuckle]
You should go easy on those.
I bet you've eaten the whole bag.
[mouth full] Mm? No, I didn't.
That's weird.
[footsteps]
Huh?
How'd you do that?
I don't know. I was just walking straight.
Something's not right, guys.
No kidding?
33.
Eat one.
How many?
33.
Mel, what's going on?
Mel?
There.
And again. That's the same meteor.
That one, too.
I didn't notice before, but they're repeating.
I think it came true.
What did?
Our wish that we could stay here forever.
The meteor shower keeps repeating,
the bag of marshmallows never empties,
and Ranger just left one side
and came back on the other.
This moment is literally lasting forever.
Should we be worried?
Well, if we could wish ourselves here,
shouldn't we be able to wish ourselves out of it?
I guess theoretically.
Do you guys want to?
Go back, I mean.
- No. - No.
Me, neither.
[grunting]
[laughing]
What did you call it again?
A pocket universe.
I mean, I think that's what it is.
When we made the wish,
we created a universe inside our universe--
like a bubble suspended in time.
That means we can do whatever we want.
Were going to live like kings.
Just think about all the stuff
we'll never have to deal with again.
Where do we start?
We're kings. We should have a castle.
How are we going to build a castle?
We won't. Our loyal subjects will.
We don't have any loyal subjects.
How about loyal animal subjects?
- Ranger: In the trees. - [elephant trumpets]
Gortimer: Okay. A massive tree castle.
with rope bridges between the branches
so we can always see the stars.
[elephant trumpets]
We can train golden eagles to play fetch.
Ooh, and what about monkey butlers?
Naturally there would be monkey butlers.
[chattering]
What about the rest of the gang?
Definitely.
Stanley was born to have a monkey butler.
On a water slide.
And our families. Gardner would love it here, too.
And fireworks all the time.
I thought you didn't bring any fireworks.
Oh. Right.
And wait. How did our friends and family get here?
And there aren't really any bears
or monkeys or elephants around.
Just bugs.
So just the three of us?
That's all we really need.
[Mel sighs] Another one down.
[sigh] And I've officially read every book here.
Oh, there's something else.
What's this?
Oh. Yeah. That's just an--
That's just an old grocery list.
[sigh] Groceries?
[sniffing]
Don't take this the wrong way,
but when was the last time you washed?
Before I left home.
That was days ago.
Technically it was earlier today.
Marshmallows for breakfast again?
This is dinner.
I think it's lunch.
I don't know how you eat this.
Your taste buds are up here.
You can trick your mind into believing anything.
For example, this is yellowtail sashimi,
and this is wasabi soy sauce.
And I just lost my appetite.
Never thought I'd say this, but I would love a slice
of school cafeteria pizza right now,
even with the ketchup sauce.
[sigh] I miss broccoli.
I miss my mom's banana bread.
And my mom.
Me, too.
M-Mel. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking.
It's okay.
Feels good to say it.
I miss my mom.
And my dad.
I think it's time we go back.
Gortimer: They all look the same.
They're not, though.
The one we made the wish on
was primarily constituted of copper,
which means it'll appear in the green spectrum,
not blue like the others.
There.
That one's ours.
Okay?
Now.
I wish this night would end.
Did it work?
I don't think so.
The pattern just started again.
No. No, I-- I think it worked.
Watch.
[sigh]
I don't understand. It should have worked.
Maybe you just can't make a wish and take it back.
Maybe we didn't really mean it,
not as much as the first one.
When we wished we could stay here forever,
did you really mean it?
- Of course. - Yeah, me, too.
Me. too.
But just now, when we wished
for everything to go back to normal,
I don't think I want that.
Why?
I don't know what normal is anymore.
Is it coming home every day
knowing that my mom's not going to be there?
Everyone keeps saying
that life is supposed to keep moving forward,
but that scares me.
It's like once I accept normal life,
I'm really saying goodbye to her,
and I don't think I'm ready for that.
And that's why you made the first wish.
Being here with you guys, everything feels safe.
I'm sorry I messed things up.
Well...
you're not the only one that didn't want to go back.
[sigh]
This isn't a grocery list.
Duh.
Abigail wrote me
about how much fun she was having at summer camp,
and I didn't want her to think
I was just sitting around obsessing over her.
Which you are.
Regardless,
I wrote her back,
and I kind of told her I had a girlfriend.
Gortimer!
I know.
I can't believe you.
That is so bad.
Did you at least give her a cool name?
Marjorie.
Oh, no. Just don't tell me any more.
Tell me more.
We met volunteering at a nursing home.
She smells like French vanilla.
Her eyes are the color of a blue raspberry Arctic Slushy.
And she gets all my jokes.
Well, did it at least work?
Was Abigail super jealous?
No. She was happy for me.
[Mel laughs]
She actually wants to meet Marjorie.
Oh, Gortimer.
What are you going to do?
Well, I wrote her another letter
saying that Abigail won't get to meet her
because Marjorie is moving to Alaska.
That's preposterous.
You're not actually going to send that, are you?
Well, I can't lie to her again.
But I can't tell her the truth, either.
I'm doomed.
Is that why you didn't want to go back?
Being honest with Abigail is going to be hands down
the most humiliating thing I've ever had to do.
Unless we could find you a girlfriend named Marjorie
in the next week.
I can't believe I got myself into this.
Why didn't you just come talk to me about it?
I didn't want to bug you.
What are you talking about?
Well, you got so much going on.
My girl problems are so... trivial.
Girl problems are still problems.
We're always there for each other,
no matter what.
She's right.
Thanks, you guys.
I think I'm ready to go back.
For real this time.
Shall we give it another shot?
I wish this night would end.
[sigh] It didn't work.
We're going to be stuck here forever.
No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening.
We did everything right.
Mel, calm down. It's going to be fine.
It's not going to be fine.
We should have never come here,
and now we're trapped.
There has to be another way out.
Climb the trees?
Wait. There's a loop point.
A what?
In the meteor shower.
Just as the brightest meteor fades,
there's a split second of total darkness
before the pattern repeats. There.
Almost like hitting the reset button.
But what happens during the split second?
I don't know. Maybe it's like a hiccup in the pocket universe.
What are you doing?
Testing your theory.
Mel: Get ready.
Now.
[sigh]
We found our way out.
How do you know? We don't know
what happened to that rock.
It could have burned up.
Maybe there's nothing out there.
We can run through. I'll go first and test it.
But how will we know if you've made it
or just vanished forever?
This is the worst idea ever.
Ranger's right.
We have to do this together.
No. That's not what I meant.
Any second.
On 3.
- 1. - 2.
Stop.
It was me.
It was all my fault.
So do you want to tell us what's going on?
No. You'll hate me.
Talk to us.
It was me, okay?
I didn't really reverse my wish
because I don't want this night to end.
I don't know why you guys do, either.
Life is only going to get harder if we go back.
But if we stay here,
we won't ever have to deal with death
or sadness or change.
It used to be easier.
Staying here doesn't mean we won't ever be sad.
My mom's still gone, and that pain's still there.
We've just been distracting ourselves,
and you can only do that for so long.
But there's no guarantee that we're going to be okay out there.
We don't know what's going to happen in ninth grade.
No.
But we'll be together.
Really? We used to be together all the time.
And now, I mean,
I had to draw up master plans
just to get you both to come out here.
That never would have happened before.
I just want things to go back to normal.
Normal is always changing.
And we'll go through ups and downs.
But we'll always be us.
I wish this night would end.
♪♪ [guitar]
♪♪[harmonica]
Male singer: ♪Sometimes in our life ♪
♪ We all have pain ♪
♪ We all have sorrow ♪
♪ But if we are wise ♪
♪We know that there's always tomorrow ♪
♪ Lean on me ♪
♪ When you're not strong ♪
♪I'll be your friend ♪
♪I'll help you carry on ♪
♪For it won't be long ♪
♪Till I'm gonna need ♪
♪ Somebody to lean on ♪
♪ Please swallow your pride ♪
♪If I have things ♪
♪That you need to borrow ♪
♪For no one can fill ♪
♪ Those of your needs ♪
♪ That you won't let show ♪
♪ You just call on me, brother ♪
♪When you need a hand ♪
♪ We all need somebody to lean on ♪
♪ I just might have a problem ♪
♪ That you... ♪ e a problem ♪