The hand belongs to Mr. Don S. Carter, male member of a honeymoon team en route across the Ohio countryside to New York City. In one moment, they will be subjected to a gift most humans never receive in a lifetime. For one penny, they will be able to look into the future. The time is now, the place is a little diner in Ridgeview, Ohio, and what this young couple doesn't realize is that this town happens to lie on the outskirts of the Twilight Zone.

When Don and Pat Carter's automobile breaks down, they are forced to spend the afternoon in Ridgeview, Ohio, until the car is fixed. They decide on dining at the Busy Bee Cafe while they wait. The booth they sit down in has a mystic seer fortune teller sitting on the table. For only one penny they get to ask a yes-or-no question to the machine, and a vague answer will be spit out on a small card. Don takes the opportunity to ask the mystic seer if he is going to be promoted. The card says that it has been decided in his favor. Feeling confident, Don calls the office back in St. Louis to see if he really did nab the promotion. To his great relief, he discovers that the promotion is his. Because of the success of the first question, Don wants to ask the mystic seer more questions. He finally chooses to ask if they're going to leave in four hours. The cryptic answer causes him to ask more questions relating to whether or not they should leave the diner.

Pat starts to realize that Don is taking the mystic seer a little too seriously, but Don keeps on asking questions. Because the mystic seer told Don to stay in the diner until at least three o'clock, Pat wants to leave immediately, but Don manages to stall until nearly 3:00. Finally, they leave the cafe and walk across the street to a park. Don starts to point out that the answers the mystic seer gave were rather specific and that they generally fit the question. When Pat tries to dismiss his beliefs, Don can tell that she just thinks he's being overly superstitious. They kiss, make-up and continue walking when the argument starts anew. While they're talking, they walk into the street and are nearly blindsided by a car. A nearby clock reads exactly 3:00. After they both calm down, Don leads Pat back to the Busy Bee Cafe. Since somebody is sitting in their booth, they both take seats at the front counter. Don refuses to use any mystic seer as he stares at the occupied booth.

Pat wants proof that the mystic seer is telling the future, and Don uses the near hit-and-run as an example. Pat tries to point out that it was Don that brought up the time of 3:00, not the mystic seer. After making change for pennies with the counterman, Don and Pat reclaim their booth after the two ladies leave. Don immediately queries the mystic seer about the car that nearly hit them. Then he starts asking questions about their trip and whether the car will be ready soon. The mystic seer says that the car has been taken care of, and a moment later the mechanic arrives to let Don know that the car has been fixed. Since Pat believes that was nothing more than a coincidence, Don challenges her to ask some questions. The first question she asks is a trick question, but it doesn't trip up the mystic seer. Each of her questions become more and more belligerent until she gets up from the booth in disgust.

When she turns her back, Don then asks the mystic seer questions about where they're going to live in the future. Pat tries to break the spell the mystic seer has over Don by pointing out that he's letting the seer run his life. Don gets up from the booth to talk to Pat. She points out that the mystic seer made Don call the office, stay in the diner instead of leaving, afraid to walk the streets, and is now about to tell him where to live. After a persuasive speech from Pat, Don realizes how foolish he has been acting. He apologizes to Pat and lets her know that they're going to leave. Then he announces directly to the mystic seer that they're leaving to go do what they please. Right after they leave, another couple arrives and sits down in the same booth. The man lays out a pile of pennies and starts to ask the mystic seer a series of questions about their fate...

Counterbalance in the little town of Ridgeview, Ohio. Two people permanently enslaved by the tyranny of fear and superstition, facing the future with a kind of helpless dread. Two others facing the future with confidence, having escaped one of the darker places of the Twilight Zone.

Courtesy of The Fifth Dimension (www.thetzsite.com)