Something Was Wrong

Something Was Wrong is about a story about a man who is unaware of his condition. It is the first story in More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.



The Story
One morning, John Sullivan found himself walking along a street downtown. He could not explain what he was doing there, or how he got there, or where he had been earlier. He didn't even know what time it was.

He saw a woman walking toward him and stopped her. "I'm afraid I forgot my watch," he said, and smiled. "Can you tell me the time?" When she saw him, she screamed and ran. Then John Sullivan noticed that other people were afraid of him. When they saw him coming, they flattened themselves against a building, or ran across the street to stay out of his way.

"There must be something wrong with me," John Sullivan thought. "I'd better go home." He hailed a taxi, but the driver took one look at him and sped away. John Sullivan did not understand what was going on, and it scared him. "Maybe somebody at home can come and get me," he thought.

He found a telephone and called his wife, but a voice he did not recognize answered. "Is Mrs. Sullivan there?" he asked. "No, she is at a funeral," the voice said. "Mr. Sullivan was killed yesterday in an accident downtown."