The train conductor finds the man slumped in a
firstclass seat, no identification, no luggage.
He’s mid30s, dressed in a tailored suit,
cleanshaven, but his eyes are vacant. A doctor’s
stethoscope hangs around his neck. The conductor
calls the station master, who contacts the
sheriff. The man is taken to the hospital in
Willow Creek, a town of 2,000 nestled in the
Midwest.
The town’s only physician, Dr. Evelyn Hart, is
away on a weeklong trip. The local nurse, Mabel,
tends to him. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t react.
She names him “John” for lack of a better idea.
He doesn’t correct her.
By day three, he starts writing in a journal.
The pages are filled with medical notes, but no
name, no address. He draws diagrams of organs,
writes formulas in Latin. Mabel keeps it hidden.
The town is suspicious of outsiders, especially
ones who don’t talk.
On the fifth day, he stands, walks unsteadily to
the window. He stares at the wheat fields beyond
the town. The sheriff arrives, asks questions.
John doesn’t answer. The sheriff leaves, but not
before noting the stethoscope.
That night, John opens the journal again. He
writes: I remember the lab. The experiment. The
crash. He flips to a page with a list of names.
One is Dr. Evelyn Hart. Another is the sheriff.
He tears out the page, crumples it, and throws
it into the fire.
The next morning, the town wakes to a power
outage. The generator fails. John steps outside,
walks toward the power plant. The townspeople
follow. He doesn’t speak, but they see the
determination in his eyes.
At the plant, he finds the control panel. He
knows how to bypass the locks. The townspeople
watch as he restores power. No one stops him.
They’ve seen enough strange things already.
Later, the sheriff confronts him. John doesn’t
answer. He just points to the journal. The
sheriff reads the torn page. His face pales. He
says nothing, but leaves quickly.
That night, John returns to the hospital. He
opens the drawer where Mabel kept the journal.
He takes it, burns it. Then he walks out into
the night, heading east.
The town forgets him quickly. But the power
never goes out again. And the sheriff never
speaks of the incident. Some say he’s been
acting strange ever since. Others say the doctor
was never really a doctor at all.
