Sorry, Right Number

Infobox short story |
name = Sorry, Right Number
title_orig =
translator =
author = Stephen King
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Horror short story
published_in = "Tales From The Darkside" (1st release),
"Nightmares and Dreamscapes"
publication_type = Television show (Aired: November 22, 1987)
publisher =
media_type = TV & Print (Paperback
pub_date =
english_pub_date =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Sorry, Right Number" is a teleplay written by author Stephen King for an episode of the horror anthology TV series "Tales From The Darkside". It was later included in King's short story collection "Nightmares and Dreamscapes", and is notable as the only such work that King has included in any of his anthologies. It appears in script format and begins with an author's note on screenplay abbreviations as a guide for the reader.

The plot follows Katie Weiderman, the wife of a horror writer. There is also a sub-plot about her children that has significance later in the story.

Plot summary

One night, while the children are arguing about whether or not to watch the gory TV adaptation of her husband's novel "Ghost Kiss", Katie receives a strange phone call in which the person at the other end of the line sobs "Take... please take... t-t-" before the line goes dead. She at first thinks it's her daughter Polly, away at boarding school,then her mother, then her sister Dawn, but none of them was the source of the mysterious call. The incident is quickly forgotten when she finds her husband slumped in his chair, dead from a heart attack. The story then jumps forward in time: to Polly's wedding day, 5 years to the day of Bill's death. Katie is in Bill's old office when a tape of "Ghost's Kiss" she found starts on the television. She is hysterical with grief over the death of her husband and dials the old house number. She is startled when it rings and is answered by herself 5 years previously. She tries to warn herself of the terrible tragedy that is about to befall her/them but is unable to speak her intended message of "Take him to the hospital! If you want him to live, take him to the hospital!". Instead, in her shock, she is only able to get out "Take... please take..." before the line goes dead. It's then that she realizes the truth of what happened that night. Trying to call back leaves her with a disconnected message, and the story ends with Katie crying over her lost chance to save her husband and a close-up shot of the ominous looking telephone. This ending displays an example of a predestination paradox.