"Street scene: Summer. The present. Man on a sidewalk named Lew Bookman, age sixtyish. Occupation: pitchman. Lew Bookman, a fixture of the summer, a rather minor component to a hot July, a nondescript, commonplace little man whose life is a treadmill built out of sidewalks. And in just a moment, Lew Bookman will have to concern himself with survival - because as of three o'clock this hot July afternoon he'll be stalked by Mr. Death."Lew Bookman, a sidewalk salesman, is informed by Mr. Death that he is to die at midnight. Bookman convinces Death to allow him to live until he has had a chance to do his masterpiece, the Big Pitch - "one for the angels." Death arranges for a truck to hit Maggie, a neighborhood child, to take Lew's place. Death has to be in Maggie's room at midnight to claim her.
"Lewis J. Bookman, age sixtyish. Occupation: pitchman. Formerly a fixture of the summer, formerly a rather minor component to a hot July. But, throughout his life, a man beloved by the children, and therefore a most important man. Couldn't happen, you say? Probably not in most places - but it did happen in the Twilight Zone."
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- Bookman saves Maggie by making a pitch so enthralling that Death misses his deadline. Having made his pitch, Lew leaves with Mr. Death.