In the story's opening, Walter Mitty is driving in the car with his wife but daydreaming about being a Navy commander flying through a dangerous storm in a "SN202" with an admiring and devoted crew.Mitty's next daydream casts him as a surgeon called in to consult on a difficult case; a millionaire needs an operation, and Mitty not only has to step in to fix the "anesthetizer" with an ingenious use of a fountain pen, he has to finish the surgery.