Plot summary
A peddler named Pedott carries a case of items from which he can give people what they need before they need it. Entering a bar, he gives a woman a vial of cleaning fluid and an impoverished ex- baseball player a bus ticket to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Moments later, the latter receives a telephone call inviting him to accept a coaching position for a team in Scranton. When he notices a spot on his jacket that he wishes to remove before heading there, the woman with the cleaning fluid helps him scrub it off and the pair depart for the bus station, having become attracted to each other.
Spying what happened, a frustrated, arrogant, and unsuccessful man named Fred Renard asks Pedott to give him what he needs and receives a pair of scissors. Renard soon uses them to cut himself free after his scarf gets caught in a set of elevator doors. When he again demands something he needs from Pedott, he receives a leaky fountain pen, which predicts a winning racehorse after its last drop of ink falls on a newspaper racing column. Unable to use the pen to predict any further winners, Renard angrily confronts Pedott, who reveals that he only provides items that people need to use once and that he cannot supply things such as serenity and peace of mind.
Renard demands Pedott provide him another thing he needs, causing the latter to nervously glance at his case. Assuming the glance has indicated what he needs, Renard seizes a pair of shoes from the case and puts them on, only to find that they are too tight and have slippery soles. When Pedott says that they are actually what the former needs, Renard advances on him but slips on wet pavement and is killed by a car. Pedott then reveals he had foreseen his own death and allowed Renard to steal the shoes to prevent it. A short time later the police and onlookers gather around to see Renard's body being removed from the scene. As Peddott leaves, he gives a comb to a man, who uses it to neaten his hair before he and his wife are photographed for a news story on the accident.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, What You Need (The Twilight Zone). Paragraphs and formatting adjusted; illustrations, reference markers, block quotations and non-story material omitted.