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Laurie (short story)

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"Laurie"
Short story by Stephen King
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Horror short story
Publication
Published inStephenKing.com
Media typeDigital, audiobook
Publication date2018

"Laurie" is a short story by Stephen King, first published as a free download on his website on May 17, 2018. It was collected in King's 2024 book, You Like It Darker.

Plot summary

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Laurie, the titular puppy, is a mix of a Border Collie (top) and a Mudi (bottom).

Lloyd Sunderland is a 65-year-old retiree living in the fictional island community of Caymen Key, Florida.[a] He has become depressed and lost weight after his wife Marian died from a glioblastoma six months prior. One September, Lloyd is visited by his older sister, Beth, who gifts him a Border Collie-Mudi puppy out of concern for his wellbeing. He is initially unwilling to accept the dog but ultimately agrees to look after her on a trial basis, naming her "Laurie".

Lloyd gradually bonds with Laurie as he looks after her, and in mid-October he tells Beth that he will keep her. He finds his physical and mental health improving, and begins eating more healthily and sleeping better. He also resumes working part-time as an accountant. Lloyd regularly takes Laurie for walks along "Six Mile Path", a boardwalk running alongside a canal.

On December 6, Lloyd's neighbor Evelyn Pitcher asks him if he has seen her husband, Don. While walking along Six Mile Path with Laurie, Lloyd finds Don's cane–cracked and dotted with blood–next to a section of the Path that has been overgrown with palmetto. After Laurie pulls free of Lloyd and runs under the palmetto, Lloyd follows and finds her confronting a ten foot long alligator which has killed and partially eaten Don. After Lloyd commands Laurie to go home, he is attacked by the alligator. When Lloyd hits the alligator with Don's cane, the boardwalk partially collapses, dumping the alligator into the canal and enabling Lloyd to escape with Laurie, who has waited for him on the other side of the palmetto. Lloyd calls the police, who notify Evelyn that Don has been killed.

Two days after the incident, Lloyd is visited by Gibson, a game warden with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Gibson informs Lloyd that the alligator has been captured and that it had been hidden alongside the boardwalk for several weeks, guarding a clutch of eggs. Lloyd speculates that Don provoked an attack by unintentionally hitting the alligator while swinging his cane. The story ends with Lloyd wondering what Laurie sees when she looks at his face and reflecting, "It was life, you were stuck with it, and all you could do was live it."[1]

Relation to other works

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Lloyd Sunderland and Laurie make a cameo appearance in King's 2024 novella Rattlesnakes, attending the funeral of a resident of the Key.[2]

Publication

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"Laurie" was first published on King's website on May 17, 2018,[3][4][5] with no prior announcement.[6] An audio recording was included on the audiobook version of Elevation, which was released later that year.[7] A French translation was published by Éditions Albin Michel in 2019.[8] In 2024, "Laurie" was collected in King's book You Like It Darker, with the first edition book cover referencing the plot of "Laurie".[8][9][10] The story was dedicated to King's wife Tabitha's corgi Vixen, who died in spring 2018.[6]

Reception

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Jenn Adams (writing for Bloody Disgusting) described "Laurie" as "a touching story".[10] RTÉ also described "Laurie" as "touching", while stating that "it still bears [King's] unmistakable touch".[6] Writing for The New Zealand Herald, Greg Fleming described "Laurie" as "an atypically sweet tale for King".[11] Mike Finn suggested that "there's no high horror here but there is a solid story", describing "Laurie" as "another take on being old and alone and trying to give your life shape and purpose".[12] Writing for Corriere della Sera, Stefano Ferri described "Laurie" as a "very strange story", suggesting "the plot has nothing to do with the dog but only with the owner".[13] Justin Hamelin described "Laurie" as "rather forgettable".[14]

Reviewing You Like It Darker for The Spectator World, Brice Stratford interpreted the collection as being a reflection on King's own life, with "Laurie" being an "exploration of old age and mortality".[15] Similarly, Sassan Niasseri (writing for Rolling Stone) suggested that King saw himself in the main character of "Laurie", noting that King is also a dog-owner who has relocated to Florida in his old age.[16]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The name is changed to Rattlesnake Key for the version in You Like It Darker

References

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  1. ^ King, Stephen (May 17, 2018). "Laurie" (PDF). StephenKing.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  2. ^ King, Stephen (2024). "Rattlesnakes". You Like it Darker. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-1-399-72509-5.
  3. ^ Squires, John (May 17, 2018). "Stephen King just released brand new short story 'Laurie' for free!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  4. ^ Vincent, Bev (2022). Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. becker&mayer! books. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-7-60376-82-9.
  5. ^ Spignesi, Stephen J. (2018). Stephen King, American Master: A Creepy Corpus of Facts About Stephen King & His Work. Permuted Press+ORM. ISBN 978-1-682616-07-9.
  6. ^ a b c "Read a new Stephen King short story". RTÉ.ie. RTÉ. May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  7. ^ "Elevation first listen". StephenKing.com. November 5, 2018. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Delpâture, Gorian (June 4, 2024). "Stephen King sort un nouveau recueil de nouvelles avec "You Like It Darker"". RTBF (in French). Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  9. ^ "You Like It Darker". StephenKing.com. 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Adams, Jenn (May 20, 2024). "Stephen King's 'You Like It Darker' finds beauty and hope in nihilistic horror". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  11. ^ Fleming, Greg (May 21, 2024). "New Stephen King novel brings fate and luck into dark relief". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  12. ^ Finn, Mike (May 31, 2022). "'You Like It Darker' (2024) by Stephen King, narrated by Will Patton". MikeFinnsFiction.com. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  13. ^ Ferri, Stefano (June 9, 2024). "La recensione di 'You Like It Darker', ultimo libro di Stephen King: che grandioso finale…". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  14. ^ Hamelin, Justin (June 21, 2024). "Stephen King's You Like It Darker book review". RavenousMonster.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  15. ^ Stratford, Brice (May 15, 2024). "Stephen King's You Like it Darker shows a master at his peak". The Spectator World. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  16. ^ Niasseri, Sassan (June 10, 2024). "Kündigt Stephen King mit „Ihr wollt es dunkler" seinen langsamen Abschied an?". Rolling Stone (in German). Retrieved June 11, 2024.
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