Short Story Monday

#12. The Ledge - As the story opens a man is sitting in a high rise apartment with another man whose wife he has been having an affair with. He and the wife are running off together. The husband, who just happens to be involved with the mafia, makes him a bet that if he can walk around the 5-inch wide ledge of the building he will let him go with his life, his wife, and an envelope of money. This is a superb story full of tension and a fabulous ending. One of the best in the collection. This was filmed as one of the stories in the movie "Cat's Eye"

#13. The Lawnmower Man - A man lets his lawn get overgrown and hires a company to come mow it. The man who arrives is extremely strange, he takes off his clothes and eats the mown grass right behind a self-powered lawn mower. When our man tries to call for help, the lawnmower man becomes upset. This is just weird. This was made into a movie (with Pierce Brosnan) but it had nothing to do with King's story other than the title and King sued (and won) to have his name removed from it. I do actually like the movie, though.

#14. Quitters, Inc. - An old acquaintance gives a man the name of a place that can help him quit smoking. It worked for him and they guarantee it will work for anyone. So our man visits and becomes trapped in a contract with no way out. He is under surveillance 24 hrs a day and if he takes a puff his wife will be taken and given a little shock therapy. And that is just the punishment for the first offense. This is another great story and you are just rooting for the guy to succeed but then you know he's going to cave or it wouldn't be much of a story, would it? This story was also included in the movie "Cat's Eye"