You Like It Darker
by Stephen King
Contents
9. Laurie
Overview
Grieving widower Lloyd Sunderland is reluctantly given a Border Collie–Mudi puppy named Laurie by his domineering sister Beth, and over months the dog restores his appetite for life. On a routine walk along Six Mile Path, Laurie discovers their neighbor Don Pitcher killed by a nesting alligator; Lloyd fights off the charging gator with Don's broken cane and escapes when the boardwalk collapses. The ordeal cements the bond between Lloyd and Laurie, who waited for him rather than fleeing.
Summary
Six months after his wife Marian's death from a glioblastoma, sixty-five-year-old retiree Lloyd Sunderland is visited at his Rattlesnake Key, Florida home by his older sister Beth, who arrives with a Border Collie–Mudi mix puppy. Despite Lloyd's protests that he is grieving and has no interest in caring for a dog, Beth bullies him into accepting her, threatening the animal shelter if he refuses. Lloyd reluctantly names her Laurie. After Beth leaves, Lloyd struggles with house-training mishaps but soothes Laurie's nighttime crying by playing Marian's old Joan Baez CD beside her playpen.
Through autumn, Lloyd grows attached to Laurie. He walks her on the beach and along the dilapidated Six Mile Path boardwalk to the Rattler Fish House, where waitresses dote on her. He chats with his irritating neighbor Don Pitcher and Don's increasingly addled wife Evelyn. By mid-October, Lloyd admits to Beth that Laurie is no longer on probation. Encouraged during a visit to Beth in Boca, he gets a long-overdue checkup; Dr. Albright reports excellent results, crediting the dog-fueled exercise.
On December 6th, Lloyd takes Laurie down Six Mile Path toward the Fish House. They find Don Pitcher's cracked, blood-spotted cane on the boardwalk. Laurie bolts ahead and barks furiously at a ten-foot alligator splayed atop Don's mutilated corpse, the top of his head torn open. Lloyd sends Laurie back through the palmetto, then fights the charging alligator with the broken cane, stabbing its eye just as the rotting boardwalk collapses, dumping the gator into the canal. He escapes, finds Laurie waiting for him, and carries her home.
Lloyd calls 911. Police praise his quick thinking; Evelyn Pitcher screams when told. A Fish and Wildlife warden, Gibson, later explains the alligator was a female protecting a nest of eggs, likely provoked when Don swung his cane near it. She had been hidden in the weeds for weeks, watching everyone who passed. That night Lloyd sleeps with Laurie on Marian's side of the bed, reflecting on the mystery of her devotion as the years close down.
Who Appears
- Lloyd SunderlandSixty-five-year-old retired widower grieving wife Marian; reluctantly bonds with puppy Laurie and battles an alligator to save them both.
- LaurieSmoky-gray Border Collie–Mudi runt puppy given to Lloyd; loyal, observant companion who discovers the alligator and waits faithfully for him.
- Beth YoungLloyd's domineering older sister from Boca Raton who forces the puppy on him, nags about his health, and clearly loves him deeply.
- Marian SunderlandLloyd's late wife of forty years, killed by a glioblastoma; her CDs, den, and memory pervade Lloyd's grieving home.
- Don PitcherLloyd's opinionated, gossipy neighbor who walks with a mahogany cane; killed by the nesting alligator on the boardwalk.
- Evelyn PitcherDon's wife, increasingly confused and disheveled; oblivious to her husband's death until police arrive, then screams in grief.
- Dr. AlbrightLloyd and Marian's physician; gives Lloyd an excellent checkup and credits the puppy for keeping him healthy.
- GibsonFlorida Fish and Wildlife game warden who explains the alligator was a female protecting a nest of eggs.
- BernadetteHostess at the Rattler Fish House who fawns over Laurie during Lloyd's frequent lunches.