They wish her well, and her life goes on, although Johnny never quite leaves her mind. She invites Johnny's parents to her wedding. Meanwhile, Sarah has fallen in love with Walt Hazlett, a graduate law student. He brutally rapes and murders a local waitress.Īt a roadhouse called 'Cathy's' in New Hampshire, a lightning rod salesman attempts to sell the owner lightning rods, the owner refuses to buy them, convinced that the odds are against lightning striking Cathy's.

When he was a child, his mother forced him to wear a clothespin on his penis when she caught him masturbating, and this has had an adverse effect on his mind since.

In the small town of Castle Rock, Maine, a young man is contemplating killing somebody. As time passes on, Vera's obsession gets stronger and stronger, and the Smiths slowly burn through their savings on Johnny's care. After a few months however, Sarah decides it is time to move on and reluctantly does so, although she does remain in contact with the Smiths. The relationship between Sarah and the Smiths begins to grow stronger, and they become friends. Herb takes a liking to her, while Vera seems less welcoming. The next day, Sarah meets Johnny's parents in the hospital. From here on, Vera begins to lose her sanity, and develops a religious obsession. A short while later, Johnny's parents, Herb and Vera receive a phone call from the hospital, and they are informed that Johnny has gone into a coma. The cab driver is killed in the crash, and Johnny is sent flying through the windshield and into a pond by the side of the road. As he heads back to his home, the taxicab is hit by two cars that are drag racing. After winning a substantial amount of prize money, Johnny takes Sarah home, and decides to take a taxicab home. A small crowd gathers around Johnny as he keeps winning. As they leave, Johnny decides to try his luck at a Wheel of Fortune stand. A few days before Halloween, Johnny takes Sarah to a county fair, but Sarah gets ill from eating a tainted hot dog. Johnny is now a high school teacher, and dating a fellow teacher named Sarah Bracknell. As he drives away, he dreams about greater things in his life. Two years later, a young Bible salesman named Greg Stillson, suffering emotional issues, kicks a dog to death outside of a farm in Iowa. Johnny forgets this incident as time goes on.

Chuck pays no mind to this, but a few months later, he is seriously injured when a car battery he's trying to jumpstart explodes. As he regains consciousness he is helped to his feet by Chuck Spier, an older boy, to whom he mumbles, 'don't jump it no more'. In January of 1953 in Maine, a young boy named Johnny Smith is knocked cold while ice-skating. The prologue relates two unconnected episodes in the lives of the principal and subsidiary characters.

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