Larry discovers his estranged sister, Kitty, has committed suicide. He recounts a fateful day, when the two were children playing in their family's barn in rural Nebraska.
With their parents not home, they play a forbidden game, taking turns climbing to the top of a ladder in their barn and leaping from a crossbeam seventy feet (21 metres) in the air down into a haystack. The ladder is old and unsafe, but that is part of the thrill. On his last turn, Larry realizes that the ladder is on the point of letting go. By the time he lands in the hay, Kitty is already climbing up again. The ladder breaks, leaving her clinging to the last rung. Larry piles hay below her. When Kitty cannot hang on any longer, he tells her to let go, and she does. The hay breaks Kitty's fall and saves her life, leaving her with only a broken ankle. Larry is astonished when Kitty tells him that she hadn't looked down before letting go, so she didn't know about the hay. She had simply trusted him to save her.
Kitty grows up into a beautiful woman; she is supposed to attend business college but, in the summer after graduation, wins a beauty pageant and marries one of the judges. After the marriage fails, Kitty moves to Los Angeles, landing some roles in B-movies and some modelling shoots, and marries again, only to have this marriage fail as well. Eventually, Kitty ends up working as a call girl. Meanwhile, Larry is too wrapped up in his own burgeoning career as a high-priced lawyer to come to her aid, brushing off her many letters asking him to visit. He is now left with a newspaper article of Kitty's suicide ("Call Girl Swan Dives to her Death"), and her final letter, sent two weeks before she died, which reads, "I've been thinking about it a lot lately... and what I've decided is that it would have been better for me if that last rung had broken before you could put the hay down". Larry says that this would have been enough to make him come running. Unfortunately, he had neglected to tell his sister he'd moved, and the letter was not forwarded in time.
Connections to other booksedit
Larry relates that the farm where he and his sister grew up was in Hemingford Home, Nebraska. This is the town that Mother Abagail lives in during The Stand. It is also the town next door to Gatlin, the location of "Children of the Corn", and appears in It to introduce Ben Hanscom. It is mentioned in Cell. "1922" from Full Dark, No Stars also takes place in Hemingford Home.
last, rung, ladder, short, story, stephen, king, first, published, king, 1978, collection, night, shift, short, story, stephen, kingcountryunited, stateslanguageenglishgenre, tragedy, short, storypublicationpublished, innight, shiftpublisherdoubledaymedia, typ. The Last Rung on the Ladder is a short story by Stephen King first published in King s 1978 collection Night Shift The Last Rung on the Ladder Short story by Stephen KingCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenre s Tragedy short storyPublicationPublished inNight ShiftPublisherDoubledayMedia typePrint Paperback Publication date1978 Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Connections to other books 3 See also 4 External linksPlot summary editLarry discovers his estranged sister Kitty has committed suicide He recounts a fateful day when the two were children playing in their family s barn in rural Nebraska With their parents not home they play a forbidden game taking turns climbing to the top of a ladder in their barn and leaping from a crossbeam seventy feet 21 metres in the air down into a haystack The ladder is old and unsafe but that is part of the thrill On his last turn Larry realizes that the ladder is on the point of letting go By the time he lands in the hay Kitty is already climbing up again The ladder breaks leaving her clinging to the last rung Larry piles hay below her When Kitty cannot hang on any longer he tells her to let go and she does The hay breaks Kitty s fall and saves her life leaving her with only a broken ankle Larry is astonished when Kitty tells him that she hadn t looked down before letting go so she didn t know about the hay She had simply trusted him to save her Kitty grows up into a beautiful woman she is supposed to attend business college but in the summer after graduation wins a beauty pageant and marries one of the judges After the marriage fails Kitty moves to Los Angeles landing some roles in B movies and some modelling shoots and marries again only to have this marriage fail as well Eventually Kitty ends up working as a call girl Meanwhile Larry is too wrapped up in his own burgeoning career as a high priced lawyer to come to her aid brushing off her many letters asking him to visit He is now left with a newspaper article of Kitty s suicide Call Girl Swan Dives to her Death and her final letter sent two weeks before she died which reads I ve been thinking about it a lot lately and what I ve decided is that it would have been better for me if that last rung had broken before you could put the hay down Larry says that this would have been enough to make him come running Unfortunately he had neglected to tell his sister he d moved and the letter was not forwarded in time Connections to other books editLarry relates that the farm where he and his sister grew up was in Hemingford Home Nebraska This is the town that Mother Abagail lives in during The Stand It is also the town next door to Gatlin the location of Children of the Corn and appears in It to introduce Ben Hanscom It is mentioned in Cell 1922 from Full Dark No Stars also takes place in Hemingford Home See also editStephen King short fiction bibliographyExternal links editThe Last Rung On the Ladder at IMDb nbsp Stephen King Short Movies NESCom Adaption Website Official 2011 Trailer nbsp This article about a short story or stories published in the 1970s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Last Rung on the Ladder amp oldid 1201815390, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
