''The Way Station'' is a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

by American writer

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

, originally published in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...

'' in April

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

. In

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, "The Way Station" was collected with several other stories King published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'' as '' The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger''. "The Way Station" formed the second chapter of the book, and was slightly revised for the inclusion.

Plot summary

At a way station in the desert,

Roland Deschain Roland Deschain of Gilead is a fictional character and the protagonist of Stephen King's '' The Dark Tower'' series. He is the son of Steven and Gabrielle Deschain and is descended from a long line of "gunslingers", peacekeepers and diplomats of ...

meets

Jake Chambers ''The Dark Tower'' is a series of eight novels written by American author Stephen King, which incorporate multiple genres including fantasy, science fantasy, horror and western. Below are ''The Dark Tower'' characters that come into play as the ...

for the first time. Under hypnosis, Jake remembers that he has recently been killed in his own world, the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

of 1977, when someone pushed him into traffic. This event creates the series' first link of Roland's world to ours, and Jake's account leads Roland to believe that the man in black may have caused the death. While searching the way station's cellar for usable supplies, Roland encounters a demon that speaks to him through a skeleton buried behind the wall. The demon warns him that the man in black will be able to use Jake as an asset against him as long as the two are traveling together. On impulse, Roland takes the skeleton's

jawbone In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

with him. Roland and Jake set off into the desert, heading toward a mountain range where the man in black has gone. Along the way, Roland tells Jake about a training session under the severe regimen of his teacher Cort, who showed him how to use a hawk as a weapon; and how Roland and one of his best friends,

Cuthbert Allgood ''The Dark Tower'' is a series of eight novels written by American author Stephen King, which incorporate multiple genres including fantasy, science fantasy, horror and western. Below are ''The Dark Tower'' characters that come into play as the ...

, exposed the cook Hax as a traitor working for the Good Man and sent him to the gallows. Among other changes made by King for the 2003 revised version of ''The Gunslinger'', King altered the "Rain in Spain" nursery rhyme included in the opening pages.

References

1980s novellas Fantasy short stories Novellas by Stephen King The Dark Tower (series) short stories Works originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction {{1980s-fantasy-story-stub

Plot summary

See also

References