| "Luckey Quarter" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen King |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short stories |
| Published in | Six Stories (1st release), Everything's Eventual |
| Publisher | Philtrum Press (1st release) |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Publication date | 1997 |
Luckey Quarter is a short story by Stephen King. It was originally published in the June 30/July 2, 1995 issue of USA Weekend. In 1997, it was published in the limited-edition collection Six Stories. In 2002, it was collected in King's collection Everything's Eventual.
Darlene Pullen, who is a struggling single mother with two children (a rebellious teenage daughter and a sickly young son) and a lousy job as a maid, is left a tip of a single quarter with a note saying that it is a "luckey quarter". She takes a quick gamble on it and finds that it brings her some small luck. Moving on to a real casino, she keeps trying her luck, and soon she's winning thousands of dollars. All seems to be going exceedingly well until she suddenly reappears back in the hotel room, left with nothing but her lucky quarter. All of her success was a fantasy. As her two children come to visit her at work, she lets her son have the quarter, and as he uses it in a gamble, it starts to pay off just as it did when Darlene was fantasizing.
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