Riding the Bullet (by Steven King)

Some weeks ago we had to read the story Riding the Bullet by Steven King. The short story tells about 21 year old student Alan Parker. He is at the University of Maine when the neighbor Mrs. Mc Curdy calls and tells that his Mom, Jean Parker had a stroke. To get home he does thumb riding, the first car is driven by an elderly man. After many miles, when he gets out of his car it is nighttime and he walkes to the cemetery nearby to have a little rest. When he wakes up he reads one of the names on a graveyard, George Staub. After a while, standing on the road again, an old Mustang-car stops. The driver, a young man, is a weird character, he tells Alan that his name is George Staub, like the one on the graceyard. Alan notices that the driver has black marks on his body and stitches around his neck like someone had put his head back on his body. George Staub asks Alan about “Riding the Bullet” and says that he has come back from death and that he will take either Alan Parker or his mother with him. Alan tells him to take his mother. Then he wakes up, because he just had banged his head on a marker. When he finally comes to the hospital he finds out that his mother is well. He finds a sticker “Riding the Bullet” and keeps it. His mother recovers soon, she lives 7 more years and they have a very warm relationship. But he always keeps the sticker “Riding the Bullet”.