Willa

"Willa" is a short story by American writer Stephen King, originally published in the December 2006 issue of Playboy magazine. The story is also included as the first entry in King's 2008 short-fiction collection Just After Sunset. In the endnotes in the collection called "Sunset Notes", King writes of this story: "This probably isn't the best story in the book, but I love it very much, because it ushered in a new period of creativity for me – as regards the short story, at least. Most of the stories in Just After Sunset were written subsequent to 'Willa', and in fairly quick succession (over a period of not quite two years)."