The Raft (short story)  "The Raft" is a horror short story by Stephen King. It was first published as a booklet included with "Gallery" in November 1982 and was collected in King's 1985 collection "Skeleton Crew". Four college students – Randy, Deke, Rachel, and LaVerne – swim to a wooden raft on a remote Pennsylvania lake in October as a final outing before winter. Randy notices a mysterious black substance floating on the surface that appears to chase the girls as they reach the raft. Deke and LaVerne ridicule Randy's suspicions until Rachel remarks on the beautiful bands of colors on the patch's oily surface and touches it. The black patch pulls her into the water, coats her, and rips her to shreds. The horrified trio helplessly watch her be devoured, expanding the size of the black shape. After the initial panic, the three contemplate their next action, realizing they are trapped, since swimming past the black substance is impossible, as it moves too fast. The group told no one else about their outing, so they cannot hope to be rescued. Their only option is to wait and see if the thing leaves. Gazing at the creature's beautifully iridescent surface entrances and disorients the onlookers, nearly causing them to fall off the raft, but they can avoid this by quickly looking away. As Deke prepares to make a desperate jump into the lake to swim to the shore, the creature oozes up through two boards and grabs him by his foot, pulling his leg through the crack in the boards. Deke screams, blood pouring out of his leg, and then his mouth, eyes, and ears. He finally falls dead, and Randy and LaVerne are forced to watch the rest of his corpse dragged through the crack, slowly and laboriously. LaVerne faints, and Randy fights to maintain his sanity. Randy contemplates swimming to shore while the creature eats Deke but realizes that means he would have to leave the unconscious LaVerne behind. After LaVerne regains consciousness, she and Randy take turns sitting, standing, and watching the creature, allowing brief moments of rest for one while the other watches for when the black patch goes under the raft. At night, LaVerne convinces Randy that they should sit and watch it together. As the temperature drops, the two slowly embrace for warmth and gradually begin to have sex, Randy assuring her that he will keep an eye on the creature. However, he is distracted by pleasure and, when LaVerne's hair falls over the side of the raft, the creature tangles itself in her hair and flows over her face.