When it Rains it Rains a River

The short story When it Rains it Rains a River was pretty confusing but a pretty accurate story detailing what its like to be a young man. The confusing half lays mainly its descriptions of various activities that they do. This is shown mainly in the first paragraph where the protaganist (possibly the older brother) describing what they do when it rains. "Us brothers, we love mud. We sing and we sing until the rain stops falling down."  So it's clear they're relatively young and this is another bonding excperience that they have.

It's just in the second half where a mountain called 'Girl' is built. I thought that was kind of a metaphor for when young boys go through puberty. But it also kind of just felt like another activity that they do in the rain...

The Blackend Eye

The Blackened is most certainly one of the more grim stories I've read. Mainly because of it's dark content and detailed depictions of being the victim of a rapist. But despite it's grim and almost hopeless story, there is a lot of depth in this story. Most of it lies within its writing style.

The author really helps you connect to the character and experience what she's going through. You feel terrible for her, because this guy who kidnapped her is a sick man. He beats her, rapes her then includes her in another kidnapping. The author even leaves the protagonist's feeling about the whole ordeal to be ambiguous, which I think is pretty good on the author's part. It leaves the reader wondering and discussing the ending.