4. Fiction Packet

     Honestly, I didn't really enjoy the short stories in this packet. The first one was hard for me to read. It was so choppy. It was really repetitive too. On top of it being hard to read, I didn't understand it either. I didn't like the way the author was referring to them as "us brothers" or "mothers" or "Girl". Girl was used as a proper noun. I didn't like it too much. Maybe I'll like it if I understand it and if I know why the author used the language that way. So far though, I don't know what kind of effect the author wanted. At first I thought it was almost lyrical, but then it stopped flowing well. Or maybe it was always choppy but it worked, until a certain point where the choppiness was too much.
     The next story I wanted to write about was the story of the falling girl. My mind kept changing on this one. Firstly, I didn't really understand what was going on. It was not easy for me to understand. However, I tried to get what I could out of it. When the story first started, I just understood that there was a girl on her balcony overlooking this inspiring city that she loves. I got the sense that she wanted more. Not only did she was all the city had to offer but she wanted to be in the center of it. Then, when the author said she was falling, I thought it was just the sensation and she wasn't actually falling and it wasn't a metaphor for anything. I've had that sensation before. I was looked out at a thunderstorm from my porch. I could feel the wind and the mist of the cool rain. The air smelled really good because of the rain. It was the exact definition of fresh air. I felt at peace and content. I could feel the sensation in my stomach and I guess you could describe it as falling if you wanted to.
     Anyway, after a few more sentences, I realized the falling thing was a running theme of some sort. Mostly, I was confused because I took the falling as a literal thing. It confused me that she would throw herself off of a skyscraper when she's thinking so highly of this town and this great view. She seems happy. Then she's going to throw herself off of the balcony? What? Then, she starts talking to people and they are asking her why she's in a rush and they are asking her to stop in but she says no. I realized she wasn't committing suicide. I noticed that the sun was going down while she was falling too. While she was falling, she seemed to be having a good time and then when the sun had set completely, everything seemed colder. Nothing seemed as fun anymore. That's when she started noticing all the other girls that were falling and she started comparing herself to them. She also said it was a competition to get to this ball first. Next thing you know, there is this couple saying all they get are old ladies falling past the window.
     I had no clue what was going on for a second. I even went back to the suicide thing and thought that when the people were talking to her and she was saying no, was her trying to imagine that people would miss her and they wouldn't want her to go. But then I didn't think that was right the more I thought about it. Now, I think that when she was falling and everybody was telling her that she had plenty of time and she should stop in and she kept saying no, even to a guy she liked, it all just symbolized her going through life. She never took the time to stop and smell the roses. She always had her mind on this 'ball' that was up ahead. I think the ball just stood for anything. Anything that someone would look forward to, or just the future, or a persons idea of what their future should look like. I thought the ball symbolized anything that would take your mind away from the present and focus it in the future so that you miss everything going on around you just so you can get to that one thing. I feel like her life was passing her by while she was falling. While she was falling, she was just going through it super fast without really enjoying it. I feel like in the end she never actually got to the 'ball.' would've take a lot longer, maybe she would've even made it to her ball.
     I think that she liked falling so fast because of all the attention she got from it. She liked having people try and stop her and talk to her and she liked being able to tell them no because she had somewhere else to be. After awhile she didn't even know how to stop anymore and the author said that gravity was just pulling her away. When the sun had fully gone down I felt like she was going through a midlife crisis, All she wanted was to look better than the other young girls who were falling also. She wanted to be fast like them and have great clothes like them. She wanted to be better and get to the 'ball' faster. I thought that this was a little sad especially because it's true. A lot of people just go through life without really enjoying it. There will always be that big goal or destination down the road but a lot of the enjoyment come from the experiences of getting there. You learn a lot and meet a lot of people and you have a lot of fun. It's just life in general. Many kids or teens want to just grow up and have a job and a family or whatever and that's all they think about. They don't take the time they have to enjoy being where they are at the moment. Then before you know it, your life has gone by and nobody knows where it went. You'll get to your destination eventually but there is no reason to rush it. In my opinion, the main character in this story should have taken the stairs. She should've stopped in at every floor on the way down. Even though it seems like that would've taken a lot longer, maybe she would've even made it to her ball.