Task: Select two (2) of the very short stories and write an OREO (opinion, reason, evidence [x2]) paragraph for each story selected about what the story means to you. Remember to use quote(s) from
the story as evidence to support your opinion.

TITLE:When the Solid Gives Way
The dog trotted onto the frozen pond to fetch an errant stick. That is how I picture it, at least. The boy
trudging along the snow packed shore. The arc of the stick against crystalline sky. The dog tracking its
path, eager paws scrambling. The bounce of the stick—once, twice—spinning and spinning. The dog’s
oblivious disregard of depth and strength and gravity. I picture the boy’s measured steps forward, hands
outstretched like the blind. Imagine the plunge into needle-fingered cold. Heavy boots. Heavy coat.
Later, the dog came back alone. Sodden and shivering, fracturing our lives like ice.

TITLE:The Audubon Bar
When it was too late, we realized all the punks here dressed like birds. Ravens in the corner, sipping
Cape Cods. Hector, with his Kodachrome Mohawk, surely a parrot. The Italian band in pink leather,
flamingos everyone. We, mere finches, near the Pac-Man machine making munching noises. We
mourned Brad, Spider-Man in the superhero band, who yesterday had flown through his van windshield.
Drunk, they claimed. But we knew. If he’d only picked Batman, we’d have seen him flapping under a low
moon, his body rising above howling dogs, until we finches shuddered awake at 3.am., chirping for
dawn.

TITLE:A Blanket Decision
At the Twisted Stitchers meeting, I held up my first, nearly finished, crocheted baby blanket. They oohed
and ahhed. “But look,” I said, “There’s a mistake 40 rows back. Should I frog it?” The thought of ripping
out thousands of stitches, weeks of work, irked me. They smiled, shrugged, and crocheted. Finally,
someone said, “It’s about what you can live with.” I hesitated. I had three ex-husbands, too many former
jobs and careers to count, a slew of lost friendships, and closets full of bad purchases. I picked up the
yarn and pulled. Finally, a mistake I could completely undo.

can you help me?