Cary Bayless "Meow"

This story centers around a male narrator by the name of Cyril. As we come to discover, Cyril has some sort of social or mental disorder, and his world consists of simple thoughts and mental counting. Cyril appears to have some fascination with the journal of the girl across the street, Kelly. It is not exactly clear why he likes to read this particular girl’s journal so much, but he is obviously a repeat offender of privacy because of Annie’s reaction to him being in her house. It appears as though Cyril’s struggle through this whole piece is to understand the world around him and why people treat him the way that they do. If a change is to be noted in the protagonist, it is probably his shift from gloomy misunderstanding to happy celebration. By the end of this story, it seemed that Cyril finally felt like he was among company that loved him and wanted him around.

            In the way of suggestions, I think it might be helpful to the audience to have a more immediate understanding of Cyril’s condition or at least a more pungent revealing so there is no question about the mental condition of this character. I actually really like the slow reveal in this aspect, but I had to reread the story in order to get the character right. A couple of smaller things have to do with the first scene. We are never given a reason why Cyril likes to read through this girl’s journal, but it is obviously strong enough to get him to break into their house. Explaining this would not only clarify his motivations but also open up a great opportunity for characterization early on in the story. Also, I did not quite understand why Annie would be calling Cyril in the first place. It serves as a nice action to reveal Cyril’s violation, but it is never hinted at why this girl would be calling someone who evidentially repulses her. These are minor points, but I think they would add the experience of the story. I really enjoyed reading this piece and thought it had a lot of intriguing material. Very well done.