Ethan Hightower "Spanish Moss"

This piece tells the story of a group of boys and one of their last summers together as a group. I will say from the get go that I was a little confused about how old these boys were supposed to be. In the first paragraph the narrator mentions being a senior, but then goes on to talk about going into their freshman year in high school. The way the boys acted about the weed suggested a younger age, but the multiple references to “adulthood” made me wonder if they were not supposed to be rising college freshmen instead. Anyhow, these boys sneak off into the woods to smoke some weed, but things quickly go from lighthearted to grave when they find a plastic bag in the river with a small, dead hand protruding out from its side. The boys disperse, and it seems that the relationships existing between all of them are never the same.

            What I liked about this piece was the authenticity of the authoritative voice. The way thoughts and descriptions were written I believed that narrator had actually lived these events and had relationships with these characters. I also liked the turn of events throughout the story; what seems to be an everyday occurrence turns out to be gruesome and horrifying experience. I did, however, want to understand why none of the boys talked about the incident at the creek ever again. I feel like adolescent boys finding something as important as a dead body would at the very least tell other people about it if not the police. I assumed the reason was because they didn’t want people to know they were smoking weed, but some enlightenment on the situation could be helpful. All in all, I think this story has a lot going for it; it makes for an enjoyable read