Ambush

Great short story in class today, "Ambush," by Tim O'Brien. The story was about a father who is asked by a nine-year old daughter, "Have you ever killed someone?" What a question right! Well, the father lies to his father, and instead goes down the lying route.

Then after some person reflection, he remembers the time that he did kill a enemy soldier through the jungle in the Vietnam war. He talks about his regret and feelings of insufficiency in regard to how he dealt with it.

It was an interesting story to talk about with students who a)have a lot of family members in service and b)are high school students who regret a lot of things (because they make CRAZY decisions!). I loved it, the students were really into it and super reflective. I thought it was surprising but then once I reread the story I can see why they liked it.

It also was really helpful because I realized that with short stories you can work through them without worrying about complaining about length and lack of attention because of feeling overwhelmed. So my new mission: find GREAT short stories (2 to 4 pages long). PLEASE SEND ME SOMETHING IF YOU HAVE IT!! :)