In a sense, Paul buried it when he buried the rabbit. She will look back at that place and see it as a time when things shifted in her world. Miranda lost the tomboy little girl and exchanged her for a girl facing all the pains and pitfalls of adulthood. Again, it is impossible to find blame in this tale. Miranda wanted to see the bunnies as much as Paul wanted to kill the rabbit. Perhaps Porter dismissed the memory because in real life, her bother was punished. In reality, he could not have stopped her from looking. The bright light shining behind his 12-year-old face is a symbol of redemption. As an adult, Porter can see why she told on her brother and she can also see how the event could not have played out any other way. The symbols in this story help us see these truths. "The Grave" is a short story but it is not short on exploration. Porter captures the strange phenomenon of human nature in this story, revealing the painful aspects of growing up. Porter uses a moment from her own life to give the story more support. The ending of the grown woman recalling an incident over twenty years old captures an element of human psyche we do not completely understand. While we might not understand it, we certainly know how it works. Almost everyone alive has moments where we can look back and identify when we realized the world was not a safe place where all dreams come true. Titus writes the story moves from "nurturing and fulfillment to violence and loss" (Titus). This too, represents loss. The loss of Miranda's innocence is played out with powerful symbolism and the story of a simple romp with...

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