The first story I listened to was titled, “After Losing Everything to a Wildfire, A Couple Rebuilds.” The first few seconds used soft music for the introduction before moving to the narrator describing the intention of two individuals named Ron and Julie Lynam, explaining how they planned to retire in the Colorado Mountains and eventually bought a home surrounded by a forest. It was then described how a few weeks later, Julie saw a large wildfire approaching. The rest of the story involved both individuals describing their experience. They talked about how they tried to get as much as they could out of the house but were unable to save many important items.
One of the things that stood out was when it was said that their possessions were part of their story, rather than just objects, much like how the possessions of others have a special value to them. The story then talked about how both of them expressed grief in different ways, and it was emphasized that Ron was determined to rebuild the house, no matter how exhausting it was for him. The final part of the story discussed the endurance of different trees and objects and how their experience changed the way they viewed certain things. After that, similarly soft music played for a longer duration and eventually faded away. I noticed that this music was a little faster and sounded slightly more hopeful or positive, which helps complement the ending of the story itself.
The second story was titled, “They Survived Being Trapped in a Perilous Mountain Snowstorm. They Weren’t Sure Their Friendship Would.” Unlike the previous story, this one did not begin with any music, and there wasn’t any narrator who explained any of the story. Instead, the two individuals featured in this story, Matt Koch and Alex Lewis, began describing their experience during the snowstorm that occurred. One of them stated that they accidentally started an avalanche while skiing, forcing him and his friend to try to get as far away from the area as they could. He had to leave to get help, while his friend stayed there, describing how the snow and temperature significantly injured his body. He was taken to the hospital after that, and both of them described how they feared they would be upset at each other. One feared that he was responsible for his friend’s injuries, while the other felt like he was responsible because he wasn’t prepared enough to go on the trip. It was stated that they had never had a conversation about that topic until now, and the story ended with them describing how thankful they were for the friendship they had.
Music did play near the end of the story, and much like the previous one, it had soft, calming qualities to it. I believe this went well with the story and how it ended with them describing their positive relationship.