“Alive” is a short story written by Sharon Solwitz and is included in the "Best American Short Stories of 2012" collection. Solwitz is a professor at Purdue in Indiana. “Alive” is part of a currently unpublished collection that is based on Solwitz’s thirteen year old son who died from cancer. The main plot of the story actually happened, but some of the events and characters were changed to make a better story. My analysis of this story will include a summary, my opinion on the story, and why I think the editors included this short story in Best American Short Stories of 2012. The short story begins with the main character Dylan trying to get his brother Nate to play with him. When Nate turns him down, Dylan goes to his mother to try to find something to do. She comes up with the idea to go skiing. The reader gets the first hint that something is wrong with Nate when the mother says they will go skiing if “Nate’s feeling well enough” (269). This also shows that Nate gets most of the attention from his mom because of his condition. As they are on their way to the mountains, the reader sees the daredevil inside of Dylan when he tries to get his mother to drift their car in the snow. Next, Nate’s problem is foreshadowed when Dylan says, “I wish I had cancer” (271). After Dylan says this, his mother slams on the brakes and begins to scold him. When they arrive at the slopes, Nate immediately spots a beautiful girl with a group of teenagers. Of course, when his family goes down the slope, Dylan is in a race and is the first one to make it to the bottom. When the family finally makes it back to the top of the next slope, Nate collapses in the snow. Dylan sees the beautiful girl going to the advanced slope and decides to follow her. He ends up going full speed, and he crashes at the bottom. In the hospital Dylan learns that he fractured his leg and broke some ribs, and his brother almost died. This summary leads to my op