William and Clare- Compassion and Mercy

This story is also about William and Clare and comes right after The Old Impossible. When the story begins, you learn that some time has passed since the end of The Old Impossible, approximately 5 years. Since then, William and Clare divorced their previous spouses and married each other and were living very happily and comfortably together. One day, Clare has to go away for business and while traveling, she and William speak every hour. One hour passes and William does not call, so Clare worries. She calls him over and over again, but he does not pick up his phone. She knows that she can't call his children because she doesn't want to worry them, so all she can do is wait. When she got home from her trip, she found her husband, dead in the bedroom that they shared. The story goes on to talk about the funeral; Clare see's Isabel there, but does not talk to her, despite the urge. In the weeks following the funeral, Clare even calls Isabel's house and when she hears her voice on the other line, she hangs up the phone. One day, Clare musters up the bravery to say hello into the receiver. After Clare tries to tell Isabel that she misses her, Isabel hangs up the phone, showing Clare that their friendship is not reparable. The story ends strangely with Clare finding a raccoon in her kitchen and instead of doing the normal thing and trying to get rid of it, she feeds it and talks to it.
These stories really confuse me in what Bloom is trying to accomplish. I think a lot of the things she includes are completely random, but in some cases, as I think about them more, I realize that there is some symbolism behind some of her choices. Like the boy in The Old Impossible, for instance. In Compassion and Mercy, the raccoon is a symbol for how lonely Clare has become. The fact that she does not try to get rid of the animal in her kitchen and talks to it shows that she is extremely lonely and feels that the only thing she can hold on to is the raccoon. Another symbol is the phone call between her and Isabel. It is not surprising that Isabel is unwilling to maintain a friendship with Clare after everything that happened between them, but Clare finally speaking to Isabel during one of these phone calls signifies the final end of their relationship. This closure is symbolic because as Isabel hangs up the phone while Clare is trying to repair what's broken, it is like hanging up the receiver, cutting off all ties of the two women. Although these are not the best stories I have read, and as cliché as it might sound, they are challenging. I might not enjoy them as much as I might if they were written differently or by another offer, I really need to think about why Bloom is writing the stories in the way she chose to write them. She must have had a reason behind it, and I'm determined to figure it out (at least a little bit) by the end of the project.