My Cardboard Balcony

Hoedown by Belinda Roddie The bales of hay are stacked, and the bonfire's roaring high. Let's share a kiss as our beer bottles hiss an anthem for you and I.

Alex learned that, due to a decision made by the newest governor of his state, the healthcare exchange set up would be dissolved, and his premium would triple by the end of the year. It certainly did not help that his prescriptions, as a result, ballooned from fifty dollars a dose to three hundred a dose. By this time, he was getting desperate. The pills were vital for his livelihood; without them, he faced incapacitating pain and being forced to stay in bed for the rest of his life.

"This menu doesn't work for my dietary needs." I looked up from observing the crushed ice in my glass of water. "What do you mean?" My wife was making a face, tapping a long fingernail against the laminated menu. "Everything's too greasy, too salty, or too sugary. And half the courses are just different varieties of bread. Unless I want to spend the rest of the evening in bed groaning about the evils of gluten, I may just have to eat the lemon in my drink."

by Belinda Roddie Her blue pen fell out of her backpack with a clatter, and before she could stoop down to pick it up, someone else had retrieved it. Nikki looked up to see Amanda smiling down at her, holding out the slightly chewed writing utensil. It amazed her that this gorgeous goliath of a girl could be so eye-catching in any outfit. Today, Amanda was in torn up denim jeans, a baggy T-shirt, and a leather jacket with a the local baseball team's logo on it. Her hair, free from its usual ponytail when she played soccer, was draped across her left shoulder. "Thanks," Nikki murmured, taking the pen from Amanda and smiling nervously. Amanda smiled back and began walking with her to the parking lot. It had been a couple of days since Nikki had coordinated the silly string and whipped cream prank against Connor, and although he had sworn ultimate vengeance against her, the worst he had done was scowl and send her the bird from across the quad at lunch and break times....

"You got the goods?" asked the masked man. "Yeah, I've got the goods. You got the money?" "Yep," growled the masked man. "But I want to see it first." It was in bags, in suitcases, in boxes, and in crates. Bundles upon bundles of green printed bills, with scowling Jacksons and smarmy Franklins and gruff Grants. The masked man wanted to count the money gleefully, but he knew that would take too much time. He set down his own bag and sighed.

It has been a roller coaster of a week. The beginning was not so great, with news that my student loan deferment had been removed and a trip to the clinic for a tetanus shot after stepping on broken glass. The middle was uneventful, which is better than bad, in any case. Today, for the most part, was all right. I have been working toward a specific second job and they seem to like me, though I'm not sure how many more times I will be asked to come in before anything happens. Fingers crossed that I'll manage to snag something. Tonight was a doozy. I have opinions about it that I will mostly keep to myself, for the sake of maintaining privacy. Let's just say I realized some things: That one, I don't really have a friend I would really consider extremely close to me, save for my fiancée and my sister. Don't get me wrong, I have friends I adore and talk to and love being around, but I have never really had a best friend who isn't A. related to me or B. engaged to ...

Alternative Transportation by Belinda Roddie Why drive a car when you can ride a goat?