My Cardboard Balcony

Cream Cake Shops by Belinda Roddie When I wasn't selling enough sugary tiers for the same-sex couples who cavorted around the village, I thought maybe I should confide in the baker rolling out worms to sour in the musk. I asked him how many gold coins he got from the beaming pairs, frosted heads, iced smiles, laced everything with cold fondant. He said he got silver. Only silver. And he extended a hand white with flour but still pinker than the skin caking his cheekbones for me to shake.

Richard the Twenty-Third signed the treaty that ended the Battles of Montoya and Grinjo. Never mind that the two countries didn't exist, there were no battles, and that Richard was just a seven-year-old named Ricky playing with toy knights ending a major conflict. But hey, he could be the best diplomat in the future. One never knows.