My Cardboard Balcony

Firecracker by Belinda Roddie firecracker goes boom crack red white and blue gloom doom in night skies " have a slice of apple pie. It's UH-MUR-CAN!"

The persons settled in the parlor were far different than the guests I was accustomed to on a weekly basis. Many of them were far older, yet they harbored a youthful glazed look in their eyes as if setting a jewel in deep, thick oil. Their teeth were battered but flashed with a childish mirth. Their beards thick, their cheeks still red and ruddy like a schoolboy's temperamental face.