My Cardboard Balcony

Dark Sun by Belinda Roddie When it rises, the shadow stretches forever onward, staining the dusty shingles of houses tucked away in dank green corners, and everything is cold by morning and frozen by afternoon, and those who wait for night are ecstatic when the warm moon squeezes its way between the mountains to bathe the town in a thick, muggy glow.

"How long have you been fasting?" Jeremy asked Connor as the two sat together outside the cafeteria. Connor sighed through one nostril, blatantly eyeing the massive triple grilled cheese sandwich and spice-covered curly fries on Jeremy's plate. "Couple days now. No. Three? Three." "Made any political difference yet?" "That's the hard part."