My Cardboard Balcony

I Had To Find My Uncle by Belinda Roddie I had to find my uncle when he got lost at the county fair. We last saw him beside the ferris wheel, chewing on a tuft of cotton candy, neon pink. He was all grin and no teeth. I knew his mind was failing him these days, his memory more frayed than spun together like a web. I left my family by the food booths and searched for my uncle for about ten minutes or so before I found him in the carnival area, where he had won a prize after beating the hammer game. He got a huge stuffed tiger and said to me, "And you thought I had lost my cred!"

You aren't considering her a rebound, right, Joel? 'Cause if you are, I swear, I'ma smack you right upside the head. And not the part of your head that got overly ossified after you got cracked in the hippocampus with an aluminum baseball bat when you were seven, either. No, I'm talking about the raw, vulnerable side of your skull that's not as calcified, where you keep your dreams and hopes. This gal is awesome. Do not lower her to such a demeaning standard.