My Cardboard Balcony

The Best Part by Belinda Roddie She says the best part of a chocolate chip cookie is the texture you chew when it's hot from the oven, and the best part of falling asleep is the temporary notion that nothing will harm you as you succumb to your dreams.

The local veterans' fund was running dry, and former Lieutenant Colonel Hilary Bryson was more than displeased. She waited outside the office of Congressman Jonathan Brown, expecting a very deliberate and very determined discussion with him. "Congressman Brown has had to step out for some time," a worker told Bryson, and her nostrils flared.