My Cardboard Balcony

Red Ornaments by Belinda Roddie Red ornaments bedeck the Christmas tree, glist'ning like rubies when the light hits just right. We partake in festive revelry, the sunset lit like the brightest gold dust that one can find. The glasses of egg nog are passed around, our lips coated with the sweetness of the holiday. Despite fog thickening in the evening, we are snug in our home, gifts ready to be unwrapped and carols to be sung for Christmas Day. For now, however, presents fill the gap around the needles of the tree, where they add to the ambiance of the great lights and ornaments that cast a spell tonight.

I am the great divider. I part the seas at will. When I walk across its bed, I scoop the springs from its sandy mattress and fashion myself a blade. The hilt is coral, the handguard bone. I swing the blade, and the crackling edges of seashells cut through salt as if it were the sun. I am filled to the brim with foamy might. Everything splits where I stand. Everything scuttles away.