My Cardboard Balcony

'Cause I'm Unique, Right? by Belinda Roddie When there's no one around, I lie down on the ground, with my toes facing both east and west. I count morning constellations and hear strangers' conversations 'cause eventually, there will be a test. But when you walk toward my way, with your hair silver gray, I jump up as quickly as I can. You're all bent from the stress, so it's probably best that what I do you will never understand.

The commoners were meant to derive comfort from the queen's words - that the war was over, and the spoils belonged to the people, and all would be well and normal again. But for many of us, it wasn't that simple. Families nearby were still keening for their fallen sons and daughters. Food supplies were still meager, as the rationing laws had yet to be uplifted. And I myself had to witness Shawn O'Harley, my true love, bury her father in a shallow grave outside their house. He hadn't died in the war, but he had still died from it.