My Cardboard Balcony

My First Impression by Belinda Roddie My first impression of her was that she had a lot to say, but most of it was just fluff or dust floating in the air. We walked to the dog park and stayed there because she liked watching "those frisky canines play," as she worded it. We kept up small talk until she asked when I knew I was gay, and when I came out. At this, I had to balk - it was none of her business! After that, we grabbed some ice cream at the local shop and kept up our mild and meager chit-chat, about our thankless jobs and such. I stopped mid-sentence when I saw just how she gazed at me - she was in a strange, lovesick daze!

"So who wants to go on the merry-go-round?" barked the carousel operator, as the children squealed and bounced up and down, their cheeks round and pink from cotton candy and peppermint. "My turn! My turn!" shrieked one diminutive little girl, skipping toward the white unicorn. That seemed to make all of her little friends angry. They, too, wanted to ride the white unicorn, so the carousel operator had her job cut out for her.