My Cardboard Balcony

Open Heart Surgery by Belinda Roddie It's a bit dreary to see the rupture in your chest after such a night of passion and endurance. Tragic, really. You always knew how to treat your lover, and now you're leaking all your emotions out on a steel table, while the doctors scowl at you behind masks because you're making them perform such an oh- so-delicate procedure. But the anesthetic's kicking in so beautifully, so you and I are both on a swaying boat in the middle of a lake, and you're trying to fish without any bait, and I'm laughing and throwing worms at you like wriggling, writhing confetti. I'm not going to pray like the rest of your family, but I'll be there with a box of chocolates and some semi-wilted flowers when you wake up, with the needles planted into your weathered tapestry, and the machines all singing you clicking lullabies as your heart tries to beat steadily again, again, again like the rhythm of the water benea

"What's the matter" crowed Larry. "Jealous?" "No," Stanley quipped, being his usual smartass self. "I'm envious . See, you have a hot girlfriend, and I don't. Now, if I were to madly flirt with your girlfriend and try to get her to fall in love with her, you  would be jealous." Larry's face went bright pink, then darkened to an impressive purple. He grabbed his beer and stormed away from the table, leaving his bewildered girlfriend behind.