My Cardboard Balcony

Pocketful Of Crystals by Belinda Roddie You left me fragments of quartz on my doorstep, and I stuck them deep into my jeans where their jagged edges couldn't pierce the denim or scratch the skin. As I waited for the sun to start setting, I walked to the beach, where I could taste the salt in the air and the seashells were collected in rows. I lay the treasure you gave me out on the dune, arranging them into little circlets, like broken tiaras in the sand. Once the gold rays caught the glassy spires, I had a gleaming rose and violet kingdom to behold on my tiny spot on the shore.

"Dude," I said. "What?" "That's, like, your fourth doughnut just today." I grinned as she tried to wipe the powdered sugar up her upper lip. "What, you want diabetes before you turn thirty?" "Hey, man," she replied. "May as well enjoy the sugar before my metabolism gets shot. Besides, aren't you the one who drank three colas at the baseball game last night?" "I needed the caffeine." "Like Hell you did - you were bouncing out of your seat!"