My Cardboard Balcony

Summer Splash by Belinda Roddie June and July went out for a swim while the sun was still high in the sky August waited nearby with a twinkle in her eye "Don't take too long, gals," she crowed from the lanai

The entire crowd was stunned into silence when I walked onstage. At first, I wasn't quite sure why, but then I remembered the crusty layers of red that had been meticulously applied to the left side of my forehead, dark residue appearing to drop down my cheek and toward my flailing open mouth. I heard one young audience member draw in her breath like she was about to dive into a ravine. I, the dying hero, smiled and jumped into my lines, even as my head was meant to be spit open.