My Cardboard Balcony

My Love In The Garden by Belinda Roddie I scampered to seek out my love, and I found him asleep in the garden. Rose petals were caught in his hair, and the winds gave his snoring no pardon. How calm and so deep into dreamland was he, my strange and impish darling! With eyes bright as coals in a fire and a nose like the beak of a starling. I was strong, so I carried my love to his bed and away from the garden. As I wrapped him in sheets, he then stirred just enough to speak in a weird jargon. His words, how they pittered and pattered and made not a sense in the slightest! Though my beau was a quick, cunning man, half-unconscious, he wasn't the brightest. Two moons hung in saucers above, and the window was peppered with stardust. I remembered the day that we met, and we checked to see who could run farthest. My love was as quick as a fox, and yet, to his chagrin, I was faster! And I even could outrace my sister, who gasped as I frolicked right past her. ...

There was definitely a lack of sympathy in the room, even after I had announced the death of my father. One of my managers had simply rolled her eyes, while the other manager stared straight past me, as if focusing on the intricate cracks and misshapen lumps in the wall. Finally, one of my coworkers, who I deeply loved, spoke. "Harriet." She walked toward me, and in my silent shock, she pulled me into a hug. "I'm so sorry."