My Cardboard Balcony

Some Things by Belinda Roddie Some things at Christmas time are worth the stress and all the crazy bustle as the days breeze by, and the weather's tepid at best. The goddess of the winter has her ways of making fires in the hearth as bright as starlight, and so warm and inviting. And as the afternoon turns into night, the family I keep will form a ring around the embers, while the Christmas tree maintains its gleam despite its drying bones. We find love in between the jubilees. We find peace when we're busy heaving stones to tops of hills. Our burdens will somehow stay heavy, but we ignore them for now.

"I told him I'd give him fifty bucks for it." Maura stiffened at the number, but I was insistent. "It's all I had. It's all I wanted to offer. We need to eat, Maura. I want to try music again, but we need to eat." "He's never going to sell that piano to you for that low," she mumbled. "I'm still waiting for his decision."