My Cardboard Balcony

Our Baby Turtles by Belinda Roddie Our baby turtles wanted treasure, so they dove deep into our personal bay beside our waterfront house. They found gold and precious gems beneath the sand and clay and brought them back to us, caught in their mouths. We never knew such creatures could embark on such an expedition in the south and discover such fortune on a lark. Needless to say, we told no one of this, collecting precious metal by the crate and letting our reptiles partake in bliss as they scrounged up the profits that would sate the financial woes of our family. We donated a lot to charity!

We counted thirteen boats bobbing like planets along an endless watery cosmic sea. Seven of them were sailboats. They moved in a straight line, like a poor man's armada, before circling the dusty black rocks that made up the town's shoreline. I couldn't see the faces of the people steering the vessels, but I could see how brown their skin was - baked like caramelized sugar on a summer afternoon.