My Cardboard Balcony

Tussle by Belinda Roddie She grappled me, manhandled me, tossed me over her shoulder like a soggy bale of hay. I clung to her like a frightened feline, as she carried me to the barn where the cobwebs caught the gold of the sun in hair-like threads. We made rough love with spiders under the floorboards and owls roosting in the rafters, and once the chorus began, we joined in, even though we didn't know the words.

The dishwasher broke in our house, so Amos had to wash every dish by hand, and trust me, there were a lot  of them. We had pots from all the potatoes we boiled and mashed, on the baking pans for the chicken, all the tiny little wooden salad bowls coated in all varieties of dressings. He slaved away at the sink for over two hours; I was surprised his skin didn't slough off in the scalding water.