My Cardboard Balcony

Cleansed by Belinda Roddie They took a shower together, stripping their skin of sins, and then slept on the sectional because the bed felt too warm and too inviting. After several dreams of self-flagellation, they woke to sunlight and trilling birds, a humming heater and the roar of garbage trucks outside. When they walked into the cold air together, all the trauma stung them once again, like frost upon quivering clover. And it was off to the hot steam once more.

Backyard Basking by Belinda Roddie Hot cocoa and a red velvet doughnut outside? Yes, please.