My Cardboard Balcony

King Snake by Belinda Roddie King snake lost its crown in a two-story's garage with a sleek concrete shelter and lots of black bags to hide under before the whiskers of an angry broom man whisked it onto a driveway where it will seek out rats and rattlesnakes to silence.

Walter was emptying his fifth cup when his ex-wife arrived at the party. Donald had invited her, if only to hear about her latest escapades in Italy. The old man had become so fascinated with the atmosphere of Venice that he decided not to remember the fact that Walter and his wife had very painfully divorced. That is, until he saw Walter crushing his plastic cup into a wad in his periphery vision.

As Terry pulled the baseball cap over his bushy crop of hair, he strode out into the sunlight of the stadium, guided by the rough but careful hand of the team's coach. The crowds were cheering only for a moment before the boy strode to the microphone. He would be the youngest person to ever sing the Star Spangled Banner at that stadium - a five-year-old with the voice of an opera star.

by Belinda Roddie "Every day should be cheesecake day." " Good God..." " Every day, man. For real." "Did cheesecake really have to be your go-to for when you've had half a bottle of Jameson?" "Dude, it's Turtle Cheesecake, too! Like, legitimate. You want a slice?" "No, John. I don't." "Missing out." "You know, most people are cheaper when it comes to alcohol-induced hunger. They go for potato chips, pizza..." "Nah, man, I'm tired of pizza." "Even a cold leg of chicken if there are leftovers in the fridge. But cheesecake? Really?" "You know they have this, like...this, like...variant of cheesecake in St. Louis called gooey butter cake?" "Now what might that be, John?" "It's like...regular cake...but with a cheesecake top. It's like...double cake." "Not really." "Super cake!" "So...

"Is it really that big of a necessity to make this rocket fly?" "Yes." "To Jupiter?" "Yes." "Where there is absolutely no landing dock?" "Yes." "And no way to travel on foot, because it's a freaking gas giant?" "Yes." The physicist calmly eyed the gleeful newcomer. "And yet you still want to be the first man to walk on Jupiter?" "Yes, sir," said the newcomer. "I defy physics!"

With the end of the school year, I find myself thrown once again into the chaotic whirlwinds that is "What now?" While I do have a summer teaching gig, it is for less than a month, leaving me with enormous chunks of time where I am unemployed. Therefore, it's back to job hunting - a journey I never like retaking, but it is still a necessity in my current predicament. I will admit that I enjoy my part-time teaching job currently - but my situation is not enough for me to have my apartment, drive my own car, or pay my own bills and groceries. Seriously. You know how many bills I'm going to have to pay off? Freaking technology... (grumble) cellphones...(grumble) wireless internet... What I look forward to the most, despite all the messiness of my career path, is seeing my résumé flourish. No longer am I simply the college student who had a few brief temporary gigs at the school district office or the local retail store. I am legitimately a working citizen of my count...

Held By The Horns by Belinda Roddie On the bridge before I paid the toll I came across a man with the head of a bull Who held out a skin of wine to me, Asking, “M’dear, would you take this kindly? For only if you drink, my curse shall be Uplifted.” The work you see here has not been edited nor altered since October 19th, 2007.