My Cardboard Balcony

The dress that Sherry wore was fairly modest, with a pastel tone that wouldn't distract or alarm the more conservative crowd at the city hall. She was there to support her older sister, Erika, in her quest to become the town's next council member. Stopping by the long table that was set full-blazen with food and beverages, Sherry stopped to pluck a piece of Swiss on a toothpick from a plate and look for a good bottle of Pinot Noir.

by Belinda Roddie "Bacon gravy is a hell of a drug." "Isn't it?" Leslie sighed, rolling on her side on the couch while massaging her swollen belly. Wally could still see flecks of grease glistening on the corners of her mouth. "But no overdose. It's a win-win." It had been twenty minutes since Robbie, Bert, and Tara had gone home after the quintet's morning-drunken breakfast. Never had biscuits and country fried chicken tasted so good with whiskey, pilfered from Leslie's father's pantry. Nor had pancake mix seemed so difficult to work with - that plan had flown out the window after having to whip out the vacuum. Still, the day had been successful thus far, and now all that was left for Leslie and Wally to do was force their bloated bodies off the cushions and go for a motorcycle ride on the backroads of town. "We ought to stop by the drugstore," Leslie told Wally as she settled herself on her brand new Harley, st...

"He's very handsome," Vinigin remarked with his upper lip close to his tankard, watching as the pilot of the ship traveled around the round tables, looking for a spare napkin. "Yes," replied Grashi, smiling in between sips of honey ale. "He is. He is also married. With three kids. And he is not expecting to have a fling any time soon." "I wasn't saying I was going to do anything," scoffed Vinigin. "I'm only looking, not touching."

All right, so what do we have on the docket tonight? Well, first of all, and I didn't mention this last week, I started tutoring a fourth grade student who I got to know last year at my AmeriCorps job. Every Tuesday, we meet at the library to read together and practice certain phonemic/phonetic techniques and practice things such as sight words and word endings and all that fun stuff. The student in particular is a lovely young girl who has been through a lot, and I believe that with some extra support, her reading capability can exceed expectations. Currently, we are reading the book The Search For Delicious, which I didn't even know existed until a few days ago and so far am absolutely enjoying. Second, I started a brand new writing project. While I predictably won't go into much detail about it for the sake of keeping a level head in terms of my work, it's a sci-fi trilogy, which I've never tried tackling before. No, it is not the fantasy idea I've had ro...

"Caramel Kisses" is an unfinished novel I began to write back in 2009 and stopped working on in 2010. The two main characters - Adriana Maguire Reynard and Emma Burking - would ultimately be revised for my later completed novella, "The Liffey Is Half-Asleep," in 2011. Several elements of "Liffey" can be found in their original forms in "Caramel Kisses," such as the characters' names, the haiku scene, and Adriana's penchant for writing. Because of its influence on my later writing, I figured that this story, though incomplete, was worth sharing. Caramel Kisses: Chapter Sixteen by Belinda Roddie A success. A sold out house, a small space, but full nonetheless. The front row was packed. The second row was packed. The whole place swelled with breath and sound, each shadow and silhouette darkening the walls. Hands held single-page programs, whispers subsided as fingers clasped other fingers, teeth hissed out syllables into anot...

I finished James Joyce's Ulysses because I was stubborn, ate all the leftover butternut squash soup because I was stubborn, and got one, two, three, four of my friends to go to a baseball game with me, all because I was stubborn. Being stubborn was, sadly enough, my best trait. While others gave up too easily, I didn't know when to quit. And somehow, that kept me alive longer than the rest.

A Police Car Tailed Me by Belinda Roddie A police car tailed me, but even then did not flash its lights or let sirens wail, so I continued driving. Only when it followed me to my house did I pale and fear the absolute worst. The cop pulled his lanky frame from his seat, walked to me, and tapped on my front window while I mulled over what to say to evade a free ride to jail. I asked, "Officer, did I speed? Did I run a stop sign? Were my lights not on? I swear my phone battery died an hour ago. It's been one of those nights." The cop said, "Ma'am, you have done nothing wrong. Your radio just played an awesome song."