My Cardboard Balcony

As of two hours ago, we have fully integrated our specimen into a real world setting as created by holographic tools and technology. So far, their behavior has been stable. All reactions to stimuli are recorded as normal. With luck, these specimen will be trained and released into actual society to carry out their coordinated missions.

by Belinda Roddie "Nikolai did it." "Who?" Anton rolled his eyes. " Nikolai," he repeated. "You know how he is. Always getting into trouble." "I didn't do anything!" Nikolai screeched from the other room. "Sounds like something a guilty person would say!" retorted Anton. "Anton," their mother said, "you realize you are accusing your own brother of shooting the neighbor's dog." "Oh. I thought we were talking about the missing cookies." His mother raised an eyebrow. "Who said they were missing?" " Nikolai did it!" shrieked Anton as he ran outside and into the snow. This week's prompt was provided by myself, Arden Kilzer, and Bethany Kilzer, conceived during a walk on Christmas Day last year.

I brewed myself a pot of peppermint tea while I waited for Angela to return home. She had been away for three weeks now, and the sheer amount of loneliness I had endured was at last beginning to truly gnaw away at me. Even when I managed to get myself warm during the winter nights, I knew that, without Angie's arms around me, I was not destined for a peaceful sleep. As I sipped my tea, the door opened, and the wind chimes clanged from outside. When Angela stepped into the living room, she did not look the same.

It has not been a stellar start to the year 2015. My anxiety, as to be expected, skyrocketed, especially upon hearing that 2014 was the hottest year on record for the planet, no thanks to the damn politicians who won't help anyone curb climate change. My work hours were drastically cut. As I am taking a semester off from university, I have no classes to attend to pass the time. And while my writing has been consistent, I've dropped many projects and certainly have not been as musically inspired as I hoped. Yep, it all comes down to fear for humanity's survival, money issues, and creative ennui. Sound familiar? What may not be is the fact that I'm sick and tired of it. I have been hunting for secondary jobs since learning that my hours would be cut, knowing that the bookstore may just be a weekend thing for me (for now, who knows). My teaching credential is still in process, and if I possibly play my cards right and get an education job at a high school, said sch...

Black Widow by Belinda Roddie Every night, she wore a gown made of spider webs.

Rather than wallow in my self-imposed misery, I was determined to recoordinate any future plans I had. If I wasn't going to be accepted into law school, then maybe my passions lay elsewhere. But which direction to take? I started by looking at jobs in corporate offices. When that didn't work, I looked at firms as a paralegal. In the end, I realized I had enjoyed the drama of law more than the logistics. If I couldn't serve as a lawyer, maybe I could write about one.

She Swam The Moat by Belinda Roddie She swam the moat to get to the castle and slay the mighty dragon that guarded the horde of treasure. As the monster swelled his chest, ready to unleash violent red flame, the brave knight raised her shield and blocked the torrents of inferno. Then she killed the beast with just a single stab and walked up to the door where the fair princess milled about in a locked room, waiting for a typical dashing hero to emerge. "You saved me!" she gasped. "Yes, you saved the day!" The pride in the knight's heart certainly surged. It was nice to prove to the king that she did not need manhood to do the bold deed.