My Cardboard Balcony

In honor of her father, Jennifer Seymour Fleming hung his self-portrait just above the mantel in the living room, where the fireplace was still warm and glowing amber, and the smell of maple and brown sugar still hung in the air from the night before. Whiskey and cookies had been served to the guests then, and glasses had been raised and clinked in the memory of the man who had brought them all together in the first place.

by Belinda Roddie "How do you benchpress a hippo?" "Start when it's born." "Uh-huh." "Seriously. Work on it while it's a little pup, and once the years go by, voilà!" "No." "Master hippo bencher." "No." "Think about it. You could make it onto the Guinness Book of World Records! Ooh! Or better! Start the Hippo Olympics!" "The Hippo Olympics." "Yep." "Just when I think you can't get any weirder." "You're just mad that you didn't come up with it." "Oh, boy. Now how many times have I heard that line before?" "I just have so many creative ideas!" "Yes. For example, the idea that you think I'd be jealous of your random innovations." "Uh-huh?" "Very creative." "I know." "...That's not a compliment, John." "I'll take it as one." "Nope." ...

The students tried to tell me that the grades I gave them were unfair. That they weren't prepared, or they didn't have the proper notice, or they thought I hadn't offered them a chance to build their skill set. Needless to say, I was unfazed. "Look," I argued, "this is a similar assignment you would get in ninth grade. You're twelfth graders. You should have known these tricks by now, and it is not my job to always remind you of the basics. I expect more from you at this point."

MY LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE I'm busy. Very busy. Have a good night, guys.

A Girl Can Dream by Belinda Roddie Shannon, c'mon! We're late for the Vampire Wannabe club meeting!

Her hands were icy cold. Typical. Bad circulation. Either she was one of those clichéd, recluse protagonists in young adult novels just seeking love, or she was a vampire. Actually, the latter would be kind of cool. Dating a vampire? Imagine the hunt and adventure. Though she couldn't be a vampire from the Twilight series. The moment that girl started to sparkle around me, it was over between us. Still, something like Dracula couldn't hurt. As long as she could eat garlic. I loved garlic so much, I cooked it in almost everything, so I wanted her to be able to like it, too.

The Dirigible by Belinda Roddie The dirigible soared across the sky, and onlookers from every window gasped and stared in awe at the blimp that could fly. Its pilot, dark and curly-haired, had grasped the controls triumphantly in her fists, proudly steering the massive zeppelin over the buildings, through patches of mist, and into a reddening horizon. Below, a boy and girl had dripping cones of ice cream melting in their hands, but they did not notice. Their minds were truly blown by the sight of the airship, bold and gray, sailing over the small town where a thirst for adventure was beginning to burst.