My Cardboard Balcony

Only The Stars Knew by Belinda Roddie Tonight was when we were supposed to meet again by the bonfire on Rutherford Beach, where the sky was dripping with honey smoke, and the whiskey was poured out in musical flutes. As the minstrels warbled boozy ballads, I caught ash on my fingers where the flames kissed the heavens and burned angels' halos, bronzing the gold of their celestial nimbi, unraveling their robes until they were as naked as God's first child. You were lost on the highway, your car howling at the moon, not knowing where it was, where you were, where we were supposed to meet, and somehow, after all the bourbon brains were sucked from their glassy skulls, I forgot where you came from, what you looked like, what your name was, who you were.

"Not much of a welcoming party, is it?" quipped Thomas, though he was good-natured about it. The handful of friends who had greeted him at the airport had scurried away rather quickly, heading to their cars or craving a corporate coffee. I smiled and patted my brother on the back. He had gotten bigger since I last saw him, which was good, as he needed the extra padding. "C'mon," I said. "I'll take your suitcase."

There was one slice of pumpkin pie left in the fridge, and I wasn't going to eat it. I didn't like pumpkin. In fact, I had baked a pie all for myself that Thanksgiving, since no one else liked to eat chocolate cream pie. I took great pains to make the wafer crust and the filling, so as Hank and Amelia charged down the stairs, I let them squabble over the last frivolous chunk of pumpkin confection as I happily worked my way through another piece of cacao goodness.

by Belinda Roddie There should be a word for that moment when you encounter someone you met online that you never thought you'd meet, in the flesh. Luckily for everyone alive, I've come up with that word:  eDezvous. Or, if you're pedantic and don't like capital letters in the middle of your words, edezvous would work just as well. Simple enough word to create: Just slap that iconic lower case e in front of the word rendezvous after the ren has been sawed off like the end of a trailer inhabitant's shotgun, and you have a beautiful mutilation of the French language and an homage to the World Wide Web as it was in the 1990s. An eDezvous is rather difficult to encounter because usually, who you know is far away enough not to wind up at the same café where you get your typical five ounce hot chocolate in an eight ounce mug so the extra whipped cream doesn't spill over the end. I have had friends as far as Florida and as close as two towns north of me. In f...

I ain't scared of sharks, my boy. It's sharks who are scared of me. Why, all thirteen of the scars on my arms are from melees under the sea. Why, I've harpooned and wrestled whales of all kinds, and challenged orcas to free-for-alls. I've been victorious against the giant squid and sea monsters over fifty feet tall. Ever wonder why Nessie don't show her face? It's because of me, after all.

Okay. So I had a good Thanksgiving. I started on some of my credential work. Buuuuut I'm also fighting a cold. So excuse me while I burrow under the covers with a book and try to sleep this sick off. Have a great night and a great weekend, everyone!

No Sale by Belinda Roddie It's Black Friday. Time to put bars in the window.