My Cardboard Balcony

by Belinda Roddie Cankles. They give us our power. If you see a titan with cankles walking by, be sure to worship them. Pick a day to do so. I have called dibs on Tuesdays. We here in the Cankles Clan take pride in our unusually beefy, stout ankles. After all, they give us support. They keep us upright; they separate us from the animals. The quadrupeds, inferior bastards. They do not have cankles as magnificent as ours. Always a fear a woman with mighty cankles. Men do not have adequates cankles compared to women. Like Amazon warriors, their feet are perched below their redwood tree legs, as ankles blend effortlessly into calves, and calves into thighs. The clan deserves respect. The clan deserves to be in your nightmares tonight. Cankles. They are a gift from our deity. And we shall bless them with socks. This week's prompt was supposed to be provided by Arden Roddie. However, I misheard the prompt, yet I was too proud of this ridiculous piece of fiction to change it. ...

"Dude. Look." Randall took a deep breath. He scratched aggressively at one of his bushy sideburns. "Everyone just needs to chill, okay? No need to get at each other's throats. No need to derail the campaign. Just...try to figure this out so we can move forward, okay?" Sally was still red-faced. She clenched her 12-sided die in her fist, while her knuckles continued to whiten until they were always translucent. In the meantime, Ellen was ready to roll for initiative, practically ignoring the argument between Sally and Vincent.

I have a lot of friends in a lot of different places. When I graduated from Chapman University, I had to say goodbye to several people I was close with, as they would still be living in Southern California. For the next almost six years after that - two years living with my parents and almost four years living in a city south of my hometown - I was able to stabilize a friend group. Sure, acquaintances and coworkers of mine came and went as I changed jobs and did my credential program, but there was always a home base of sorts to return to. It's been almost a year since I moved to my new town, and now I've left an entirely different group behind in my former county. It's weird, man. Here's the thing: Technically, I'm not that far away from some of my buddies. Technically. While the distance is small, the process of getting around is not. Traffic to my hometown is almost always abysmal. It takes a ton of money and effort for me to get into a city like San Francisc...

No Tolerance by Belinda Roddie Our spicy nachos were a hit. Then they killed George.

The Best Cheesecake by Belinda Roddie The best cheesecake was found at the diner only a mile or so west of my house. It was smothered in caramel and swirled with chocolate, melting in my mouth. I realized it was love at first bite, and only minutes passed before the slice had disappeared. It simply made my night, and I bought a second piece for my wife. I walked home with the cheesecake from Heaven only to find my wife had run away; she left a note that stated we were done and she wanted to live a "brand new day." So I ate that second piece of cheesecake - the best there ever was, make no mistake.