Atomic-Frizz

One: A hotel balcony. I've taken the mattress off the bed and dragged it through the sliding glass door. The balcony isn't quite wide enough for the mattress, so one edge of it curves up vertically and rests against the white aluminum guard rail. Two: Vodka. A glass of it with a layer of ice and strawberry slices floating on top. When I pull out a strawberry, it is limp and soggy with vodka. It tastes sweet and then burns my throat going down, but in that cool way of burning like peppermints do. Three: The mist. Sometime between late at night and early in the morning, a vapor condenses. It is so thick I can feel the drops of dew in my lungs