http://slow.writerscafe.org/AJ_Black The original writings of author JDM en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1776235562 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15 They’ve started up again. The voices. Whisperingthings I don’t want to hear. Making me feel things I don’t want to feel. Makingme do things I don’t want to do. “They ain’t nothin’ but sin.” Charlie, my youngest begins to w.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1650673/ Give me your Forever http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1186997/ He thinks he's being funny. The sound gradually increases onthe iPod deck, the rhythmic bass of Steeler's Wheel echo off the bare walls. Mybrother turns to me and grins. He's got two left feet and a spastic hip,completely off-beat. I feel a chill. It settles deep within my bones as myflesh a.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1167923/ I am invisible. It's true. I don't have special powers or amagical cloak or anything like that. It's just my skin. My plain, boring,ordinary skin. It doesn't make me stand out it in a crowd. It makes me easy tomiss. Unnoticeable. Unremarkable. But I have a secret. A gift. Somethin.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1158095/ I don't belong here. My arms are open and outstretched, welcoming theintrusion of a hand-held metal detector. A bored corrections officer runs thewand unnecessarily across my breast and crotch several times before she wavesme through. I am used to this kind of treatment. .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1155841/ You're at your daughter's wedding and nothing has goneright. The flowers were all wrong. The dresses were late. The Best Man lost thering while screwing the Maid of Honor in a closet. You know, the usual fare.But after all of the money you spent and all of the drama and the bullshit,when you.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1155579/ “You know this is going to hurt, right?” Leila turns away from me and smiles. She inhalesdeeply, sucking in the night air, her face lifted towards the moonless sky. “Tonight’sthe night, Lucky. Tonight’s the night we burn this f****r to the ground.&rdquo.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1151375/ I let the phone slide from my ear. I think I plugit back into the charger. The red light doesn’t come on to let me know it’sgetting juiced up again. I don’t care and I don’t bother to fix it. At thispoint, I don’t care if the damn thing ever rings again. I take a .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1145074/ My knock is a gentle cadence.  Shave and a  haircut I wait. A few clouds, but the moon is at itsfullest, brightest. The air is humid.  Itfeels like rain.  But I don’t mind waiting. No, I don’t mind wai.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1144501/ A love story...of sorts. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1141610/ Originally titled "The Confession". http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1141040/ I thought "Trapped in the Closet" was too literal. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1141035/ “Mytooth hurt.”That was my mother’s suicide note: “My tooth hurt.”There was no letter explaining any other reason why she chose to take myfather’s 9mm and blow off the top of her head. There was no “I loveyou”; there was no “I&rsquo.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/AJ_Black/1141029/