http://slow.writerscafe.org/CMiller The original writings of author Christopher Miller en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1776073790 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15  “Why so glum, Madison?” I asked the next morning when I noticed she was only pushing her cereal around the bowl.  “I don’t get to see Jay ’till after school...”  Her face started to crinkle.  “Oh, sweetie, I forgot to tell you, didn&rsq.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1876758/  I waited for the door to close.  “Jay, I have to ask you something.  You said you wanted to sleep on it, and you got to, a couple of times.”  “Ah...”  He knew what I meant.  “First, come here.  This side.”  I moved around .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1876753/  Jay was in surgery by the time we got there.  From there he was going to be sent to an inpatient room, so they had us wait in a lobby.  I called Sara on his phone, and as soon as I mentioned Jay had been shot she said she was on her way.  Now what? I asked myself.  All the.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1876751/  Earl climbed out of his car and limped around it to face us.  It looked like he hadn’t slept since the incident in the park.  He was pale, aside from the half of his face that was one giant bruise.  He was sweaty, and his eyes...  I couldn’t decide if they look.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1876385/  Sara made it over in the early afternoon.  We all greeted and hugged each other, and sat around my kitchen table.  “You don’t look too bad for someone who got beat up by four men, Jay,” Sara said.  “You seem to be doing well for someone who just met a br.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1876382/  I felt like calling my sister after Beth left.  There was no answer at her office, but I got her on her cell.  “Hey, Sara.”  “Hey,” she said.  Something sounded wrong.  “Are you okay?”  “Not really,” she sighed. &nb.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1874712/  Jay watched some cartoons with Madison to help her wind down and feel normal next to him again.  We told her Beth said hi, and that she did Jay’s x-rays just like he did Madison’s.  After we put her to bed, we headed there ourselves.  “Long night...” I s.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1874711/  “Your x-rays look fine,” the PA said when he returned.  “No fracture or dislocation in the shoulder, no foreign bodies or bony injury in your hand.  I’ll stitch you up and I think you’ll be all set, unless the nurse talked you into the head scan.”.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1873940/  “I don’t have insurance,” Jay said as I pulled out of my driveway.  “This is gonna wipe my savings clean...”  “We’ll pay them twenty bucks a month for the next forty years if we have to.  Don’t worry about it.”  “.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1873937/  As Jay caught his breath, the adrenaline caught up with him.  “Earl, what the f**k!” he bellowed.  “All Laura ever was to you was a f**k-buddy!  Your own words!  You’ve already spent a night in jail because of her, now all of this!  How the hel.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1832381/  Earl’s words about custody kept coming back to me, and I kept pushing them away by telling myself he’d never have a chance, father’s rights or not.  He had a drug record, had violated a restraining order, and Madison was scared of him.  I didn’t even know for.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1832379/ Lavender returns to see Lumenovus again. Their fear that this could be their last time seeing each other emboldens both of them. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1829076/  Jay woke up early so he could go with me to court.  I had called in somewhat fearful of Patty’s reaction.  She was actually very happy to hear about what I was going to do, but warned me that Frank would probably write me up again.  She did promise to try to talk him out .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1829073/  I spent most of the night in a fog, and when Jay came home it was to find me sitting on my bed staring at the wall.  “What happened?” he asked instantly.  I looked at him, and his eyes fell to my now purple wrists.  “Oh my god, what happened?” he repeate.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1829070/ Pinvey's malicious nature manifests again. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1827227/  Jay’s week of day shifts came to an end.  He couldn’t be with me every second of every day, anyway.  I knew that must have been what Earl was waiting for, when I heard him pull up around seven one night.  I stood in the archway between the living room and kitchen, w.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1827215/  “How did it go?” I asked Jay when he joined me in my bedroom.  “Madison forgives me too.  She’s all tucked in and falling asleep.”  He sat on my bed.  “She reminded me that knights don’t yell at princesses,” he said with a sm.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1827213/ A personal experience; this is a true story. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1824208/  Jay came home looking frustrated the next night.  Madison was quick to give him a hug and kiss after he admitted to her he’d had a rough day.  “I can understand why Beth was so willing to trade shifts for the week,” he said.  “Those day people...” .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1823828/  Julianne was happy to watch Madison for the evening.  We dropped her off, and I followed Jay to his apartment in my van.  It didn’t look like a good neighborhood at all.  Across the street was a trailer with a radio blasting so loud I couldn’t believe no one was cal.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1823826/  With a mix of anxiousness and dread I began the wait for Earl’s next visit.  I could no longer bury him in my consciousness as I used to.  Unpleasant as that fact was, I took it as a good sign.  I had been running for too long, I realized.  A few days passed.  I.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1823515/  “When I first ordered that punching dummy,” Jay said, “I didn’t know about Earl.  I still thought it was ‘random bar guys’ that you were upset about, and that there may be more to come.  Hell, I didn’t know you were interested in me.  B.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1823513/ Lavender helps Lumenovus out again. As they talk, they compare rings that they are wearing. (For those who would be interested to know, the rings describes are my wife's and my wedding rings.) http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1823156/  Jay gave me a satisfied nod.  “Today, you learn to sharpen your claws,” he said.  As I looked at my fingernails questioningly, he opened the heavy box.  He pulled out what looked like a mannequin made of dense rubber, with no arms or legs.  He saw me looking at.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1823152/  “Laura, I say this out of affection for you.  You look awful,” Manny told me the next morning.  Regretfully I had slid myself from Jay’s arms to send Madison off to school.  I knew I couldn’t call in again, so I settled for kissing his sleeping face befo.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1823151/ Lumenovus and Lavender each reflect on their conversation. Lavender gets a surprise visitor. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1821258/  At eleven, my stomach started twisting again as I knew he should be punching out.  Midnight came, and he still hadn’t shown.  He’s hardly ever this late.  Where else could he go?  He still has his apartment...  I hated to admit to myself that there was a g.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1821250/  One night as I sat in my armchair reading while I waited for Jay, I heard a sound that made me feel sick.  It was the sound of a poorly-maintained Cerberati pulling into my driveway, the engine gunning before it silenced.  God, please no!  Panicking, I let Mariah out back. &nbs.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1821247/ Lavender brings Lumenovus another gift, which loosens their lips for another conversation. Lumenovus gives his account of his encounter with the witch who shrunk him. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1820515/  He showed me indeed.  If time seemed to flow differently the first time, it ceased to exist altogether this one.  The term foreplay didn’t do justice to what I felt.  We paid tribute to each other with hands, lips, tongues, words, and eyes, as we floated in a self-made se.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1820514/  Around two o’clock, I kissed Jay lightly on the nose.  Then lightly on the lips.  Then hard on the lips.  “Mmm...” he said, stirring awake.  “It’s two,” I whispered softly.  “I didn’t want you to be late.”  He.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1820512/ Lavender brings Lumenovus more gifts. When he sounds distracted, she is shocked to learn that the day's events are not the reason why. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1820015/ When we’d both caught our breath I asked, “What are you thinking?”  Jay gave another of what had been many of those contented sighs...  Just to get his voice working again.  “I think I’m just surprised.”  “Surprised?” I asked, tha.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1819272/  Nobody else was home, but for some reason I shut the door anyway.  Just before it latched, I jumped as it was shoved open again.  Mariah darted in, and picked a corner to curl up in.  “She must want to know what’s going on, too,” Jay said.  “You&rsq.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1819271/  My conversation with Sara in the driveway had at least gotten me to pay more attention to how Jay and I acted around each other.  As the next couple of weeks wore on, even I couldn’t deny certain things.  Our gazes at each other were becoming more drawn out.  The small re.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1819270/  After Madison had her afternoon snack, I told Jay there was something she wanted to ask him with a conspiratorial grin.  “A question, for me?” he said in easily assumed excitement.  Madison looked at me for reassurance.  “It’s alright, sweetie.” &n.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1819268/  I felt foolish the moment I shut my alarm off the next morning.  My first thought of the day was that I’d exposed myself to Jay, while he merely humored me.  Sure he’d shared more personal information than I had, but why had I wanted him to?  I went upstairs, woke M.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1819265/  “That sounds more like two questions.”  I smiled to cover my unease.  I didn’t want to tell Jay about Earl, but I couldn’t lie to him.  “He...  Was a random guy from a bar.”  That’s true...  “It was fast, rough, and.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1819263/ Pinvey acts on her plan, shamelessly enjoying the favoritism she is privileged with because of her physical beauty. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818772/  It didn’t take long for Beth to get going, probably because the rest of us were well into a second glass of wine.  After we all swapped some funny work stories she said she had some things to do in the morning.  I was proud of Madison for coming down to say goodbye, since I co.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818763/  It was time to pull dinner out of the oven.  I had made my mother’s marinade and left the tenderized lamb chops sitting in it for two days.  I kept a tray of water on the bottom oven rack to keep them moist as they cooked.  It was something I only made on the anniversary .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818762/ Lavender and Lumenovus continue to grow closer. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818384/  It kept feeling right all evening long.  I stood over the stove, pan-frying the potatoes Jay had sliced for me.  The man’s good with a knife, I thought as I turned them over, admiring how evenly and consistently thin he’d cut them.  He surprised me by coming into th.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818381/  I called Sara that weekend and she was happy to come over for dinner, though her fiancée Brian was in fact out of town for the rest of the month.  We all agreed on Wednesday, and Jay invited his friend.  The week passed quickly, because of my excitement.  I barely saw an.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818380/  Mariah barked a few times when Jay’s car pulled up.  “Mariah, shh,” I urged, and she actually seemed to understand.  “She was barking, wasn’t she?” was the first thing he said as he came in.  “Just a little.  Madison’s still .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818379/  Of course, as soon as I punched in the next day Manny sought me out for interrogation.  “There you are!  How did everything go?  Did Jay move in?  Are you two in love yet?”  “Manny, I’m not awake yet,” I laughed.  I had deposited the.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818372/  Madison got off the bus and went to the neighbor’s, forgetting I’d taken the day off.  She’ll ask what a bug on a tree ten feet away is doing, but she doesn’t notice my van in the driveway.  I would always have to wonder how her mind worked at times.  At.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818021/  My good mood stayed with me into the next day.  When I woke Madison for school, the first thing out of her mouth was to ask if Jay was still there.  “Yes, sweetie.  He’s sleeping though, so can we be quiet?”  “Doesn’t he have to get up too?&rd.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818020/ Lumenovus's ease in defeating Simon is explained, but Lavender finds out things may not be so easy for him after all. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1818000/  Jay smiled, but kept his eyes closed.  “Did your parents read you fairy tales?”  “Of course, and it turned me into a hopeless romantic.”  I regretted exposing myself like that for a moment, but he’d already admitted to me the entire female staff he.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/CMiller/1817996/