The Ballad of Dan and Iris

-Dan-

I met somebody today. She’s really great. Her name is Iris. She’s like me. We are dying.

I met her a month ago. She worked at a small diner. Night shift to be frank. I couldn’t sleep one night. I figured I would go for a walk. I mean, I might as well. I didn’t have anything going for me. I just got out of bed and started walking.

The city looked so dead around me. I shivered at the thought. Yet I felt myself smile. I didn’t have any plans. I was just going to walk.

Pretty soon, I got hungry. Nothing heavy. Maybe some miso or something. Or maybe a little ramen. I just walked through the streets as I tried to think.

Suddenly, I saw a light in the distance. I walked toward it as if in a daze. Where did this diner come from? I hadn’t seen it before. I walked closer. Closer… Closer…

I sat at the glass doors. It didn’t look like many people were inside. My stomach growled in protest.

“Okay, okay,” I mumbled. “Geez.” I pushed open the door and inside.

Looked like a regular diner. So clean. Did I step back in 1950s America? I pinched my cheek. I looked up to hear a woman laughing.

“No, it’s real,” she said. My face turned red when I saw her face. Such beautiful deep violet eyes. She looked pale like an angel. The only thing she was missing was a pair of wings.

“Uh… yeah,” I said.

“Please, take a seat,” she said. She didn’t have to tell me twice. I was already was in love.

Iris says…