Aim Shorts

The Diner at the Edge of the Universe

Story prompt: After a strenuous day, you find yourself taking a solo soul-searching road trip during sunset after work. You wind up at an isolated diner, with only the waitress and the last remaining customer other than yourself. What happens next?

Story word count = 499

Strange, that I had not noticed this diner before, sitting here along a lonely desert highway. Something seemed off about it, like it shouldn't even exist, but I felt drawn here. My tires crunched across the gravel driveway.

Among my days, this was a bad one. My research grant had been suddenly canceled and my university job terminated. The department head offered little more that a shrug and apology. I took this road trip to clear my head.

The place had a classic retro design. The word 'Diner' blazed in bright red neon above a boxy metal building with large windows. A dangling bell dinged as I swung the steel and glass door open.

"Sit where ya' like," the waitress said without looking at me.

She busied herself behind a stainless steel counter lined with stools. I chose a red vinyl covered booth beside a west-facing window to admire the last colors of dusk.

The waitress, a short woman with graying hair, looked like she could be someone's favorite grandma. She poured a cup of coffee without me asking. Her voice purred. "What can I get ya', hun?"

"I'm not sure..."

"Just made a fresh pot o' chili."

"Sounds good." Before she walked away, I asked, "How long has this diner been here?"

She smiled. "Since the beginning of the universe." With a nod, she retreated through swinging doors into the kitchen.

There was only one other customer in the diner, sitting two booths down, a man with dark wrinkled skin, gray beard, and sparkling brown eyes. He grinned and lifted his coffee cup to me as a silent greeting. I returned the gesture.

In no time at all, a steaming bowl of chili and a plate of fresh bread appeared before me. It was good.

The old man appeared beside me. "Dr. Stephen Brinne, may I join you?" He slid in the booth across from me before I could answer. "I had hoped to meet you."

I stammered. "How... How do you know me?"

"We've been watching your career for some time. Your research on space-time continuum is truly remarkable. But, unfortunately, you would have soon unlocked knowledge too dangerous for humanity to have. That is why we had to stop it."

I slammed my spoon down. "What is this?!"

He leaned back, seemingly unconcerned about my angry outburst. "You've always had a sense of the fabric of reality, a rare gift. I suppose that was why you became a theoretical physicist and also what led you here."

The waitress refilled my coffee cup. "It is also why you are still alive, dear. We would like you to join us."

My mind swirled "Who is 'us'? Some kind of guardians of the universe?"

The old man snapped his fingers. Suddenly, we sat not in the diner, but floated among a cathedral of gleaming stars within a vast glowing nebula. It would have taken my breath away had I any.

He chuckled, communicating with his mind. "Something like that."