The Diner has seen its fair share of the people of Midland, New York. There's Andrea, who doesn't quite know why she keeps coming back, save for the fact that it's the only place she doesn't feel constantly watched. There's Gregory, who people-watches, filling everyone around him with stories instead of filling himself with food. There's Milo, who often zones out as he waits on his patrons, dreaming of the day he can finally escape. And there's Monique, who simply likes the pancakes (and her waiter) a little too much.

Hudson Ellis is good at his job. Somehow, he manages not to annoy people when he knocks at their doors and asks them to contribute to the charity he works for - instead, he gets them to sign up for sponsoring programmes and fish whatever spare change they have out of their pockets. Even the infamously tough residents of New York City are falling victim to Hudson's easy-going ways and wide smile; that is, until one woman renders him speechless with sarcastic refusals and slams her door in his face. Perhaps Hudson would be able to forget her - if it wasn't for the fact that she lives on the same floor of the next apartment over, and they both have floor-to-ceiling windows that allow for a rather generous view into each other's flats.

A quiet afternoon is infinitely more interesting when you add a young man who claims to be a time-traveler, a half-completed shopping list, and an unhealthy amount of sarcasm. {Written 2014}

"Give me ten days, and I can give you ten reasons not to die." Evan paused. "And if I can't change your mind by then, you can go jump off that cliff."

"In which a young Earnest Watts drives strangers around New York, only to find that a beautiful Madelyn Moore becomes less of one." Earnest Watts has decided that there are only ten types of people in the world - that is, until the day he meets the exception. After dropping out of his sophomore year of college, Earnest becomes a taxi driver in an attempt to figure out his life's direction. There he encounters a variety of colorful personalities, all of whom prove his theory correct. However, when he unexpectedly meets rising Broadway starlet Madelyn Moore, Earnest begins to question everything he knows - especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Ranked 127 in General Fiction - 6/27/16 Second Place in @breakthecliches Metaphor Heavy Category - 8/19/2016 Full novella available for purchase on Amazon Aug 1st, 2022. © by Sydney Druckman 2022. Early matters subject to change.