Short Story Part 3

Michael could tell by the timbre in Dev’s voice that he was not a man to mess with but obviously did not fit in with the diner crowd.

“Okay, then what is up with this crowd? Are they all waiting for the next comet home?” Michael asked with some true sincerity mixed with facetious comic irony. Michael had been through something similar before, not directly but someone he cared about, and wanted to scream at the diner’s occupants to ‘snap out of it and go home to their families.’

Dev lowered his head and started shaking with laughter. He raised his head and gave Michael an icy look mixed with assessment. “No, they are not waiting for the next comet out of here but they are waiting for their number to come up, so to speak. Do you see all the numbers on the back of their necks? Sure you did, you’re observant. You don’t know what they mean. How could you, you’re new in town and been here all of what twenty minutes? So you know, I do not have a number on the back of my neck and neither do you but you are accepted as one of their own. The bald head helps you fit right in.” Dev gave Michael a smirk of a smile and leaned back into the 1950’s red vinyl seat and waited for Michael’s response and questions.

What is up with this guy? When he looks at me I can almost see an icy blue flame and his body language is closed. He does not reveal much about himself.

“So, what do the numbers on the back of the neck mean?” Michael asked in a sober tone.

“Well a little background information for you first. The numbers run 1-30 and represent two things – date of birth and expiration. Month does not matter just the dates. Time runs in cycles and if a person lives past the number on his neck to see the next day it becomes a celebration of life, until he comes close the end of the next cycle. The cycles, dare I say another cliché, encourage one to live life to the fullest. Knowing when your ‘number is up’ tends to make the life experience more vivid and feels like cheating death until death takes you out. It makes the game more interesting, don’t you think?” Dev smiled and folded his hands on the table top and watched Michael for signs of reaction.

Michael remained outwardly calm but was full of inner turmoil and thought to himself: what about the ongoing stress of knowing your date of ‘expiration’ isn’t life also about the journey and achievements? If you are aware of your date then how do you achieve in life? So what is your purpose and how do you know so much about the cycles here?”

“I play the odds and have the ability to grant extensions.” The evil grin was clear on Dev’s face, he enjoyed seeing the shock register on Michael’s face.