“Nice to meet’cha. For a second, I felt like I’d been through the desert.” As the words left my mouth, my foot slide right in after them.

“So I’m a horse, now?” Her eyes widened, and she took a drag off her smoke before flicking it into a puddle. “Quite the first impression you made there, buddy.”

My eyes were glued to the pavement in the parking lot outside the convenience store. I let out a brief exhale of a laugh, and shook my head again. Several awkward moments passed silently between us, punctuated only the sounds of the occasional car passing by. It was well after 11 PM, so the streetlight at the corner was on the honor system. When she spoke again, it felt like minutes had gone by.

“Well, technically the second impression.” She let me off the hook. “But you’re not completely off the hook yet.” Or maybe not. “Usually, when people ask for names, they offer theirs in return.”

“Oh yeah,” I replied, clearing my throat and raising my head to look at her again. “It’s Michael—Mike.”

“…Who is like God?”