Hey, it's Lavar. We're getting more new episodes ready for you later this month, and to help

us celebrate the new year, we're releasing new 3D immersive remixes of some of my favorite

episodes about new beginnings. I sincerely hope you enjoy.

Hi, I'm Lavar Burton, and this is Lavar Burton Reads.

In every episode, I handpick a different piece of short fiction, and I read it to you.

The only thing these stories have in common is that I love them, and I hope you will too.

To give you a little window into how I process and choose the stories for this podcast,

basically every season we start fresh. I usually don't have a theme or particular authors or

genres or anything in mind, but as soon as we begin to put the season together, a pattern

begins to form, and a theme starts to crystallize. And it seems like this season,

it's about individual acts in the face of big moral questions. I think when things feel so

out of control, like they have this past year, your one individual act, your choice, can feel

insignificant. And reading these stories has reminded me that those individual acts are not

insignificant in the least. And so I'm excited to read you this story today on that very theme.

It's by Bishop Garrison, and it was published in issue number 16 of FIA, the magazine of Black

Speculative Fiction. Bishop is a co-founder of the Rainy Center and director of National Security

Outreach at Human Rights First. This story starts out small. A little boy on a regular weekday morning

walks into a quiet, sleepy, diner, and gets the attention of the waitress. He's all on his own,

which seems kind of odd, and he's looking for something. But first, he wants a piece of pie.

So, if you're ready, let's take a deep breath.

And begin Silver Door Diner by Bishop Garrison.

The boy is hungry. He wants apple pie and conversation. He loves that pie, but truly enjoys the company.

...