If you enjoy this show, you will enjoy the new novel Alice isn't dead, a standalone,

complete reimagining of this story. It's out now, find it wherever you encounter books,

or at AliceIsn't Dead.com.

A strip mall off the turnpike in New Jersey. Looking for a lunch. From where I stand by my truck,

this could be anywhere. We must have decided this, right? At some point, that we wanted it all to

look the same. And I can understand that decision. But we all like to feel somewhere familiar.

Now we can have that feeling wherever we are. No matter the climate or geography,

you come inside the chain and you are exactly where you were before, like there is a magic

door to the city you feel most comfortable in. It's a positive that can't be denied.

But we have paid a price for this. So be a laughed and pulled my arm.

I know, she said. You're thinking your big thoughts so you can have something profound to say

on the radio later, but I am starving. Can a lady have thoughts in peace occasionally? I said.

A lady spins all her time on her ass, thinking and rotten out slunch time, she said.

In between a Chipotle and a Quiznos was a storefront that twisted my guts.

I tried to process what I was seeing. Let's eat there, Soviet said, already walking toward it.

The design of the place was as clean and interchangeable as any other restaurant in the strip mall.

But there was the sign in the shape of a burger. The sign said, praxis.

Allis is not dead by Joseph Fink, performed by Jasek Anakul, produced by Dispiration. Part 2, Chapter 4, Chain.

The inside was a simple counter and a couple tables with plastic chairs. The wall was

papered in comic book covers, although I didn't recognize any of the characters.

Tiptoe Woman, one was called. Another called the incredible man who cries.

I might get a chicken sandwich, Soviet said. Is that weird? Getting chicken at a burger place?

...