Volume 5 of the story collection, "The Hubris of an Empty Hand."
In this fifth installment, "A Long, Ornate Dinner Table," the setting is an intimate October dinner party hosted by a married couple, Dalia and Amani. Beneath the beautifully arranged room lies an uncomfortable tension, amplified by the arrival of an old flame. As the guests engage in a heavy existential debate about human intellect and absolute knowledge, the standard rhythms of a domestic social evening begin to unravel.
Among the invitees is Joseph, a divine entity moving awkwardly through human society, burdened by the agonizing curse of cosmic omniscience. Guided by a mysterious, omniscient narrator, the dinner's domestic drama quickly gives way to profound supernatural consequences as Joseph desperately seeks a human guardian for his burden. In a haunting final twist, the narrator reveals their true identity as Death.
