The Pulse between Dimensions and the Desert by Rios de la Luz Page A

debt. That’s about all I have and I’m not sure I could make your trip easier. I am in a strange place.”
    Maribel digs through a rectangular navy bag, which jingles and dings as she shuffles through it. A quaint sky blue lizard crawls up Maribel’s arm and leaps into her silver curls.
    “That’s Nebula. I received her as a gift for entering puberty. She’s a feisty lizard queen. I think she’s seven years old at this point.”
    “Is she your Spatula?”
    “I guess so.”
    “Wait, so you got gifts for starting your period? I just got a box of giant pads and my mom warning me that tampons would take my virginity.”
    Maribel laughs and brings her hand out in a fist.
    “I want to show you how we can survive.”
    She places a cube in your hand. This one is much smaller than the suit cube. A light emerges from its center.
    “What’s your favorite piece of art?”
    “Right now, it’s the Space Empress comics. I just finished reading Interstellar Romance and I haven’t cried like that in a long time.”
    “Bring me the comic.”
    You shuffle through the piles of single issues on your floor and find it. She places the cube in your hand. You find the last page of Interstellar Romance and stare down at it.
    “Hold my hand. Look at the pages and then look into the light.”
    You do. You are light. Maribel is waves of reds and blues. You can see yourself burst into atoms. You become rainbow particles and specks before you transform back into yourself. Maribel looks like swirls of glitter particles before her body puts itself back together. You see the Space Empress (Evangeline). She has been stuck on the planet Nexon for 10 years. Her lover (Benicio) just exploded into dust. He was a hologram, but Evangeline loved him as hard as she could. Evangeline speaks into an electronic journal. She tells the journal the date of Benicio’s passing (January 22 nd , 2410). She explains the details of their relationship from beginning to end. Once she’s done recording their moments together, there are eight panels concentrating on Evangeline’s face. She looks to the dark horizon and you see the red veins crossing paths in the whites of her eyes. Her mouth is open. She does not move. 90 years pass and an unfamiliar species (Hexaborgs) find Evangeline. The Hexaborgs cannot understand Evangeline’s mother tongue. She cannot tell them about Benicio. The Hexaborgs scan Evangeline and place her in a sterile cell because her immune system is fragile. None of them seem to notice you and Maribel. You’re terrified the Hexaborgs will inspect and isolate you both if they find out you are watching them. You know how this story finishes. You want to warn Maribel. You know what happens to Evangeline. She dies alone on this spaceship. In three pages, a Hexaborg finds her curled up under her bed surrounded by potted mini cacti and succulents. She becomes space dust and her particles float out of the cracks in the spacecraft. You are getting closer and closer to that last page. Your throat is tight and your eyes rumble with stinging tears. Maribel sees your tears and wipes them with her thumb. You get to the last page and she’s right in front of you. Evangeline is thinking about her final moments with Benicio. With enthusiasm, Benicio explained some of the fruit available on his home planet. Fruits shaped like galaxy spirals that tasted so sweet, your gums ached and your belly danced. Fruits shaped like canoes with pink seeds inside that made you grow strands of pink hair on your head. Benicio’s favorite fruit was called an atomic root. It was a miniscule sphere that glowed at night. The tiny roots on the orb attached themselves to your taste buds and injected refreshing citrus flavors into them. Evangeline is sitting on Nexon with Benicio and she caresses through the hologram in front of her. Benicio kisses Evangeline and for a moment his face disappears into hers. The panel shifts back into her sterile cell. You and Maribel approach