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

the panel and she looks up. You run toward her and hold her. You can really feel this tiny woman in your arms. She embraces you back and you bring her head toward your chest so she can hear the organs inside you vibrating and keeping you alive. You kiss her head, help her into bed and tell her “Good night, Evangeline.” You and Maribel arrange potted plants around her bed.
    You are light and Maribel is green and red waves again. You pop into your room where Spatula and Nebula are napping on the bed. They both perk up and start running around the apartment, frantic and excited.
    “That was amazing! We saw the Hexaborgs and Evangeline! Is this how you’re going to keep running from the government?”
    Maribel nods her head.
    “I helped create the devices with my team. This is another reason the government wants us found. They want restricted access placed on our invention.”
    Maribel could be a powerful ally in an apocalypse. Maybe she’s the version of you who is actually ready to endure the inevitable. She is made to survive. You leave the room to call your mom. You ask her if she’s okay and she says yes, but you know she’s lying. You get dizzy from the sadness you can hear in her voice. You tell her you love her and that you will talk to her tomorrow. You call your boss at job 1 and then job 2. You aren’t going in this weekend.
    Maribel stretches and yawns. She takes a note out of her pocket. It is one of your notes from the living room wall. She smiles as she reads the list.
    “‘In case of emergency do not call loved ones. Do not call them. DO NOT CALL THEM. Only call them if you want to say a quick goodbye and never contact them again.’ Esmai, what is this obsession with an apocalypse?”
    You blush. Your ears burn.
    “I’m not blood moon apocalypse crazy. When it comes to the end of the world, I can only trust myself. I call myself apocalypse-lite”
    Maribel laughs. You can’t because you are serious.
    “One night in October, I went to bed. I thought I was having a dream. I saw a hole in the side of my bedroom wall. I could see constellations and pulsating stars. I wanted to touch outer space. I walked through and couldn’t breathe. I stopped thinking. I stopped existing. I disappeared from my home planet. Space people found me. They were special agents. I became enamored with making that my career.”
    Maribel has Nebula in her palm. She pets the lizard. The lizard jumps up onto her shoulder.
    “I’m sorry, Maribel.”
    “It’s okay.”
    “Maribel? What if I don’t want to go with you? What then? Why don’t we go somewhere together instead? I can take you to the desert. We can be tourists. The Grand Canyon is amazing. We can go to all the tourist traps and buy shitty food at gas stations. I’ll buy you key chains for your space bag.”
    She smiles. Runs her small hands through her silver curls.
    “Let’s go to the art museum! It’ll be my gift to you. Pick one piece and after we have travelled through it, I’ll bring you home and I will leave.”
    Something about her leaving feels heavy in your chest.
    Maribel is tapping her fingers together. You guess the taps are based on a song you will never hear. In case she does disappear for a long time, why not ask her to hang out? You can pretend to be twins. She yawns and you can’t help but think that this is still a lucid dream. The ground trembles. Is it another earthquake? Spatula panics and runs under your feet. Maribel grabs her bag and rips the poster of galaxy clusters off of your wall. She is clutching the small glowing cube. She is going to run.
    “Why don’t you just pick a comic book? How do you even know what the fuck to do, surrounded by vast space? Won’t you just die?”
    You dig through the pile of comic books with super heroes displaying their muscles and strange perfection. Detective Lupe Santiago AKA Time Fatale has been a personal favorite character. She’s unafraid and of course, she can stop time. She is acutely