In a distant far-off world, the beautiful young couple sank into the sponge couch in the penthouse living room. On the wall there were neon images of prominent psychedelic aliens that inhabited the strange world made from bubblegum. Around the room bubble lamps cast an orange and purple glow across the walls.

Intrigued in the discussion, Zalith listened closely to what Eryon was saying. As the hours passed by instead of growing tired, the beings grew alive entertaining their gigantic ideas about the origins of Bubblegum World. In the background tunes floated out of a speaker from Zalith’s favorite band Nebula Drive.

Wonderous exchanges kept them up all night, so they were energized for their assignments early that night. Eryon wearing an orange latex polo and red leather pants left Zalith’s apartment on a conveyor belt that winded down to the lobby. He grabbed some chocolate infused with bubblegum from the lazy susan on the lobby counter. He was self-assured and felt pumped after sharing all his musings with Lex.

Zalith filled her cocktail class with sparkling pink juice in her dinette from an electric blue vase. She peered down out of the window and saw Eryon get into the jet and take off for the commissary. Smiling , she swirled a straw around in the glass she drank in the elixir. She wandered down the hall to the shower and turned it on pink streams burst out of the faucet. Overhead her favorite podcast filled that space in her 1,500ft penthouse.

Zalith had been focused on Mars for a while, it had been so long she had completely stopped thinking about Bubblegum World. In a way, she had found as escape. A safe comfortable place that didn’t hurt with the truths about what was happening on her home planet. It had also been a long time since Zalith had sung in the shower.

Could Zalith turn from her obsession with Mars and get on the same page with Eryon again? At one point they were in sync. Was Zalith courageous to stand for nothing? It had been a matter of faith not bravery. So many tragic things had happened.

Across the planet an assassination was making waves and Zalith secretly watched the testament of faith of the widow thinking to herself, “could it be true?”.