The Space Between Her Thoughts (The Space in Time Book 1)

by Marie Curuchet

  “Rovada will always be your great friend. Sergio, you will have a long and happy life. You’ve adjusted very well to all of this, and the Das care for you, I know that. You are much more than a human to them. You are on your way to becoming a Das, and that’s a good thing for you.”

  “I don’t want to be a Das. I want to be human.”

  “Honey, you know you will always be a human, and you will always be a good representative of what humanity could have been. But you will also be a Das. I know you know. We both know that there are many Das who weren’t born like these cockroaches.”

  “Cucarachas!” he laughed.

  “Yes, Serge. Cucarachas! You know I will miss your brown skin and big green eyes. You know that, don’t you?”

  Sergio’s eyes welled up with tears again and fell steadily down from his checks. Margot looked down at his hands and noticed his grimy fingernails. “Sergio!” she scolded him. “I don’t see how you get such grime and dirt on your hands!”

  He laughed behind his tears and threw himself at her with a long, tight hug. She could feel his chest heaving with sobs. “Go now, honey. I have to go, too. Rovada is waiting outside to set it up for me.”

  “Don’t go. I’ll never let you go.”

  “Sweetie,” she cried, fighting back the moan she wanted to scream out loud. “Just turn and go to the Wall. Bing and Penny and Roger are all outside there for you. Please,” she sobbed, “this is hard enough.”

  Sergio loosened his grip and backed slowly away a few steps, still facing her. He looked straight in her eyes. “Bye, Margot, fargo, fatty largo, muy largo, muy gordo,” he mumbled through his tears. Then he turned and ran to the door.

  Margot grabbed a tissue the Wall issued for her. “Give me a box of Kleenex,” she commanded the Wall. “Rovada!” she yelled at the Wall. “I need a few minutes.”

  And she cried.

  “Rovada!” Margot demanded. “Come in now. I’m ready.”

  Rovada swept into her room. Nobody followed. “Margot, one last thing. The council agreed to this. You know they couldn’t have said no, regardless. The mystery of what happened to the Wall, well, it remains a mystery and we continue to analyze and report to other Das. But we do think this action you are taking is safer for all of us, and we appreciate what you are doing.”

  “Rovada,” Margot replied. “Look, I’d be lying if I told you that this was all for you and the Das. You know it’s not. I’m doing this for me and my mind and where I’m at right now.”

  Rovada paused momentarily. “Margot, as happens with you sometimes, your mind says one thing, your words another. But that’s okay, I’m used to it. I’ve said my goodbye’s to you. I know you’ll be happy. It will be a normal life that you can have now. No more brown walls. No more Das.”

  “Yeah,” she half-laughed. “I was almost getting used to the smell.”

  “You know the drill. The Wall will ensconce you within itself. You will be back on earth as far as you know. In effect, you will be sequestered, and your Wall will stay within this planet.”

  Margot interrupted him. “Rovada, I’m not an idiot. You’ve told me this an infinite number of times in the last few days. And while we’re on that subject, just one last comment. Life is finite, Rovada, even for you. Mine just more than yours, that’s all. We all have our time, and it comes and goes.”

  “Indeed, it does,” he replied. “I have valued our time together, and I will always do my best to ensure that Sergio and the others are well taken care of.”

  “I know you will, my friend” she said. “I know you will.”

  Chapter 17

  LIGHT.

  Piercing, streaming into my eyes. It’s the hot sun. Another Phoenix summer. I’m in my desert. Odd. I’m in a bed, a hard bed. Strings and tubes and poles are attached to me, with a drip-drip of pink fluid sliding down a tube leading to my nostril. The window is open, blowing in a dusty breeze. It’s hard to turn my head. It pains me. My neck is so sore. God, look at these terrible brown walls. Friggin’ cave in here. Why can’t they bring more color into hospital rooms? Wait! Hanging up there on the wall. It’s my blue-green silk dress! And what is that movement above me? A mobile? Yeah, right above my eyes. I bet Joey left it there. Desert bats. Brown desert bats, like cardboard cutouts. That’s funny. Oh Joey, why would he leave that thing swaying above my head, the hot breeze spinning their wings and tails? Wait, where was I before? Having dreams, vivid dreams. I know I had them. I just can’t recall. But oh, how vivid and long, like a life lived there. Not sure what they gave me, some drug in that pink drip. Long nap and a pleasantly hazy pre-emergence from sleep. I love this euphoric sleep, or is it euphoric wakening? Hmm. I smell the creosote outside and hear the wind kicking up in the mesquites.

  Thank God, a summer monsoon.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for joining Margot, Sergio and the others in this first novel of the series. If you enjoyed this book, I’d be very grateful if you’d post a brief review on Amazon. Your support makes a difference, as I read all the reviews to get your feedback for improvements going forward. Please click the review link below to this book’s page on Amazon:

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJHMTGJ

  More from Marie Curuchet

  COMING SOON – next in ‘The Space in Time’ Series:

  The Space Beyond Her Mind

  COMING SOON – a non-fiction book of similar character:

  Disassembling the Devil – Stoic Self-Actualization for a Different Life

  Positive communications with readers are welcomed at Marie@mariecuruchet.com

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