ART MUSEUM
JESS THOMPSON
As children, Ari and I used to play this game where we would make up whole new planets, whole new worlds that someday we would inhabit. (It’s gotta be warm and sunny all the time, I would say. It’s gotta have art and culture and pretty houses, Ari would agree. It’s gotta have animals, and other kids to play with, and water parks, and nice families, it’s gotta have nice families – families with both parents, parents who love each other and love their kids.) (The last part was always the section I added.) As we eventually grew up, Ari and I both found our made up worlds. Hers was San Diego. Mine was Albuquerque. I tilted my head back and let the New Mexico sun warm my skin as I leaned back against the side of my beat-up car. It was evening—the sun was playful. I checked my watch. Ari’s flight should have landed a bit ago. She was probably waiting for her bags. I watched as more and more passengers filed out of the airport. The sunport, as the city called it. Albuquerque International Sunport. It was fitting. A ponytail full of bright golden hair caught my attention and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. “Liz!” Ari shrieked, dropping her bag and breaking out into a sprint. I took a few steps towards her but she tackled me with a hug, causing me to stumble backwards. I laughed, wrapping my arms around her and savoring her hug for a moment more, before shoving her off. “Go get your bag you heathen.” She stuck her tongue out at me but retreated to grab her fallen duffel. “I missed this car,” she told me as she climbed in the passenger seat and chucked her bag in the back. I smiled and patted the dashboard fondly. (We had road tripped to Albuquerque together in the old thing, screaming our favorite lyrics as off-key as we could, laughing about how many armadillos I would probably see in my new state. Spoiler alert: they aren’t as common as we thought.) (“Maybe you’ll see a UFO,” she had joked.) (“Maybe they’ll finally abduct me and take me home,” I agreed.) (We had cried the whole way to the airport when it was time for her to catch her flight back to California.)
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