The desert eats people, they say, and they're right. It's not just the giant scorpions - it's the wind that rips out the dew from within your throat, it's the sky that's too tall and wide and blue and heavy; best to keep your mouth shut and your head down. The desert goes on, infinite wherever it spreads; a limitless space bisected by one straight road, a matter of basic geometry - that's where you drive fast and steady, alone for days in all directions, unless someone is filming some cheesy car commercial. The desert is the space of nothingness - but if you go there, you're searching for something, and you'll sure find it.

Tristan had been at the wheel for a few hours now. It had been baking hot all morning and afternoon; now the sun was finally going down, and in a couple hours it'd be the cold and dry night of the desert. Giuseppi stretched in the van's passenger seat. Not even a lone funky saguaro in the window to distract him from his thoughts. He turned to look at Tristan instead: in the late afternoon light, the stray frizz of his hair against the sun drew a golden halo. He was always like this, carrying that perfect glow, that dazzling charm, that winning smile. Giuseppi squinted his eyes to shield himself from that stupid brightness. What else could he do? Of course it hurt to see; someone like Giuseppi belonged firmly to the night, where dressed in black he concealed the wrinkles on his too-young face, the roughness that would never become smooth again. Tristan, instead, was all gold and shine, in spite of everything - what envy; and what delight. When he considered himself burnt enough, Giuseppi turned away to look at more rocks and sand. Strangetown was how many miles away now? There's nothing behind, and there's nothing ahead. The van drives on. In that moment, that's where the whole world began and ended.

Tristan slowed down, ready for a break. Giuseppi had promised to himself that he wouldn't slip back to his old ways, but maybe he had in him one last crime, if he would find the courage - to steal some sunlight from his lips. Would it be so bad?