Calvin and Alex were walking down a hot, deserted road. The sun was overhead, and Alex was boiling in the heat. He wondered why he and Calvin were walking down this road when they could be anywhere else in the world. He had trusted Calvin and ventured out with him. After all, Calvin had saved his life.

As far as his eyes could see, there was nothing around them – no sign of life. It was a desolate wasteland. Alex couldn't make sense of why he had been brought here. If Calvin wanted to talk to him in private, he could have chosen a better location, one where the weather was more favourable.

Alex had lost count of how long they had been walking down the road. Calvin had been silent since their arrival. Alex wanted to initiate a conversation, but he hesitated, not wanting to bother Calvin with his trivial questions. Today had been an eerie day. At least, wherever they were now, there was no sign of danger. Alex had to trust that Calvin would explain everything when the time came.

"Do you see that?" Calvin questioned.

"Am I meant to see something?" inquired Alex.

"Come and stand in my position," said Calvin as he moved away from his spot.

Alex walked to where Calvin had been standing. He looked at the spot Calvin was pointing to. There, up ahead in the middle of nowhere, Alex could see stars in the midst of the bright sunny day. The heat had caused both him and Calvin to hallucinate and perceive a mirage. There was no logical explanation for stars to appear in the middle of the day.

Alex stepped a few paces to his left and found the mirage completely disappear. However, when he returned to the previous spot, he saw the mirage again.

"Let's go to that place," said Calvin.

"It's a mirage," said Alex. "The heat is making us hallucinate."

"Come on, you won't know if it's real or not until you go to it," said Calvin.

Alex decided not to say anything more. He knew Calvin had gone crazy from the heat, to the point that Calvin wasn't convinced a mirage was in front of him. Alex needed to play along until Calvin realised that he had lost his mind due to the heat.

The two of them walked side by side towards the mirage of the starry place. The heat wasn't decreasing; instead, it seemed to get worse. Alex was sweating so profusely that his shirt was drenched. The heat caused his head to ache intensely and start to spin. He wished he had his hat on during this journey. He had been taught since he began school to always wear a hat in the sun. Without a hat, Alex silently prayed that Calvin would come to his senses and turn back to where they had come from.

As they continued to walk in the middle of nowhere, the starry place seemed to grow larger and nearer. According to all logic, it couldn't and shouldn't be possible. Most importantly, why was Calvin so determined to reach this place? It made no sense.

Just a few steps ahead, the starry place appeared like a gateway to another world. Alex convinced himself that he had truly lost his mind now. The heat and the sun's rays had penetrated his scalp and entered his brain.

"Step through," said Calvin.

Calvin stepped through the gateway and found himself standing in the starry place. Alex hesitated for a moment before stepping through the gateway into this other place.

Alex was now standing under a starry night sky. Overhead, constellations painted stories across the darkened canvas, both familiar and mysterious. The breeze passing by him was cool in contrast to the hot weather he had been in. Alex was relieved to be out of the sun. Turning around, he saw the dry, hot place that he had been walking through all this time. He finally realised that he and Calvin had not been hallucinating all this time. The place was real and not a mirage.

"Where are we?" inquired Alex.

"Pocket dimension," answered Calvin.

"Pocket dimension?" asked Alex.

"Yes, Alex. We are in a pocket dimension. Think of it like a hidden, parallel world within our universe—different rules, unexpected wonders," explained Calvin.

"Why couldn't we have come here straight away instead of walking through the terrible heat?" asked Alex.

"The pocket dimension exists outside our normal space and time," answered Calvin. "We can only travel through time and space that exist for us."

"When we could have gone anywhere in the world, why did you decide to bring me here?" questioned Alex.

"The pocket dimension is the only place where no one will be able to trace you. You can't be traced to somewhere that exists outside our normal space and time. You're safe here," explained Calvin.

"How long will it take them to realise that I don't exist anymore?" asked Alex.

"Should take about an hour," answered Calvin. "Enjoy stargazing for an hour. Before you know it, the time will be gone, and you'll be safe to go back out into the world."

The pocket dimension was free of light pollution, making it the perfect place for stargazing on a clear night. In a location with no trees or other high objects, the visual field only contained stars.

Calvin got down and lay on the soft emerald grass, looking up at the magnificent starry night sky. Alex lay down beside him and looked upward. It had been a while since he had last stargazed. Stargazing was too painful for him, as it brought back memories of his father.

"When I was younger, I would stargaze with my father. He brought me the most splendid telescope that he could buy. Every night before bed, we would look at the night sky. Sometimes, my mother would join in," said Alex.

Calvin glanced at Alex beside him and saw a sad expression on his face.

"How long has it been since your father passed away?" asked Calvin.

"It's been five years since I last saw him. He's alive as far as I know," replied Alex.

"Looking at the stars brings peace to my mind," said Calvin. "You must know the night sky very well."

Alex started pointing at the night sky.

"The stars that appear redder are cooler and usually older than the blue stars," began Alex.

"I never knew that," said Calvin.

"Do you see that spot where I'm pointing?" asked Alex.

"Yes," replied Calvin.

"That's the Milky Way. The brightest part is the centre of the galaxy," said Alex.

"That's astonishing," said Calvin. "That's the Big Dipper, right?"

Alex shifted his gaze across the night sky to where Calvin was pointing.

"You're right," said Alex.

"What is that white, cloud-like shape?" asked Calvin.

Alex looked at it for a while, trying to remember what it was.

"It's the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy and a satellite of the Milky Way," said Alex.

Alex let out a long sigh.

"Is everything alright?" inquired Calvin.

"Stargazing is bringing back all these old memories," said Alex.

"You'll have a new memory to add to those old ones," said Calvin.

"Thanks for everything," said Alex.

"Just doing my job," replied Calvin.

"Sometimes when I would stargaze with my father, he would tell me stories of other planets and asteroids," said Alex.

"Asteroids?" inquired Calvin.

"My father said some asteroids had physical places built on them that people could visit—hotels, restaurants, transit hubs for spaceships," said Alex.

"A restaurant on an asteroid. I can only imagine eating there," said Calvin with a giggle.

"The best restaurant in the galaxy, 'Galaxy Gourmet at Zephyr Zirconia', is on an asteroid," said Alex.

"How exactly is it the best restaurant in the galaxy?" asked Calvin.

"I asked my father the same question, to which he replied that no one knows how it was declared the best restaurant in the galaxy. It's not possible for one person to eat at every restaurant in the galaxy. It would take many lifetimes to eat at every one of them," answered Alex.

"You are talking about the place as if it exists," said Calvin.

"My father talked about the different places in his stories as if they existed," said Alex.

Alex looked at Calvin and realised that he wasn't telling him something that he knew. Alex went back to stargazing. A hazy glow in the night sky caught his attention. A comet had painted its presence on the dark canvas. The fuzzy brilliance of the comet's coma materialised. The comet's luminous tail unfurled like a cosmic brushstroke. Alex traced the comet's journey from one side of the night sky to the other. He was mesmerised.

Alex started to drift off, but a sudden burst of brilliance caught his attention. A luminous streak was traveling through the starry sky. It was a shooting star. Alex sat up, his gaze fixed on the celestial spectacle.

"Make a wish," Calvin said.

"You do know they don't really grant wishes," said Alex.

"It never hurts to make a wish," said Calvin. "Go on."

Alex looked at the wonders that were above him in the night sky and made a wish. He wished to be with his father again, to relive those happy days once more.

"Did you make a wish?" asked Calvin.

"Yes," replied Alex. "Did you make a wish?"

"Of course. Wouldn't miss the opportunity," said Calvin.

"Do you ever lie awake at night and wonder the question 'are we alone'?" asked Alex.

"It's a vast universe, and there is a lot to explore. There could be living creatures among one of the solar systems. There is nothing wrong with believing," said Calvin.

"Why would our planet be the only one holding life? It would be a huge waste of space if there was nothing out there," said Alex.

"You are right about that," said Calvin.

"But if there was something out there, why haven't we met them yet?" questioned Alex.

"A hundred years ago, we couldn't leave our own planet. Maybe what is out there still doesn't have the technology to reach us," said Calvin.

Alex was looking at Calvin as he answered this question. He hesitated a lot as he answered. Was Calvin hiding something? Did he know something? Alex didn't want to pressure him into telling him about it. If he wanted, he would tell him eventually.

"I don't understand anything that has happened to me today," said Alex.

"I still need to figure out why they were after you and why I got alerted about your presence just before the incident," said Calvin.

"Thanks for sending the warning beforehand," said Alex.

"Would you like to join Traveller Inc.?" Calvin asked.

"I just want to live a normal life," replied Alex.

"I can understand that," said Calvin.

Calvin looked at his watch and went back to staring at the night sky.

"Is it always night here?" asked Alex.

"As far as I know, it is. Time works differently in the pocket dimension. In some pocket dimensions, you can spend an entire day there, yet when you leave, no time has passed in the real world," said Calvin.

Alex gasped in amazement.

"What, there are other pocket dimensions? Why did we come to this one?" asked Alex.

"Yes, there are more," answered Calvin. "When we were walking down the road, did you think this place was a mirage?"

"I did," replied Alex.

"If someone goes to look for you in a pocket dimension, they would never think of coming here in this terrible heat. If they did, they would think this place is a mirage and walk away," explained Calvin.

"Good point," said Alex happily.

"Look at the time," said Calvin, glancing at his watch. "It's been just over an hour. Those guys should be wondering how we vanished from reality."

Calvin got up and shook his legs. Alex got up as well.

"I should be taking you back home, or to be more exact, to where I found you," said Calvin. "Come on, let's go back."

Alex and Calvin headed out through the gateway of the pocket dimension, back into the desolate wasteland.