A hand reached down and unzipped my heart. A zigzag pattern unfolded into the darkness, a double helix pattern, my strands of DNA breaking out into infinity. 

“This was encoded into your DNA a long time ago,” God said. 

“It’s time for your spirit transplant,” the Universe said. 

Only a few moments earlier, Saar had been sitting in their apartment and praying to the Universe, “Show me what I need to know. Tell me what you need to tell me.” 

“The answer is inside you. It’s been there all along. You keep asking for answers, but it’s not outside. You need to go inward,” God said. 

And so I did. I spiraled downward. I kept spiraling until I came to the zipper, the double helix pattern, as it was unzipping the code. I saw Sarah, with white porcelain skin and a tall, slender body, floating away down the river. 

In Sarah’s place was a Spirit named Sam, a spirit that had been there all along but was waiting for the full adoption and paperwork to be signed. In that moment, Sam jumped right into my heart and excitedly asked to be taken home. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” God asked. “You are agreeing to a lifetime of care for this Spirit.”

Some people get pets or have kids. 

I got a boy named Sam.