Held

Protruding from the wall, the thin metal tines
No
Gravity
Orientation
Body and head at rest on the floor
Radiant heat
Inhale
Exhale
Hold
Stillness in the room
Eyelids slowly close
Slowly open
Muscles move the eyes
Slow, minute shifts
There floating above the floor, the blue discs
Then the awareness of absence
No feeling at all

The awareness of nothing
No citizens at all
No ghosts
No figures
A slow building of force in the arm
Lifting of the hand to the face
Fingers spread slightly over the eye, cheekbone
Temple
The edge of the jaw
No change in the darkness
Blink
No change
Exhale
Pause
Nothing

— Where is he?
The blue discs are shuttered
Revealed
Tilt slightly up
Pan for a moment
Stop
Pan back
— You don’t know where he is.
– Yes.
— Mm.
Inhale
Exhale
— Do you have a name?
Stare
– Horror.
— No a real name.
Pause
– Yes.
Pause
— Mm.
Exhale
Movement
Her body tilts slightly forward
Ever so slightly towards the heat
Weight pressing her face gently against the carpet
The Beast stares
Pause
Silence
Then regular breaths

Behind him briefly, the world is made as he walks
It grows slowly
A hushed whispering almost audible
It is there, the shape of it
The notion of form and purpose
Then it blinks and disappears
The lungs remain compressed
No urgency
No nervous response
Then inhale and hold
The same
As the world is made
Without a beginning, a sun
Then a man
Then a road
A leaf
Voices perhaps at random
Scents he may smell
Or perceives he does
Stop

The Beast’s head snaps to the woman on the floor
Her body awoken with a start, nevertheless silent
Quick inhale
Exhale
Inhale
Hold
Eyes open in the darkness
Gravity
She draws the exposed arm up and reaches behind
Fingers brush the fabric wrapping her hip
Farther
Colliding with shape and fabric again
She presses slowly with her palm
The shape of a thigh
Exhale
Warmth at her neck
Blink
She moves her arm
Hand slightly farther, hand following the curve of the thigh beneath the buttock
Application of force
Press
The body behind her slowly responds
And they are joined

The regular breaths of the man
And her eyes open