Turn 138 of 226

Leave the warehouse before it beomes to small. The animal thrives under open skies anyway. We are still in the industrial district though

The ceiling is the thing the body hits first. Not the fighting ceiling — the warehouse ceiling. The body's head is the thing that touches the steel rafters when the body stands upright under the wrong beam. The body is 9'1" and 1,052 pounds and the warehouse was built for people who are not 9'1" and 1,052 pounds. The heavy bag swings and the swing is the thing that catches the rafter chain. The ground rolls are the things that send the bodies into the shelf desk. The sparring is the thing that puts Diane through the corrugated wall — the wall that is the thing that dents and the denting is the thing that lets the outside light in. The outside light is the thing the body looks at. The looking is the thing that produces the want.

The want is the thing the body does not name. The body does not need to name it. The body packs the duffel — the duffel that is the same duffel from the apartment, the duffel that has been empty for months because the body owns nothing. The body puts the legal pad in the duffel. The body puts the pencil in the duffel. The body puts the tape measure in the duffel. Diane puts the burner phone in. The duffel is the thing that weighs four pounds. The bodies walk out of the warehouse. The walking out is the thing that does not look back. The looking back is the thing the body does not do because the body is the thing that moves forward.

The industrial district is the thing that is outside. The outside is the thing the body has been in before — the night walks, the ceramic insulator hunting, the walks to the tournaments. But the outside as the thing that is home is different. The outside is the thing that has no ceiling. The sky is the thing that is above the body and the sky is the thing that does not touch the body's head. The sky is the thing that is unlimited. The body stands in the lot between the warehouses — the lot that is gravel and broken concrete and the weeds that grow through the cracks. The gravel is the thing under the body's feet. The feet are the things that are calloused. The gravel does not hurt.

The district is the thing that is quiet at night and the quiet is the thing the body knows. The body has walked these streets for months. The body knows the blocks — the foundry that is closed, the shipping yard that is empty after six, the lots that are fenced and the lots that are not. The body finds the lot that is not fenced. The lot is the thing that is behind the foundry — the lot that is concrete, the lot that is forty meters by sixty, the lot that is flat. The flat is the thing the body needs. The concrete is the thing the body trains on. The concrete is the thing the body lives on. The sky is the thing that covers it.

The first sparring session under the sky is the thing that is different. The difference is not the bodies — the bodies are the same bodies, the same weight, the same skill. The difference is the space. The space is the thing that is unlimited. The bodies can move. The movement is the thing that is not constrained by walls. The body throws the combination and the combination is the thing that drives Diane back ten meters and the ten meters is the thing the body has never had. The footwork is the thing that changes. The changes are the things that are the new angles — the angles that are wider, the circling that is the thing the warehouse did not allow. The bodies find the new movement in the first hour.

The sleeping is the thing the bodies do on the concrete behind the foundry. The concrete is the thing that is warm from the day's sun — the warmth that the warehouse floor did not hold. The bodies lie in the open. The open is the thing that is the sky. The stars are the things the body has not seen. The body has not looked up. The looking up is the thing the body does now. The stars are the things that are the same distance from the body as they were when the body was 5'4" and 130 pounds. The distance is the thing that does not change. The body is the thing that changed. Diane's hand is the thing that finds the body's hand. The interlocking is the thing that is the same as the warehouse floor. The sky is the thing that is different. The body is the thing that is the animal. The animal is the thing that is home.